Original subtitles

♪♪

[canned laughter and applause]

[announcer] "One of Each" is filmed before a live studio audience.

Honey, I'm home--

Ah, gosh darn it!

Every time!

Put it with the others, Ricky.

[canned laughter]

I've heard of "pop and lock",

but ever since you guys adopted me,

it's more like "Pops endslocks."

Oh! Oh![canned laughter]

Trey, stop that.

Real men don't dance.

It's so emotional. Yuck!

According to my calculations,

Trey, you didn't finish your math homework yet.

We're gonna be late for Denise's pool party.

Whatchu talkin' about, Computer?

Inviting a black guy to a pool party

is like inviting you to a coolparty.

[robot voice] Does not compute. [groans]

[ladder thuds]Actually...

sitcoms like this one sure love

making jokes about stereotypes.

But the roots of these stereotypes

are no laughing matter.

Cut![bell rings]

What're you doing? This is comedy gold.

Ehh, more like comedy lead.

Let me bring in my own writer and researcher

to show you what's what.

We got new scripts.

Lotta changes.

What're you talking about?

We don't need to change a thing.

Are you kidding me? Our show's terrible.

Come on, every sitcom

could use a wacky new neighbor.

Fine, but I'm not paying for any overtime.

Deal! Hi, I'm Adam Conover,

and this is a very special episode

of "Adam Ruins Everything."

♪♪

Closed Captions Provided by truTV

Oh, money!

Oh-ho![groans]

Trey, it isn't fair.

Guys like you are all great at basketball.

It's like you have a gift for it or something.

Oh, yeah, you know a little gift melanin.

[canned laughter]

[audience whistling]Speaking of skin, Trey,

why aren't you at my pool party showing some?

[audience gasping]

Computer, what am I gonna do?

I can't go to a pool party, I'm black!

[canned laughter]

You know black people can't swim.

Time out![whistle blowing]

Boy, TV comedies like this sure love making jokes

about black stereotypes.

Yeah, they're hilarious.

Maybe to you, but these jokes aren't so funny

when you realize that these stereotypes

have a really dark history.

Yeah, and while many Americans know this story all too well,

apparently some of us still need to hear it.

Black people don't have some natural inability to swim.

The truth is, for decades, they weren't allowed to.

Time in![whistle blowing]

Hey, guys, you know what's even cooler than a pool party?

A history of pools party.

Okay, Wack Morris. Let's hear it.

In the 1920s and '30s,

the government built thousands of new public pools.

But they were mostly in white neighborhoods.

And until 1964, Southern segregation laws

barred black swimmers from using them.

No pool for you!

[Adam] And segregation

wasn't just a Southern thing.

Cities like Pittsburgh actively encouraged

attacks on black swimmers,

and looked the other way when white citizens

posted armed guards at pools.

♪♪

[canned laughter]

[Adam] And when brave civil rights activists

fought back with swim-ins,

they were met by angry white mobs

who would beat them, or even throw acid in the pools.

Now that there's acid in this pool,

only I can swim in it!

Oh, wait...

[canned laughter]

That really happened?

Yep.Oh, it's [bleep] up.

Even after desegregation,

cities would shut their pools down

rather than let them integrate.

Or they'd just let the funding dry up

once more black swimmers started using the pool.

Finally, civil rights!

We can drink from any water fountain we want,

and swim in any p...

White people are leaving.

Pool's closed. Shut it down!

[canned laughter]

This is some bullshit.

Yep, and the result of that bullshit

is that swimming never became a part of black culture.

Today, 70% of black Americans don't know how to swim.

And according to the CDC, black 11 year olds

are ten times more likely to drown

than white 11 year olds.

But that's not because of natural ability,

it's because of access and opportunity.

The same is true of basketball.

From the 1920s through the '50s,

basketball was actually the most popular sport

among poor Jewish people in urban neighborhoods.

That's because the equipment is relatively inexpensive,

and it doesn't require a field.

As a result, in the early years of the NBA

the league was dominated by Jewish players.

Shenkman!

[canned applause]

But many Americans made racist assumptions

about why Jewish people had a "natural advantage".

Boy, all you Jews are good at basketball.

It must be because of your naturally scheming mind,

artful dodging, and general smart alecness.

[canned laughter]

Yeesh.

