entertainment

Naomi Osaka pokes fun at Japan comedians' 'bleach' comments

23 Comments
By WANG ZHAO

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23 Comments
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@oldman_13

First of all, it wasn't funny. A joke is suppose to be funny. This was offensive and totally in poor taste. Secondly, comedians don't make jokes about people of color needing bleach or being sun burnt. If this is the best these two can do to "entertain" people, then they need to find another job.

17 ( +20 / -3 )

Much ado about nothing.

It was a joke, comedians make these kinds of jokes all the time

Im assuming holocaust 'jokes' are a hoot for you huh?

14 ( +19 / -5 )

But she used the opportunity to make more money by plugging her sunblock company.

The only strange part is this article mentions ANA instead of said sunblock company.

9 ( +10 / -1 )

How much do you want to bet her publicist said it would be better for you if you laughed it off instead of complaining? She doesn't strike me as the type of person who would think that was funny. But she used the opportunity to make more money by plugging her sunblock company.

7 ( +11 / -4 )

@sensei258

I think the way she handled it was smart. I’ve noticed in Japan, that even though anger is justified in some cases, the person that shows their emotions or anger becomes the bad person. Doesn’t matter the reasons why you became angry, the angry person is typically viewed as the person that’s wrong. Therefore, if she expressed anger, it may have affected the way people view the situation and her.

7 ( +10 / -3 )

As a kid and adult even I would relentlessly get probed about my appearance, whether I was really Japanese or not, the pros and cons of being half American, and blah blah blah, but often it would end up (with the nastier people) as some kinda essence of racial purity of the Japanese etc.

I often mused out loud at that point that pure purity on an island with limited folk would inevitably lead to some nasty inbreeding...

7 ( +9 / -2 )

I and nobody I talked to has ever heard of "A Masso". Who are they? They sure got a lot of free publicity from of this.

5 ( +6 / -1 )

I would have ripped them a new one. Sometimes you have to screw taking the so-called 'high road.'

True but in her case, she is a mega star. Her criticizing back gives them publicity and ignoring them makes look like nobodies not worth wasting a breath on.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Japanese tend to use the same word for both sun burn and sun tan, so I think something was lost here. Still, its nice to see someone attempt to act like an adult about all this. Spin it to your advantage...that's what's adults do.

4 ( +5 / -1 )

Relatively unknown comedians. Their already impressive status is about to go all the way down into pathetic obscurity

3 ( +4 / -1 )

"'Too sunburned' lol that's wild," Osaka wrote on Twitter. "I never get sunburned" by using a sunscreen, she added -- naming a local brand.

I read that the brand is made by one of her corporate sponsors. It's great that she turned it into a humorous opportunity to sell herself and her sponsor's product!

And that's how you handle some comedian's tasteless joke -- you don't whine and moan about it.

I've heard my ethnicity "slapped around" quite a few times. Like Naomi, I don't cry over it.

2 ( +3 / -1 )

I'm surprised they even brought it to her attention. What was the point? Entertainment?

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Naomi Osaka is an outstanding human being. She always exhibits poise and dignity.

1 ( +3 / -2 )

It was a joke, comedians make these kinds of jokes all the time.

Yes, they're called bigots. Actual comedians don't have to rely on such tired tropes like skin color.

1 ( +2 / -1 )

Yes, they're called bigots. Actual comedians don't have to rely on such tired tropes like skin color.

I watch comedians all the time that make jokes about skin color - sometimes their own, sometimes other people's, and they are hilarious often.

The job of a comedian is to make people laugh. They make me laugh, as well as others, or they wouldn't be able to make a living at it to the point that I would be seeing them. So they are actual comedians.

he problem here is that some things are off limits for joking. I personally disagree. If we can make movies about rape, war, murder, anger, and aggression, then why can we not make jokes about these things as well?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I do, however, like her comment, especially with the plug for a local brand... hope she gets "paid" for that one.

Awareness of Skin cancer is a Global problem effecting everyone regardless of skin pigmentation / color.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Comedians make jokes. It's what they do. Anyone who thinks that they somehow only make jokes that work every time is fooling themselves. Sometimes comedians try something out in the spur of the moment, and it doesn't work.

Is this joke tasteless? Yep. Does it hold tones of racial discrimination? Yep. Should they be condemned for all time? Nope. And Naomi seems to agree.

Good on her.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

I agree that Naomi tends to handle "scandals" or anything potentially upsetting very well. But please don't mistake her mild public comments as being definitively representative of her feelings. As an international public figure, there is a lot of pressure on her to give the "right" answer for a lot of things. She seems to avoid controversy and this could be a response geared towards that rather than she doesn't care.

So I agree that she has a good way to respond to this, that doesn't mean that she doesn't care or isn't upset about it. We have no way to know that so please don't assume it. It's very easy to interpret "Naomi doesn't make a big fuss" as "Naomi doesn't care" which becomes "Why should we?" but they're not all the same thing.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I would have ripped them a new one. Sometimes you have to screw taking the so-called 'high road.'

-1 ( +6 / -7 )

Standard response from her PR people probably.

Just based on the photo used on Japan Today, "I thought they were blokes!" might have been funnier. Depending on your sense of humour, that is.

-2 ( +4 / -6 )

Making racial insensitive attacks is very much like bullying. An insincere apology is simply inadequate, and perhaps the mindset behind the reliance of using an apology to escape and get the Free Pass needs to become a subject of comedy skits.

-2 ( +1 / -3 )

Comedians cannot Joke these days and if they do, they need to apologize But if celebrities make jokes, people say they're just Great human being.

This world...sigh.

-5 ( +0 / -5 )

Much ado about nothing.

It was a joke, comedians make these kinds of jokes all the time.

Stop being perpetually offended, even Naomi couldn't care less.

-22 ( +11 / -33 )

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