Eddie Murphy Raw
THE STORY:
Picture the scene – an afro-American family are huddled
together within their suburban dwelling, all of them enjoying the entertainment
that is on offer. The men are playing cards – the women are in the kitchen –
and one of the Uncles (Samuel L Jackson) is watching the children performing in
front him. Now one of these children is a young Eddie Murphy, a person who is
suddenly transformed into a man, and then performs his live stand up show
in New York City Madison Square
Garden
In fine form, Eddie takes to the stage and regales his
audience on such topics of note as – celebrity culture – divorce – infidelity –
the nature of women and men – family values – the film ‘Rocky 2’ – as well as
his parents behavior. What now follows is a selection of quotes’ from this show:
- On the Moonwalk – “How can you do that sh*t and ask a woman to dance?”.
- On Richard Pryor’s rebuttal to Bill Cosby’s distain for Eddies work – “Do people laugh? Yes. Do you get paid? Yes. Then tell the mother f*cker to shut the hell up”.
- On Mothers – I'm sadistic. I go to the supermarkets to watch mothers lose it and beat the shit out of their kids”.
- On Conniving Women – “Be careful of that sh*t – because they cater to your ego”.
- On White People Dancing – “White people can't dance. I'm not being racist; it's true. Just like when white people say that black people have big lips, it's not racist; it's true too. Black people have big lips, white people can't dance. Some brothers will be in the club and white people are like, ‘What are those niggers doing in here?’. They watching y'all dance. And they're like, ‘Look at these crazy mother f*ckers’. Y'all be stepping on people's feet and hitting one another”.
- On Shy B*tches – “I don’t trust them – they are shy because they have too many skeletons in their closet”.
- On His Own Physical Prowess – “I can’t fight, but I can act as if I can fight”.
- On Scare Tactics – “Its always looks good if you can rhyme with your name. I say ‘Don’t mess with Ed... or... hmm... you’ll be dead?’”.
- On Paraphrasing His Own Fathers Humble Origins – “I had eleven brothers and sisters in my family, Eddie, and my father worked at the Toy factory and earned 13 cents a week. That’s not a lot of money for a family, Eddie – we ate the Toys”.
Once Eddie finishes his show, he bows to his audience,
strikes a pose, before he slinks off into the great beyond.
THE REVIEW:
Now I remember the buzz about ‘Eddie Murphy: Raw’ when I was
still a kid at school. Well, it was one of those things that the ‘cool guys’
saw and teased us with - as if this stand-up comedy performance was somehow a
status symbol or something. Granted, at the time, I was very intrigued to find
out what the fuss was all about - and so I persuaded a friend of mine to come
with me to pinch this video from a convenience store. OK, not the best thing to
try to do - given my present benefit of hindsight. Still, nothing ever came of
this endeavor - except for a story that I can now rely to you, so I can
introduce you to this review.
Now to illustrate what I mean by this, please allow me to give
you a conceptual break down of this film. Firstly, a pre-produced family
segment that conveyed Eddie’s home life as a child was on display – which I
liked, as it gave the overall presentation some gravitas, and it was nice to
see Samuel L Jackson at a different time also. Then, the ‘stand-up’ segment
started proper, in which Eddie commented on celebrity culture, as well as what
was said about his previous show ‘Delirious’ – I liked this also, especially
Eddies mimicry skills. Next, Eddie did a rather lengthy routine about Women and
the nature of promiscuity – which went on a tad too long for my liking, because
some of the jokes were too flat, and the nature of his performance was slightly
bigoted overall. And finally, Eddie did a wild monologue that meandered back
and forth between stereo types, his parents, the after-effects of the film
‘Rocky 2’, and the law – which was good, hazy, but good.
OK, I know that it may appear that after saying what I have just
said, that I was mainly disappointed with the ‘promiscuity’ segment of Eddie’s
show – which I am largely. However, there are also a number of other ‘crude
snags’ that kept on creeping into his work, which did not really put Eddie in
his best light.
Primarily, I would have liked some more variation in his work,
especially in the more positive aspects of what appears to be at the centre of
his comedy. For example, when Eddie does Richard Pryor, Bill Cosby, or his
family on stage – he seems to shine. But
when he does his ‘Women hating stuff’ – his charm fades, and he ends up coming
across as a pimp of some kind. Fair enough, I know that I should not be judging
‘Eddie Murphy: Raw’ from a 2011 perspective – though that is not to say that
some of his wares are not of the single facetted variety.
Overall, I am pleased that I watched ‘Eddie Murphy: Raw’
after all this time, but I am just as pleased that I did not pinch it when I
was a kid.
Kind of.
THE RATING: B
EDDIE MURPHY – RAW
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
November 30, 2011
Rating:
Reviewed by David Andrews
on
November 30, 2011
Rating:
