When I think of Carlos Mencia, I see a man who probably bought into the illusion that a comedian is some sort of weird philosopher who offers slices of 'truth' in between making people laugh. In reality, Mencia is a sycophantic idiot who likes throwing out lines to get people to applaud and somehow mistakes that for his comedic skill. Instead of making genuinely funny and revealing facts about American life, he simply reinforces the bigotry of his audience and by doing so approves of it. It plays into the whole 'if they're laughing, it's not offensive' mentality that seems to be everywhere today and in vogue. Mencia likes to think his 'brutal honesty' is breaking down the walls of what he thinks political correctness is. The sad reality is that he's not stopping anything, but encouraging it to go on. The only thing he seems to genuinely care about is getting approval from the audience to continue playacting for them. As an entertainer and performer, he comes off as pathetic because he's not there to entertain but to gain some self-esteem which will never last. And compared to the far superior Dave Chappelle's ill-fated show, Mencia comes off as being incredibly substandard, pathetic, and a cheap knockoff. One gets the feeling that Mencia would do anything in the world to a Comedy Central executive just to get a camera on him.
His reliance on racial slurs is also very interesting. Given the name 'Carlos Mencia' is a false one and he's presumably not Mexican, his attempts to fit into the Mexican/Chicano mold in order to make fun of it provides the basic hypocrisy of both him and his show. It seems he's trying to market his show on some kind of acceptance that relies heavily on ignorance (broadly proclaiming everybody accept themselves while bashing down people who break from the norm) while pretending that this schism of logic is a completely normal thing. But how can one accept everything and then bash it down? The only conclusion is that Mencia is a classic example of a bully: he bashes down to build himself up through his show, which reinforces his esteem to continue with this. And while bullying can be done to humorous effect (see Bill Murray), it also reflects on the bully itself. Mencia doesn't have the chops for this self-reflection. Given how the show is an example of his already poor self-image, what you get is a cheap Chappelle knockoff without the social commentary and is just meaner than the applause would have you suspect.
In short, it's easy to slam any criticism of Mencia's show and label those who do as racist. The reality, however, is that Mencia's show is inherently racist without any insight, which is the true sum of any comedy endeavor of this nature. Furthermore, it showcases its host in a very poor light and shows him not to be a comedian as much as a person who needs more self-reflection to see what exactly he's putting out. Perhaps he could be a better comedian, but he just comes out as being a very sad and bitter individual who wants to bring the world down to his level.
His reliance on racial slurs is also very interesting. Given the name 'Carlos Mencia' is a false one and he's presumably not Mexican, his attempts to fit into the Mexican/Chicano mold in order to make fun of it provides the basic hypocrisy of both him and his show. It seems he's trying to market his show on some kind of acceptance that relies heavily on ignorance (broadly proclaiming everybody accept themselves while bashing down people who break from the norm) while pretending that this schism of logic is a completely normal thing. But how can one accept everything and then bash it down? The only conclusion is that Mencia is a classic example of a bully: he bashes down to build himself up through his show, which reinforces his esteem to continue with this. And while bullying can be done to humorous effect (see Bill Murray), it also reflects on the bully itself. Mencia doesn't have the chops for this self-reflection. Given how the show is an example of his already poor self-image, what you get is a cheap Chappelle knockoff without the social commentary and is just meaner than the applause would have you suspect.
In short, it's easy to slam any criticism of Mencia's show and label those who do as racist. The reality, however, is that Mencia's show is inherently racist without any insight, which is the true sum of any comedy endeavor of this nature. Furthermore, it showcases its host in a very poor light and shows him not to be a comedian as much as a person who needs more self-reflection to see what exactly he's putting out. Perhaps he could be a better comedian, but he just comes out as being a very sad and bitter individual who wants to bring the world down to his level.