As Jewish people were permitted

to assimilate into white culture

and moved out of the inner cities,

black people moved in

and started playing more basketball.

But again, many people assumed it was all about race.

Wow...

all you black people are good at basketball.

It must be because of your natural advantage.

[canned laughter]

The reality is your ethnic heritage

doesn't make you inherently good or bad at anything.

Far more important is access and opportunity.

You're right, I gotta tell Denise the truth.

If you wanna talk to me, Trey,

how about we go someplace we can be alone?

Like the deep end?

[audience whistling]No, no, Denise, look.

I gotta tell you something.

I never learned how to swim.

A lot of black people haven't.

But it-- it's not because we can't or anything.

It's because of decades

of violent, systemic racial oppression.

Oh! Trey, I had no idea.

Maybe I should give you a lesson.

[canned laughter]

It's a sitcom,

they always have a cheesy ending.

Trey, no hanging out with Denise until

after you've finished your math homework.

Why can't you be more like Computer?

I bet he finished weeks ago.

[canned laughter]

Yikes, that stereotype has a really sinister history too.

[boing]

My hair protected me.

[canned laughter]

[canned applause]

Boy, I'm sure glad we left the pool party, Trey.

Math homework is way more fun!

Computer, that's the first thing

you've ever said that doesn'tadd up.

[canned laughter]

You're so studious, Computer.

Trey, you could learn a thing or two from his people.

They're very wise.

[canned laughter]

Whoa, time out![whistle blowing]

Here we go again!

TV and movies are rampant with Asian stereotypes.

Especially the idea that Asian people

are some kind of "model minority."

Smart, successful, polite, obedient, and of course,

inherently good at math.

What's the big deal? Those are all compliments.

Well, these "compliments" actually originated

in a government propaganda campaign.

And not too long ago, white Americans

actually thought the exact opposite.

Time in![whistle blowing]

In the mid-1800s,

Americans were so hostile to Chinese people,

the country passed laws banning Chinese immigration

and denying their freedoms.

They were stereotyped as a lazy, opium-addicted,

menacing horde dubbed the "yellow peril."

[guitar riff]But you're old Uncle Sammy didn't stop there.

Uncle Sammy! Uncle Sammy!

[canned applause][Adam] Yeah, Uncle Sammy

hasn't been such a cool uncle.

Because of anti-Asian racism during World War II,

the United States interned Japanese Americans

in concentration camps.

Hey, it's our Japanese friend Kenji from up the street!

Oh, that's not your friend.

That's a spy who wants to kill Americans.

[canned laughter]

Uncle Sammy, why didn't you do that

to German Americans in World War II?

Yeah, I wonder...

Because they're white.Because they're white.

But all that changed when the US needed

to suck up to its Asian allies during the Cold War.

See, as the Soviet Union rose to power,

the US worried that Soviet propaganda

was making communism sound "dyno-mite".

[Russian accent] America is so racist, am I right?

It's like, hey, USA, cut it out!

Woof. Guess I better

"have mercy" on these Asians.

So America embarked on a propaganda campaign

to tout Asian American success stories.

The State Department highlighted

Asian-American artists, politicians,

and even sent an all Chinese-American

basketball team on tour overseas.

Forget all that nastiness earlier,

America loves our Asian sports heroes.

And in 1965, Congress approved

a landmark immigration law

that ditched racist restrictions.

But it gave preference to immigrants

who had training, talent, or skill sets

that would benefit the US economy.

[speaker feedback]

Sammy and The Rippers are changing their tune.

Border's now open for smart, successful

Asian immigrants.[guitar riff]

Wow! Now that I've let all these educated,

successful Asians into America,

I've gotta say,

Asian-Americans sure are successful and educated.

[wild guitar riff][canned laughter]

So American went from a country

that despised Asians

to one that held them up

as a shining example of assimilation.

And this self-fulfilling prophecy resulted

in the "model minority" myth.

And the most sinister part of this myth is

it was used to put other minorities down.

And it's still holding people back today.

Oh, it's our very special guest star,

professor of history at Indiana University

Ellen Wu.[canned applause]

Why did I need to use the ladder, Adam?

Aren't we on the ground floor?

It's a sitcom thing.

In the 1960s, government officials

looked at socio-economic data

from African American communities

and contrasted it to the so-called

"family values and stability" of Asian Americans.

Now, this fueled racist claims

that black people had no one to blame but themselves

if they experienced poverty

and other social disadvantages.

Conservatives went on to use these claims

to justify making cuts to many essential

social programs for African Americans

and other disadvantaged minority groups.

They were even used to argue against civil rights.

Come on, you don't see Computer complaining

about "fair and equal protection".

Asians earned their place in this country.

Why can't you? Wh-- what? No!

Uncle Sammy, you helped Asian people.

Why can't you see that?

And the model minority myth hurts Asian people too.

If an Asian American student is struggling in school,

many teachers assume that they don't really need extra help.

And it's not true that all Asians

are crazy rich and successful.

The poverty rate for Asian Americans

is actually higher than the national average.

And frankly, it's kinda ridiculous

that we lump people from so many different

backgrounds together as "Asian."

Yeah, Asian people are not a monolith.

Trey, you and your multi-ethnic adopted parents

keep referring to me as your "smart Asian neighbor."

Specifically, I am Korean American

and, sure, I'm smart,

but I also love Ultimate Frisbee.

Why doesn't anybody talk about that?

[canned applause]

You know what? This is messed up.

Computer's a person

who contains multitudes,

and probably has a real name.

You know what, Uncle Sammy?

This is all your fault.

Get out of my room.Whoa, watch the hair!

[canned laughter and applause]

Aww, wipe your tears, you sissy.

Good for you two.

About time you found your cajones

and stood up for yourselves like real men.

Oh, Rick, we have gotta discuss that stereotype...

[canned laughter]

[choking] Before it's too late!

♪♪

Are you sure you don't want help fixing the doorknob, Rick?

[scoffing] Real man like Rick

can fix his own knob.

You worry about fixing dinner.

[canned laughter][man cackling]

Pork Chop! Great to see you, buddy.

[grunting]

[both chuckling]

Ah, you all ready for the annual big hang

in your garage, Rick?

Oh, I can't wait to tell you all about my motorcycle.

Nothing about it is different from last time.

Heck yeah!

Knockin' bottles of beer down...

and bottling our emotions up!

[men laughing]

Sorry Mr. Chop,

but the hard-living, emotion-stifling version

of manliness promoted by sitcoms like yours

is actually making men weaker.

According to the most recent data,

the average American man dies

five years earlier than women.

[Rick] Aw, that's just biology.

Men's bodies get worn out

from carrying around muscles all day long. Yeah!

Wrong again.

Men are 3.9 times more likely

to experience accidental death,

the leading causes of which are behaviors

typically celebrated as "masculine",

like drinking and careless driving.

All right!

Drinking lots, driving fast,

and dying young!

That's what being a man's all about, right, Rick?

[canned laughter][Adam] Yeah...

that's what advertisers would like you to think.

Alcohol and cigarette ads

disproportionately target men with the idea

that drinking and smoking are "manly."

[deep voice] After a long, manly day

at my hard, manly job,

I like to watch football...[men grunting]

crack some beers...[can opening]

and smoke these cancer sticks.

[announcer] He's the most manipulative man in the world.

[scoffing] Oh, come on!

Men aren't being manipulated

to do anything.

[canned laughter]

And men's health is also at higher risk

because of what we're conditioned notto do,

like take care of ourselves with regular doctors visits.

[doorbell rings]House call, Rick.

Did you know men are twice as likely as women

to wait over two years between doctor's visits?

[canned laughter]

[scoffing] Last time I saw a doctor,

he was pulling me out of my mom's "hoo-ha."

[Pork Chop laughing]

And how 'bout this, Mr. "GQ"?

That's an insult because you're wearing fancy pants.

You ever think that maybe men are dying earlier

because we're so stressed out

from having to support our families?

Yeah, I'm under a lot of pressure

working full-time at the tool store

to feed a multi-cultural family of three

plus our smart Asian neighbor.[Adam] That's understandable.

Being the sole breadwinner for a family

would take a toll on anyone,

which may be why studies have shown men fare better

physically and mentally when the financial

and caretaking responsibilities in a relationship are shared.

Rick, the tool store says they need you to come in.

But you worked all week, how about I go down there?

Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

You better watch out there, Rick.

Lettin' your wife work is gonna destroy your marriage.

[high-pitched voice] "Not tonight, honey.

I'm too focused on my career."

[canned laughter]

Pork Chop, that's not true at all.

