Donald Glover: The Controversy Over the Preference of Either AIDS or Children
He’s a rapper, a writer, a director, an actor, and a comedian. Ladies and gentleman, he’s Donald Glover. The two-time Emmy Award winner’s humble beginnings began in Stone Mountain, GA, growing up volunteering at his mother’s day-care center. Trading the sweet Georgia peach for the Big Apple, Glover attended New York University in pursuit for a degree in Dramatic Writing. While still a student at NYU in 2006, Glover received his first big break from Tina Fey in joining the writing team for her iconic show, 30 Rock. Among his obvious presence in the comedic entertainment industry, it is only Glover who can also create an alternate persona and impress the rapping world under the name Childish Gambino. Now, the comedic genius and rapping star creates masterful pieces such as the hit album “Camp” and the award-winning show Atlanta.
In 2012, Glover, televised a one-hour comedic special entitled Donald Glover: Weirdo. Weirdo featured multiple hilarious storytelling bits. In one specific bit, Glover discussed the benefits of acquiring aids over having children.
I’d much rather
have AIDS than a baby.
Sorry, AIDS beats baby
by this much. *expresses size with fingers*
Seriously.
People get all upset when
they hear that.
Think about it, they’re
not that different, you guys.
They’re not that different
at all, they’re both expensive, you have
them for the rest of your life,
they’re constant reminders of
the mistakes you’ve made, and once
you have them, you pretty much can only date other people who have them.
-Excerpt from Weirdo transcript
Glover justifies AIDS over children with various accounts of cruelty from children. Children do not have a filter nor do they realize the psychological affects of their actions. Aids are incurable, but do they constantly tease you for being fat or not having cool shoes?
I’m just walking by.
And one of ’em just goes,
and just pulls it .
And the other one goes,
“That’s why your mom’s
in a fucking wheelchair!”
And I dropped my shit,
I was like,
Wha… Wha… What?
You can say that?
“That’s why your mom’s in a fucking wheel chair?”, how can a child say that? Does he/she not know that it’s not acceptable to say that to another human? Is the joke funny because Donald Glover is right in that children are cruel? Many testify that empathy is an innate nature. Although, as in Glover’s story, many children lack empathy which leads them to be the “Tiny Hitlers” Glover claims them to be.
There is a study by Nicole McDonald and Daniel Messinger of the psychology department from the University of Miami about the development of empathy. The study observes “how, why, and when” of empathy. McDonald and Messinger concluded to five factors that affect empathy development: beginning with newborns’ and infants’ distress reactions to another’s expressed distress, to empathic concern and helping behavior in toddlers, to gains in cognitive empathy in preschoolers, and, finally, to the stability of empathy as a trait into early adulthood.
Glover highlights the “parenting affect” the study happens to claim as the most important factor of empathy. A child Glover baby-sat, allegedly “Watched HBO a little too early.” Theoretically, the parental approved exposure to HBO led the child to yell at an adult and say, “suck my dick.” Keep in mind, the child pushed a little girl down, and the adult was simply scolding the child. The child’s actions mirror the environment he is exposed to which is predominantly controlled by parents.
Crude TV shows give children the ok to act however the show is exemplifying behavior. Interestingly, the voice Glover perceives the rude little boy as, is a voice similar to “Elmo”, a notorious puppet character from the children’s show Sesame Street. The joke flourishes through with this simple addition of a mock-Elmo voice because of the contrast of HBO adult shows and HBO’s own children’s show, Sesame Street. Dr. Nancy Darling published the article “Psychopaths, Children, and Evil” and revealed a forgotten fact for children’s shows like Sesame Street exist:
There is a reason that Elmo on Sesame Street labels emotions for us and shows us what they look like. Some kids don’t know what it looks like to be sad or to be hurt. And some kids don’t feel what it feels to be sad or hurt, so they don’t know what those words mean. We can be born blind to emotions too.
So, if the Elmo-sounding child watches shows like Game of Thrones and Entourage that is the probable source of violence and dirty language he is familiar with, because he is only learning violence and crudeness instead of empathy and correct emotion.
Throughout the rest of the bit, Glover jokes more on his experience with children growing up around a day-care center and his numerous baby-sitting stories. The more and more stories he tells, the more and more AIDS actually sounds like a better option.
What’s the difference?
The only difference is,
you can’t go to jail
by accidentally dropping AIDS.
So AIDS wins by this much.
*makes hand gesture measuring a small amount*
The joke is funny because of the dark humor and life uncertainty the audience knows in their heart to be true. As he lists off the benefits of AIDS over children, many parents in the audience most likely cringe in approval, because they know he is right. The expenses, amount of responsibility, and lack of support he mentions, points out the controversial cons that come along with parenting. Children cost around 1 million dollars by the time they are 18. The annual cost for AIDS medical care is about $20,000. After living with aids for 18 years, the cost amounts to $360,000. Now, that is a bargain compared to spending 1 million dollars on a back-talking-brat.
Donald Glover’s delivery methods and credibility are what make his jokes, that much funnier. Donald Glover himself once said, “I think it’s a comedian’s job to make everything funny. Nothing is off-limits.” He delivers a raw take on politics, race, and even children with a millenialistic perspective. Leaving the “entitled millennial” conversion out, he carries a fresh-self-made tone with every word he says, whether serious or funny. He knows the ins and outs of comedy. He knows the ins and outs of entertainment, and he’s only 33 years old.
Since taking over the entertainment world in 2006, Donald Glover continues to dominate and exude his talent through his numerous platforms. Along with his recently won Emmy Awards, Donald Glover ironically cherishes his one-year old baby boy, Legend. With that said, the man who originally rather have AIDS than children, now bears and affectionately loves his own.
