The History of White People in America

The funniest segment is definitely when the kids in class answer the question about their heritage. The Asian kid talks about the ancient culture and inventions, then the African-American talks about farming methods and other contributions. A Jewish boy wisecracks in New york accent "Since you are all familiar with the Old Testament, I'll spare you the ancient history." or something to that effect and outlines how his family established a business (dry cleaning?) and made lots of money. Then the white boy gets a turn. When he says "First we lived on Elm, then we moved over to Maple" I really cracked up. I was in college, and I had just moved from an apartment on Elm Street to another place on Maple Ave. And yeah, I'm white!

One of the lucky things about living in Southern California is the opportunity to attend an event such as the one I did last night, a retrospective at the Museum of Television and Radio for "A History of White People in America". Most of the principals were there and you could see how the film came to be by watching these good friends and frequent collaborators riff off of each other. Yet, despite the cast's brilliant improvisational skills, there was a solid script underpinning this lunacy and it's premise is sound; what if we treat the "norm" as a special case just like any other ethnic group?

Seeing it again after all these years proves that the hallmark of a classic is that it doesn't date. Funny is funny no matter when the joke was made and this is FUNNY, perhaps because not that much has changed in the everyday lives of the types of people it examines. It is true to the form of documentaries, making the events all the more hysterical because they're treated as if they're actually happening. With Martin Mull anchoring (and sometimes inserting himself into) the narrative as the oh-so-self-important voice of dispassionate authority (think Mike Wallace with a smirk...well, more so), the illusion is complete. The ensemble cast always displays a deft touch, never over-playing and the production details are spot-on.

This may be hard to find at the video store but it will be well worth the search. Also check out Part 2: A Paler Shade of White and Portrait of a White Marriage.

Which part of "The History of White People in America" is the funniest? I don't know, but a real hoot is when the teacher asks the students about their family history: the non-white students have entire stories to tell, while the white suburban boy says "Uh, first we lived on this street, then on that street." So yes, Martin Mull's mockumentary is part jab at air-head Caucasoids, part jab at self-righteous studies of certain ethnic groups. But no matter how you look at it, this is one of the funniest mockumentaries that I've ever seen. It truly does help us understand what European-Americans have contributed to our country (if we took the approach that we take to blacks, Hispanics, etc). Really hilarious.

Yeah, that yarmulke/Yamaha is something else.