In April of 2003, CBS aired a program celebrating the 75th Anniversary of the Three Stooges. The program was very informative and was aired after prime time because even now, the decisionmakers - Jews themselves - knew that what these men was doing was incredibly violent and dangerous. Personally, I enjoyed watching their antics and any other program that shows white people dogging out other whites - the same way they got gut laughs off of Amos n' Andy, Stepin Fetchit, Mantan Moreland, "Good Times," "The Jeffersons" and other coons and the movies and TV shows they starred in. At any rate, the accolades, kudos and praise showered upon Moe, Larry, Curly Joe, Shemp and Joe should be counter-balanced - and in some cases augmented - with a black perspective. For the most part, the Stooges were talented, though racist; they were pioneers in comedy, but still sexist (some would say outright misogynistic). In other words, their skits were a reflection and reinforcement of the times. Much of the snippets about each Stooges episode and information outlining each segment was found on line, as a few people took the time to document the TV "shorts" and a few even bothered to provide a short overview of them. Some of this information was gleaned through research on-line, including a document called The Three Stooges Scrapbook. The topics they tackled, the fact that they were a reflection of their times (rampant sexism, racism and class issues permeate their work), are all important to me and as a result, this is more than just a puff piece; it is an anthropological and critical race theory look at these funny men, addressing issues and concerns that the reader may not find all that "funny." They had sibling issues just like the rest of us. Shemp was Curly's big brother and Curly replaced him for a while. But in 1946 Curly suffered a stroke and Shemp returned to the team. Some might say this is a waste of time. But any time spend studying something and analyzing it from a perspective that can help black and other minority kids learn how to "critically think," is never time wasted. The fact is, someone has to document or provide a black view of what these five Jews (Moe, Joe, Shemp, Larry and Curly) did in the name of "laughs" so that future generations won't be naively believing that it was all "innocent fun." They were, to put it mildly, a reflection of the times. Furthermore, there were 190 episodes, all told. That is a track record of almost two full decades of slaps, kicks, pokes and so on. They are to be commended for their stick-to-it-tiveness. In my brief reviews I highlight the jokes and laughs, but also point to issues of racism and gender bias when and wherever necessary. And we can't overlook the sadism masked in slapstick and silliness. This content analysis is the product of a great deal of television viewing. The inspiration to undertake this project started in 2002 when a cable television channel, A&E, aired an hour of Stooges movies and shorts. I watched nearly every Stooge movie made during the year or so, and documented the dates of each viewing. Many of them had repetitive themes and, in fact, I have categorized those which are similar (female gold diggers, haunted houses, the stooges as repairmen, etc.). The genius of these men should not be undermined, however. The sound effects of the pokes in the eyes were the plucking of strings on a ukelele; the slaps were oftentimes real with sounds effects magnifying them; the blows to the gut came from a bass drum; Larry's hair being ripped out was paper being torn, etc. etc. Their comedy was far more than just slapstick however; keenly honed puns and jokes placed the Stooges in a league far ahead of their time, in my view. And as I stated earlier, the outright sadism cannot be overstated.
About the Author: Matthew C. Stelly is a doctoral student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee working on a degree in Urban Education and Community Policy. He holds three Master's degrees: Urban Studies (1982), Urban Education (1983) and Political Science (2000). He is working toward his doctorate in Community Policy/Urban Education at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He is the former editor of the Milwaukee Courier newspaper, former director of the Great Plains Black Museum and the Plano (TX) African American Museum, and lead archivist for The Black Academy of Arts and Letters (TBAAL) in Dallas, Texas. Stelly has more than 2,500 articles in print and has won two national essay competitions. He is the founding director of the largest African-American neighborhood group in Nebraska, the Triple One Neighborhood Association and Parents Union. He is publisher and editor of the Triple One News, a two-time nationally recognized newsletter. He is the father of five children - Mandla, Malik, Clariece, Charisse and Shannon -- and remains actively involved in community organizing and neighborhood development in several cities, including Milwaukee and Omaha.