Studies show that on average,

couples with a female breadwinner

actually report being happier.

I don't know.

If I wasn't the one putting food on my table,

I'd feel I let my family down or something.

Or I'd worry they'd think that.

[sighs] Well...

I think a lot of men feel that way, Rick.

Men and women are under such intense pressure

to conform to the stereotypical gender roles,

it's natural to have conflicted feelings

about deviating from them.

Oh, here we go with the feelings talk.

Next he's gonna say men need pedicures

and book clubs.[canned laughter]

I mean, why not?

Don't men deserve to take time for ourselves

and have meaningful friendships?

Yeah, of course.Well, studies show

that boys feel pressure to abandon

intimate male friendships as they get older

because they grow self conscious that

that's not how men are supposed to behave.

Nah, not me and Pork Chop.

We've been best friends forever.

[Adam] Aw, look at that.

You two literally grew apart.

Whoa, you don't wanna let anyone ever know

that you once hugged another man, okay?

That is weird.

Pork Chop, despite the fact that we socialize men

to reject intimacy, men need close friendships.

We all do!

Whoa!

Loneliness is as bad for your health

as smoking 15 cigarettes a day.

And having strong social connections

is just as important for reducing heart disease

as eating right and exercising.

But despite that,

just 9% of men report feeling

that they can rely on friends for support.

Pork Chop, we gotta start opening up to each other

before our bodies start breaking down.

[scoffing] No way. I'm outta here.

[audience gasping]

Uh, Chop?

Oh, I guess those are my stifled feelings coming out.

[canned laughter]

[retching]

[audience gasping]

What's happening to him?

Don't worry, guys, I see this all the time.

Hey, that's former NFL cornerback Wade Davis.

I wanna teach you both a term

that really captures what we're talking about here.

"Toxic masculinity."

Toxic masculinity doesn't mean that

there's anything wrong with being a man.

It's about the narrow expectations of masculinity

that society places on us

and that we place on ourselves.

These expectations negatively impact men,

our partners, our kids, everyone around us.

Many experts believe that toxic masculinity

is one of the root causes

when men are psychologically aggressive

or commit domestic violence,

sexual assault, or even mass shootings.

Plus, having to "act like a man"

all the time is just so restrictive.

We were all brought up believing that the only way

to be a real man is to live out this stereotype,

but it's not true.

There are so many different ways

for us to be men if we choose to be.

But you make it sound so easy.

Well, Rick, I don't think it's easy for anyone.

It definitely wasn't for me.

But one thing that men can do

is start reflecting on where these ideas of manhood

even come from.

Personally, I learned a lot

by reading and listening to women.

And I have to add I couldn't have

thought through these issues without the help

of the women who work on our show.

[canned applause]

And none of us are perfect.

It takes a lot of work

to unlearn how you've been socialized.

But there's actually a lot of strength

in being vulnerable.

If we can model that vulnerability

and hold each other accountable

when we see other men performing hurtful behavior,

that's how we can take the first step.

You're right.

Pork Chop, I don't think

the cracks you've been making about Carmen are appropriate.

And I think you should start examining

why you think it's okay to say things like that.

[nervous chuckling] I don't know.

I guess I owe her an apology.

You too.

I'm sorry, Rick.

I'm sorry, Carmen.

Rick, I hope you haven't felt like

you have to be some big, strong, tough guy for me.

No, Carmen, it's not you.

It's... everything.

After I take Chop to the hospital,

I could do a few loads of laundry.Yeah.

'Cause we're all in this together.

[canned applause]

[muffled] I love you, Rick.

Okay, that's enough.[bell ringing]

This is terrible, you ruined the show.

Actually, this is gonna make your show better.

Let's just finish the sc--

♪♪

Wade, thank you so much

for being on our sitcom, we really appreciate it.

We're family, brother. Thank you for having me.

You're the perfect person to talk to us about this,

because you used to play for the NFL.

But now you're known for your work on race,

gender, toxic masculinity.

So you've talked a lot about how feminist books

are what helped you begin to reexamine gender roles.

If I wanted to read

one of those books now, what should I start with?

So if there's one book,

read this bell hooks book:

"Feminist Theory: From Margin to Center".

So what I learned was that the root of homophobia

was sexism, and that changed my entire life.

I was like, "Wow, everything that I've thought

that was about men was actually about women."

