This clip comes from the last portion of Rock’s HBO special “Kill the Messenger”. It begins Rock’s 30 minute set of comedy regarding the differences between men and women. By opening up the set with “Who’s the biggest liar, men or women?” Rock allows his audience to begin the conversation. From the screams in the crowds it appears that the women in the audience are generally yelling “men” and vice versa. While we can assume that a connection has already been made between Rock and his audience in the 60 minutes prior to this set, Rock uses this question to allow the audience to feel that they’re opinion will influence the way that the joke will be told. However, as Rock continues, it becomes apparent that his answer will not change no matter what they’re response is.
By saying that “men lie all the time…. so damn much that it’s a language” and continuing to explain how men are always lying, Rock is able to protect himself from being called a sexist as he continues to explain why women are bigger liars. As Rock says “you just gotta let some shit slide”, he indicates that he believes there are certain lies that are worse than others and that the lies that men tell are generally more acceptable than the lies that women tell. By giving the example of “He’s your kid”, Rock is commenting on several stereotypes, starting with the stereotype of the African-American community that the children in one family don’t have same father. This stereotype is tied to another, the belief that African-American women often cheat on their partner and try to pass off one man’s child as another’s in order to maintain a certain reputation.
As Rock continues to explain why women are the biggest liars, the audience responds with a mixture of boos, gasps, chuckles, laughter, and applause. On the one hand, Rock is commenting on stereotypes to show his awareness of issues that affect the African-American community, but at the same time, there are certain sexist overtones within his comedy that make it uncomfortable for people, especially feminists, to laugh.
Rock’s comments on how women are visual liars, he points out the insecurities that he has observed in women, both in and out of the African-American community, and how they manifest themselves in the behavior of women. This joke seems to be more accepted by the audience because it plays around with a widely accepted truth that women are insecure about their looks. It is also notable that this second joke does not mix stereotypes of race and gender, but focuses only on one. I suggest that the mixing of multiple issues (such as race, gender, sexual orientation, etc.) in comedy creates a setting in which the audience feels uncomfortable laughing and that that a comedian’s presentation of one issue at a time is most accepted by his audience.
While there are parts in this presentation that have sexist overtones, Rock’s presentation that men live lies makes the previous remarks acceptable to the audience. As he talks about how men have secret cellars of pornography, he presents the stereotype that only men watch pornography. This seems to be accepted by the audience not because of the point it makes about men and pornography, but because of the situation that Rock creates as he speaks about the secret cellar that is similar to something from Batman. It is important to note that Rock uses a significantly smaller amount of cursing in his jokes regarding men than his jokes regarding women. This is also likely a factor that explains why this last section on pornography is better accepted than the joke regarding the biggest lie that women tell about their child’s father.
Cultural Comedy 