I'm an Iranian-American Muslim female, like all of you. And I'm also a social justice comedian, something that I insist is an actual job.
Ja sam iransko-američka muslimanka, poput svih vas. Takođe sam komičarka društvene pravde, insistiram da je to stvarni posao.
To explain what that is, let me tell you how I got here. I've performed all over the country. And let me tell you, America is majestic, right? It's got breathtaking nature, waffle houses and diabetes as far as the eye can see. It is really something.
Da bih to objasnila, ispričaću vam kako sam stigla ovde. Nastupala sam širom države. I da vam kažem, Amerika je veličanstvena, zar ne? Ima prirodu koja oduzima dah, restorane vafli i dijabetesa dokle ti pogled seže. Stvarno je nešto posebno.
Now, the American population can be broken up into three main categories: there's mostly wonderful people, haters and Florida.
Sad, američka populacija može da se razloži na tri glavne kategorije: imamo uglavnom divne ljude, mrzitelje i Floridu.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Besides Florida, the most troubling category here are the Haters. They are a minority, but they overcompensate by being extra loud. They have the Napoleon complex of demographics, and yes, some of the men do wear heels.
Pored Floride, najproblematičnija kategorija ovde su mrzitelji. Oni su manjina, ali to nadoknađuju svojom preteranom glasnošću. Imaju Napoleonov demografski kompleks i, da, neki od muškaraca nose štikle.
As a social justice comedian, it's my goal to convert these haters, because they hate a lot of things, which leads to negative outcomes, like racism, violence and Ted Nugent. This is not an exhaustive list; I'm probably missing 3-7 items.
Kao komičarka društvene pravde, moj je cilj da preobratim ove mrzitelje, zato što oni mrze štošta, to vodi do negativnih ishoda, poput rasizma, nasilja i Ted Nudženta. Nije ovo iscrpna lista; verovatno mi fali 3-7 stavki.
But the point is, we have to reckon with the haters. But there's variance within this group and it's not efficient to go after all of them, right? So what I've done is created a highly scientific Taxonomy of Haters. I basically took all of the haters, I put them in a petri dish, like a scientist, and this is what I found.
No, poenta je: moramo da se bavimo mrziteljima. Ali imamo varijacije unutar ove grupe i nije efikasno napadati sve njih, zar ne? Pa sam ja stvorila krajnje naučnu klasifikaciju mrzitelja. U suštini sam uzela sve mrzitelje, stavila ih u petrijevu posudu, poput naučnice, i ovo sam otkrila.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
First off, we have the trolls. These are your garden-variety digital haters. They're the people who quit their jobs so they can post on YouTube videos all day long. There's also the drive-by haters. Now, these people will be at a stoplight, they'll wait for the light to turn green and when it does, they yell, "Go back to your own country!" Now back in the day, they would've actually gotten out of their cars and hated you to your face. But they just don't make them like they used to -- which is another sign of the decline in America.
Pre svega imamo trolove. To su vam uobičajeni digitalni mrzitelji. To su ljudi koji su napustili poslove kako bi mogli da komentarišu Jutjub snimke po ceo dan. Imamo i mrzitelje u naletu. Sad, ti ljudi stoje na semaforu, čekaju da se uključi zeleno svetlo, a kad se uključi, viču: "Vratite se u svoju zemlju!" Sad, u stara vremena bi zapravo izašli iz svojih auta i mrzeli bi vas u lice. Ali više ih ne proizvode kao nekada - to je još jedan znak propasti Amerike.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
The next category is the mission-oriented-bigot- whose-group-affiliation- gives-them-cover-for-hating hater. These guys like to hate via a seemingly nice organization, like a church or a nonprofit, and they oftentimes like to speak in an old-timey voice.
Sledeća kategorija su orjentisani-na-misiju-bigoti- čije-grupne-sklonosti- im-daju-pokriće-za-mržnju mrzitelji. Ovi likovi vole da mrze putem naoko finih organizacija, poput crkvi ili neprofitnih organizacija, i često vole da govore arhaičnim glasovima.
But the group I'm most interested in is the swing hater. The swing hater is sister to the swing voter -- they just can't decide! They're like ideological sluts who move from hating to not hating. And they do it because they don't have enough information. This is the group I like to target with social justice comedy. Why comedy? Because on a scale of comedy to brochure, the average American prefers comedy, as you can see from this graph.
Ali grupa koja mene najviše interesuje su neodlučni mrzitelji. Neodlučna mrziteljka je sestra neodlučnog glasača - oni prosto ne mogu da se odluče! Oni su poput ideoloških drolja koje se kreću od mržnje ka nemržnji. A to rade jer nemaju dovoljno informacija. Ovo je moja omiljena ciljna grupa za komediju društvene pravde. Zašto komediju? Jer na lestvici od komedije do brošure, prosečan Amerikanac više voli komediju, kao što vidite na ovom grafikonu.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Comedy is very popular. And by the way, this is a mathematically accurate graph, generated from fake numbers.
