In Living Color – Jim Carrey – Fire Marshall Bill in Space
Each day we are bombarded, pulled, and dragged with cultural identity hooks called “registers.” Most of the time, we don’t recognize them and take the bait like fish reeled out of the water. These registers can range from words, intonations, phrases, and anything that hints that a particular discourse or setting is targeted for a particular cultural segment. By recognizing the use of registers, one can attune to the discourse that otherwise would have been missed. In this essay I will take the register bait from a television comedy show called “In Living Color” and analyze what the proceeding discourse reveals about the African American culture.
The title, “ In Living Color,” acts as a register for anyone who identifies themselves as a person of “color,” suggesting that the show is a comedic interpretation of a life as a non-white. Of course, the register is a subtle one, just as the register within Leap’s article on gay men’s English: “In Living Color” can also be interpreted as a depiction of life in its full vividness. In the episode I watched entitled “Fire Marshall Bill in Space” we see a futuristic Star Trek like setting in which the crew operating the space ship is predominantly black. Although the content of the show may be seem lacking significant content, simply frivolous comedy, to take it as such would be naive. In order for comedy to be funny, it must contain a grain of “truth.” In case of the show “In Living Color,” the “truth’ turns out to be stereotypes about the white man and his relationship to people of color.
The show starts out with seeing a white man, Fire Marshall Bill, as acted by Jim Carey, floating in the outer space. This scene suggests that the white man is an outsider. When Fire Marshall Bill enters the space ship, we see that he is dressed in a business suit, a tie, and a hat with a dollar sign emblem. His attire is in stark contrast with the simple egalitarian-like multi-colored suits that the rest of the space crew wears. In particular, the dollar sign and the fact that the Fire Marshall Bill came to inspect the ship shows a relationship of disparity, both economic and also of power. When Fire Marshall Bill addresses a black woman, he calls her “Princess Leah.” The name calling may be interpreted to be part of the show’s futuristic concept, but it also makes a statement that the white man is color blind, seeing the world in terms of his own white culture, Star Wars.
As the show progresses, it’s clear that Fire Marshall Bill and the space crew do not jive. The space crew tries to treat Fire Marshall Bill nicely, but they’re set aback by his kooky behavior. As a result, no meaningful exchange of dialogue ever occurs between the two sides. By presenting the white man as nuts, doing things like putting his hand in a pan of liquid nitrogen, the show discourages blacks from integrating and understanding the white culture. It also sends the message that there is no use in trying to communicate with the white man. In addition, by engaging in self destructive behavior and by endangering the ship, Fire Marshall Bill is seen as someone to be avoided. This is a very negative message. It encourages blacks to avoid people of power, specifically the law enforcement. It’s already a common practice within the black community to refrain from appealing to the law enforcement agency. This show only reinforces that belief.
In this essay I have taken the register bait from a television comedy show called “In Living Color” and analyzed what the proceeding discourse reveals about the African American culture in relation to the white man. As it turned out, the show reinforced many negative ideas while disguising them in comedy. It presented the white man is an outsider, as nuts, as someone who is self-destructive and destructive to the black community. As a consequence, it discouraged blacks from attempting to integrate with the white man, and made it appear that the only reasonable way to treat the white man is to avoid him. Although the show may have been true to the already present sentiments, it did the black community a disservice by legitimizing false notions – thereby in effect putting the black community’s hand in nitrous oxide.