Remix culture monetizes marginalized speech as humor stripped of its context

Evidence

“Bed Intruder” wasn’t without controversy. Critics argued it trivialized a serious crime, and others questioned the ethics of the musicians—four white Brooklynites—profiting from the difficulty of living in public housing. New York University professor Jason King told NPR, “The aesthetics of Black poverty—the way they talk and they speak and they look—sort of becomes this fodder for humor without any interest in the context of the conditions in which people actually live.” — W. David Marx, Blank Space, 283

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the chapter’s broader thesis on how flat distribution strips cultural products of their originating context and community. — connects to: Crossing internet fame into traditional media fails when subculture humor cannot translate — Crystal Abidin, Internet Celebrity: Understanding Fame…, 196