Komedija je veoma popularna. I, usput, ovo je matematički precizan grafikon, proistekao iz lažnih brojki.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Now, the question is: Why does social justice comedy work? Because, first off, it makes you laugh. And when you're laughing, you enter into a state of openness. And in that moment of openness, a good social justice comedian can stick in a whole bunch of information, and if they're really skilled, a rectal exam.
Sad, pitanje je: zašto komedija društvene pravde deluje? Pre svega, zato što vas zasmejava. A kad se smejete, zapadate u stanje otvorenosti. A u tom trenutku otvorenosti, dobar komičar društvene pravde može da ugura čitavu hrpu informacija, a ako su zaista vešti i rektalni pregled.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Here are some ground rules for social justice comedy: first off, it's not partisan. This isn't political comedy, this is about justice, and no one is against justice. Two, it's inviting and warm, it makes you feel like you're sitting inside of a burrito. Three, it's funny but sneaky, like you could be hearing an interesting treatise on income inequality, that's encased in a really sophisticated poop joke.
Evo nekih osnovnih pravila kod komedije društvene pravde: pre svega nije stranačka. To nije politička komedija, ovde se radi o pravdi, a niko nije protiv pravde. Po dva: dobronamerna je i topla, osećate se kao da sedite unutar toplog burita. Pod tri: smešno je, ali podmuklo, kao na primer, slušate zanimljiv traktat o nejednakom prihodu, koji je upakovan u zaista prefinjen vic o kaki.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Here's how I see social justice comedy working. A few years ago, I rounded up a bunch of Muslim-American comedians -- in a non-violent way --
Evo kako ja vidim komediju društvene pravde na delu. Pre nekoliko godina sam okupila gomilu muslimansko-američkih komičara - u nenasilnom maniru -
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
And we went around the country to places like Alabama, Arizona, Tennessee, Georgia -- places where they love the Muzzies -- and we did stand-up shows. We called the tour "The Muslims Are Coming!"
I išli smo širom zemlje, na mesta poput Alabame, Arizone, Tenesija, Džordžije - mesta gde vole "mazije" - i imali smo stendap predstave. Nazvali smo turneju: "Stižu muslimani!"
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
We turned this into a movie, and then after the movie came out, a known hate group spent 300,000 dollars on an anti-Muslim poster campaign with the MTA -- that's the New York City subway system. Now, the posters were truly offensive, not to mentioned poorly designed -- I mean, if you're going to be bigoted, you might as well use a better font.
Pretvorili smo to u film, a potom, kad je film izašao, poznata grupa mrzitelja je potrošila 300.000 dolara na protivmuslimansku kampanju posterima u MTA-u - to jest njujorškoj podzemnoj železnici. Sad, posteri su uistinu bili uvredljivi, da ne pominjem loš dizajn - mislim, ako ćete da budete bigoti, barem koristite bolji font.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
But we decided, why not launch our own poster campaign that says nice things about Muslims, while promoting the movie. So myself and fellow comedian Dean Obeidallah decided to launch the fighting-bigotry- with-delightful-posters campaign. We raised the money, worked with the MTA for over 5 months, got the posters approved, and two days after they were supposed to go up, the MTA decided to ban the posters, citing political content.
Ali smo odlučili, zašto da ne pokrenemo sopstvenu kampanju posterima koja govori lepe stvari o muslimanima, dok promoviše film. Pa smo ja i kolega komičar Din Obidala odlučili da pokrenemo kampanju borbe- protiv-netrpeljivosti-divnim-posterima. Sakupili smo novac, sarađivali s MTA preko pet meseci, dobili dozvolu za postere i dva dana nakon što je trebalo da postave postere, MTA su odlučili da ih zabrane, navodeći politički sadržaj kao razlog.
Let's take a look at a couple of those posters. Here's one. Facts about Muslims: Muslims invented the concept of a hospital. OK. Fact: Grown-up Muslims can do more push-ups than baby Muslims.
Pogledajmo nekoliko tih postera. Evo jednog. Činjenice o muslimanima: muslimani su izmislili koncept bolnice. U redu. Činjenica: odrasli muslimani mogu da urade više sklekova od beba muslimana.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Fact: Muslims invented Justin Timberlake.
Činjenica: muslimani su izmislili Džastina Timberlejka.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Let's take a look at another one. The ugly truth about Muslims: they have great frittata recipes.
Pogledajmo još jedan. Ružna istina o muslimanima: imaju odlične recepte za fritatu.
Now clearly, frittatas are considered political by the MTA. Either that, or the mere mention of Muslims in a positive light was considered political -- but it isn't. It's about justice. So we decided to change our fighting-bigortry- with-delightful-posters campaign and turn it into the fighting-bigotry- with-a-delightful-lawsuit campaign.
