The Parody Becomes A Mockery

Reading this article in the Harvard Law Record made me realize my law school may be getting more politically correct, which I didn't believe was possible...

A town hall meeting called to discuss allegations of racism and sexism in the annual law school Parody show drew a standing room only crowd to Langdell South Monday evening. The meeting was part of the school's response to complaints from a number of students who where upset about the manner in which they were depicted in the Parody. Professor Charles Ogletree moderated the event. He started off by announcing that this would be the first of a number of dialogues on the topic held this year and next, and strongly stressed the importance of civility and respect while conducting this dialogue.

The meeting began with a short statement read by the director of the Parody, Justin Shanes, which laid out the process of writing the Parody. Shanes hoped, he said, to increase the transparency of the process. In particular, he stated that the script of the Parody is vetted by numerous people and objectionable material is removed throughout the process; this year, changes were made even the week of the performance. He also offered an apology to all those who were offended, saying it was nobody's intention to hurt those parodied.

Prof. Ogletree posed a number of broad questions to the room at large, and the two-hour meeting consisted largely of attendees responding. Debate centered around the use of stereotypes, particularly racial ones in the show, and ways to improve it in the future. Two suggestions came up repeatedly: prohibiting the portrayal of actual students (and perhaps professors) altogether and implementing an opt-in/opt-out system whereby students could choose to be parodied or not.

The Parody's portrayal of racial minorities was a major focus of discussion. One student related being hurt by the Parody's inaccurate portrayal of her as "ghetto" based on her race. While all seemed to agree that there is a line that should not be crossed, where precisely that line is proved hard to pin down. John Bash suggested a litmus test: if the joke was about someone of a different race, gender, or socioeconomic group, would it still be funny? Others argued this is too constraining a standard, and pointed out that stereotypes could be used in such a way that actually deconstructed and disproved them.

Members of the Parody emphasized that the show had a diverse cast and crew, and that they were careful to take every cast member's opinions into account. To a proposal to have various affinity groups on campus vet the script, a Parody cast member responded that many of their members did belong to those affinity groups.

"Race and community [are] not something you can intellectualize," said one 4th-year joint degree student, who had been distressed to hear that one woman of his acquaintance had told him she was going to "leave the Harvard community" as a result of the Parody.

Objections to the Parody went beyond racial stereotypes. Some criticized jokes about physical appearance and details about students' romantic lives. "I talk about gender a lot and I have big breasts," stated a 1L in attendance, "does that mean I'm going to be publicly humiliated?"

I don't know where to start. Wait... let me start by responding to that last question by the big-breasted hyper-sensitive 1L: Yes, you are going to be mocked, and you probably should be.

Okay, full disclosure. I'm an alum, and despite making occasional jokes about the place, I liked my time there. I liked most of the people there. But this story is a reminder of why the cocoon of Cambridge gets so suffocating.

And for the record, I was parodied in the Parody my 3L year, portrayed as a raucous frat boy who never grew up even after starting law school. Like all satire, it had more than a grain of truth in it (unfortunately, I'm also pretty sure I was portrayed as more popular with women in the parody than I ever have been in real life). But I laughed. Hell, one of my best friends was portrayed as a sock puppet on my left hand that affirmed everything I said. His reaction? He laughed and asked for the sock as a souvenier, and I'm pretty sure he still has it. I do remember one friend who was worried that we might take the portrayal the wrong way. We didn't, because we have a healthy self-esteem and a good sense of humor.

What I'm trying to tell the people at HLS is that they need to get a sense of humor and get over their own sense of self-importance. For crying out loud, there's enough real sexism and racism in the world that intelligent, self-confident people should be able to recognize and distinguish it from somewhat risque humor. And trust me, since we're at an Ivy League law school, it's not like the writers of the parody are pushing the envelope like Lenny Bruce.

If you're a student at Harvard Law School, you're attending one of the top law schools in the world. You've got a top-flight mind. Who cares if someone makes a joke at your expense?

And they wonder why people dislike lawyers, let alone Ivy League law graduates.