When we're calling other men sexist or homophobic terms,

we're really talking about women.

But when we're doing that,

we're unnecessarily limiting

the range of things that men can be.

Yeah, and you also always put a woman

or "acting like a woman" in the pejorative sense, right?

[Adam] Yeah.If I do anything

that can be perceived as feminine

or perceived that women do,

that it is a negative, awful thing.

And then that makes men specifically only have

a very tiny window of how we can show up in the world.

And that feels suffocating.

How can men get over that and start having

real conversations with each other?

The number one thing I tell men to do

is just be honest with themselves first, right?

I could never be honest with you, Adam,

as another human being if I'm never honest

with myself first, right?

I think when it comes to gender equality,

we have to own the fact that we have been socialized

to believe certain things about women

which impacts what we think about gay men,

about trans folks, right?

Like, can we actually learn about people who aren't like us

and then we immediately learn about ourselves.

Well, I'm really appreciative that you're out there

talking about it and helping

widen people's perspectives on this.

You've widened mine, and, uh, yeah,

thank you so much for coming on the show.Thank you for having me.

Gee, it seems likefor having me.

we've all been feeling boxed in by stereotypes.

Yeah. You know, maybe it's time

that we stopped looking at ourselves

as "one of each"

and more like a group of individuals

who refuse to be reduced by their racial

and gender stereotypes.

That we're created by cultural and historical forces

way beyond our control.

Kind of like this very sitcom.

[audience applauding]

This script is awful.

You took the funny out of these characters

and you spent the whole episode deconstructing them.

And you completely de-spiced my spicy Latina.

Oh, yeah, that's a whole stereotype

we didn't even have time to get into.

Man, this 21-minute runtime is restrictive.

Ehh, I was just happy to get to put down

the maracas for one episode.

Oh, jeez, everyone's so sensitive these days.

Comedy doesn't need to change.

Funny is funny.

Actually, comedy can and should evolve

with our culture, and it has many times.

Like today, we know that blackface isn't funny.

But it used to be so popular,

even megastars like Bob Hope, Mae West,

and Judy Garland did it.

Oh, I had the most marvelous dream.

You were there, and you, and you,

and we were all in blackface.

And in retrospect, that was terrible.

So you're saying people realized it was hurtful,

they stopped doing it, and comedy survived?

Well, not everybody stopped.

Look, the jokes we choose to tell

and the characters we write

don't just reflect our cultural values,

they have the power to influence them too.

So what do you want the audience to see

when they watch your show?

Tired, old, reductive clichés,

or themselves as they really are?

[triumphant music]

♪♪

Nah, I'll just cancel it.

[bell ringing]

I told you.

[power shutting down]

[bleep] you, man. I'm out of a job now.

S... sorry, everybody.

This set is pretty cool, isn't it?I love it.

W-- do you think this is an authentic set

to a teenage boy?

Do I? Yeah.

Well, I have pre-teen boys,

um, and their room is a lot messier.

[laughing]So this is actually pretty tidy.

This is like-- this is like a sitcom boys room, I think.

Um, well, so the model minority myth

is kind of a specific stereotype that's--

that's usually put on, you know, some groups

of Asian Americans, not others.

There are other stereotypes

that affects other Asian Americans, right?

So the one I can think of is--

as the most significant right now since 9/11

has been the stereotype of, you know, Muslims

as being terrorists.[Adam] Right.

And a lot of South Asians, you know, Arab Americans--

A lot of South Asians are Muslims. Right.

So I think that stereotypes in the American society

for racial minorities,

you're only typecast in very few ways.

But even those-- those stereotypes

are not even internally consistent.

Like, if someone says, "Asian Americans, they're all like this."

Well, except for the stereotype

that you're applying to a different group of people

who are of Asian descent.

The very idea of stereotyping people in that way

doesn't hold up if you look at it

with the smallest critical eye.

Yeah, I think the problem just seems to be

assumptions about people, you know?

Whether it's about being a math-wiz

or whether it's about being, like, a criminal?

Those assumptions really have real consequences.

Yeah.But the most useful thing we can do

is to understand where they came from

or why they exist.

Then it's like, what do we do with that information?

I think it's up to each of us.

Thank you for coming on the show to help

make us more aware of this.[both laugh]

Thank you, it was a lot of fun.

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