Sad, očito da MTA smatra fritatu ispolitizovanom. To, ili puko pominjanje muslimana u pozitivnom svetlu se smatra ispolitizovanim - ali nije. Radi se o pravdi. Pa smo promenili kampanju borbe-protiv- netrpeljivosti-divnim-posterima i pretvorimo je u kampanju borbe-protiv- netrpeljivosti-divnom-tužbom.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
So basically, what I'm saying is a couple of dirt-bag comedians took on a major New York City agency and the comedians won.
U suštini vam govorim da je nekoliko ništavnih komičara tužilo veliku njujoršku agenciju i komičari su pobedili.
(Applause and cheers)
(Aplauzi i klicanja)
Thank you. Victory was a very weird feeling. I was like, "Is this what blonde girls feel like all the time? 'Cause this is amazing!"
Hvala vam. Pobeda je imala čudan osećaj. U fazonu: "Da li se ovako plavuše osećaju sve vreme? Jer je neverovatno!"
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
Here's another example. I'm asked everywhere I go: "Why don't Muslims denounce terrorism?" We do. But OK, I'll take the bait. So I decided to launch thedailydenouncer.com. It's a website that denounces terrorism every day of the week, while taking the weekends off. Let's take a look at an example. They generally appear as single-panel cartoons, "I denounce terrorism! I also denounce people who never fill the paper tray!" The point of the website is that it denounces terrorism while recognizing that it's ridiculous that we have to constantly denounce terrorism.
Evo još jednog primera. Gde god da odem, pitaju me: "Zašto muslimani ne osuđuju terorizam?" Osuđujemo. Ali, u redu, zagrišću mamac. Pa sam odlučila da pokrenem thedailydenouncer.com. To je vebsajt koji svakodnevno osuđuje terorizam, uz pauzu tokom vikenda. Pogledajmo jedan primer: obično se pojavljuju kao crtaći u jednoj slici: "Osuđujem terorizam! Kao i ljude koji nikad ne dopune papir u štampaču!" Poenta vebsajta je osuđivanje terorizma, uz prepoznavanje bizarnosti toga da moramo stalno da osuđujemo terorizam.
But if bigotry isn't your thing, social justice comedy is useful for all sorts of issues. For example, myself and fellow comedian Lee Camp went to the Cayman Islands to investigate offshore banking. Now, the United States loses something like 300 billion dollars a year in these offshore tax havens. Not to brag, but at the end of every month, I have something like 5-15 dollars in disposable income. So we walked into these banks in the Cayman Islands and asked if we could open up a bank account with eight dollars and 27 cents.
No, ako netrpeljivost nije vaš manir, komedija društvene pravde je korisna za razna pitanja. Na primer, kolega komičar Li Kamp i ja smo išli na Kajmanska ostrva kako bismo istražili ofšor bankarstvo. Sad, SAD gubi otprilike 300 milijardi dolara godišnje u ovim ofšor poreskim rajevima. Ne hvalim se, ali na kraju svakog meseca imam otprilike 5-15 dolara raspoloživog prihoda. Te smo ušetali u te banke na Kajmanskim ostrvima i pitali smo možemo li da otvorimo bankovni račun sa osam dolara i 27 centi.
(Laughter)
(Smeh)
The bank managers would indulge us for 30-45 seconds before calling security. Security would come out, brandish their weapons, and then we would squeal with fear and run away, because -- and this is the last rule of social justice comedy -- sometimes it makes you want to take a dump in your pants.
Menadžeri banke bi nam povlađivali 30-45 sekundi pre pozivanja obezbeđenja. Obezbeđenje bi izašlo, mahalo svojim oružjem, a mi bismo zacičali od straha i pobegli jer - ovo je poslednje pravilo komedije društvene pravde - ponekad poželite da se ispraznite u gaće.
Most of my work is meant to be fun. It's meant to generate a connection and laughter. But yes, sometimes I get run off the grounds by security. Sometimes I get mean tweets and hate mail. Sometimes I get voice mails saying that if I continue telling my jokes, they'll kill me and they'll kill my family. And those death threats are definitely not funny.
Moj rad bi uglavnom trebalo da bude smešan. Trebalo bi da proizvede povezanost i smeh. Ali, da, ponekad me obezbeđenje otera s poseda. Ponekad mi stižu zlonamerni tvitovi i zajedljiva pošta. Ponekad dobijam glasovne poruke koje kažu da ako nastavim da pričam svoje viceve, ubiće i mene i moju porodicu. A te pretnje smrću, definitivno nisu smešne.
But despite the occasional danger, I still think that social justice comedy is one of our best weapons. I mean, we've tried a lot of approaches to social justice, like war and competitive ice dancing. But still, a lot of things are still kind of awful. So I think it's time we try and tell a really good poop joke.
No uprkos povremenoj opasnosti, i dalje smatram da je komedija društvene pravde među našim najboljim oružjima. Mislim, isprobali smo mnogo pristupa društvenoj pravdi, poput rata i takmičarskog plesa na ledu. Ali i dalje su mnoge stvari nekako užasne. Te smatram da je vreme da pokušamo da ispričamo zaista dobar vic o kaki.
Thank you.
Hvala vam.
(Applause)
(Aplauz)