Being a huge fan of Stephen Fry, and having watched nearly every episode of every season of "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", I can tell the reader that sketches like this one are very common, not just portraying Americans, but Canadians, Australians, and even the British themselves. It worried me, however, that most of my classmates interpreted the sketch as representing the British "Looking down" on Americans. Sir Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie do in fact poke fun of the American ego, but I don't think that at any moment they seem to look down at them. The American sense of superiority is in fact annoying, and anyone from another country will tell you that. Americans tend to poke fun of Hispanics for being poor/immigrants (see: Family Guy, Tosh.0, Comedy Central Presents), Asians for being good in math (See: Any comedy show), Canadians for being polite, the Middle Eastern for ridiculous reasons that boggle my mind, the British for their accents and their culture, Russians for being communists, The Jewish, The French, The Indian, Native Americans, Eastern Europeans, Africans... You name it, America has poked fun of it. Why shouldn't other countries have the same right? I don't think that America looks down on the cultures it pokes fun of, it is just comedy!
About Stephen punching Hugh, it has nothing to do with the sketch itself. It is more about Stephen (the composed, classy one) finding Hugh (the sporty, silly one) annoying. It is sort of a recurring joke, which is more notably referenced in the later (and funnier) sketch entitled "Where is the Lid?" (Video below).
So, as a conclusion for why Stephen punched Hugh, I can tell the reader that it wasn't a well thought out representation of the British despise of Americans, or that British people want Americans to shut up. It was simply a representation of the fact that: Stephen Fry enjoys hitting Hugh Laurie! :)
Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie are intelligently hilarious, and its a shame that Americans don't "get" that kind of humor. The American public is in need of shows like "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", and Stephen Fry's brilliant show "QI". Getting to experience comedy that makes the audience exercise their critical thinking skills is priceless, and I wish the American audience was more exposed to the kind of dry, quick witted comedy that the British have been so accustomed to for decades.
Now c'mon America, back to watching Tosh.0!
Helen: I saw where you submitted these to another part of the course's site. I found it very funny. Some of the students found Hugh Laurie's sketch to be offensive. However, I've had international students who (quietly) comment that some of the things he says aren't too far from the truth.
ReplyDeleteGood work. Richard Bobys