Facebook Group “Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant…” Found Guilty Of Being Unfunny, Not Ignorant
2 August 2007, 4:45 PM. By Carlos Posas
One thing we take seriously around here is the proper execution of immigration humor, working tirelessly on border-crossing jokes so they come off as irreverent rather than ignorant. So imagine our surprise when a commenter clued us in to the popular high school Facebook group known as “Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant…” that offers the following explanations for its title:
1) She speaks spanish… she speaks spanish perfectly… what is she like…5? Her backpack even speaks spanish perfectly!
2) That backpack of hers has EVERYTHING in it! And we’re talking everything! Life support, water/food, clothing for any weather, ropes, grappling hooks, shoes…. i mean c’mon!
3) She’s carrying a freaking ZOO with her! I mean, she has a monkey, an band of insects, a bajillion other animals! Really! What kind of legal immigrant has that many pets!?
Even the group’s disclaimer–”Not intended for those with poor mental capabilities or the inability to take a joke”–couldn’t save the shit from being corny. What these adolescent pranksters seem to forget is that it’s alot easier for someone to take a joke when it’s actually GOOD.
Just to be clear, the group doesn’t offend our sensibility as kin of people pinned down by illegal immigrant stereotypes like the ones above; it simply offends our prerogative to crack halfway decent jokes on a day-to-day basis. (Ah, to be young and stupid again.) In summation, far be it from us to get mad about someone’s attempts at irony and sarcasm. But for future reference, both techniques require airtight execution. (For starters, lose all those exclamation points and the shock of disbelief in your voice; it’s tired.)
And now for a parting shot from the Dora haters:
4) She’s always on an “adventure” to transport a “package” to some destination and is always being stalked by a person trying to take that package… i mean… really, Swiper is so obviously some sort of border patrol person trying to collect evidence of Dora’s entire narcotics trafficking buisness
Did we mention Swiper is a sniveling fox character who wears a mask? Looks like the kids got something right.
Dora the Explorer is soo an Illegal Immigrant… [Facebook]
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At these facebookers don’t actually believe this, unlike certain TIME contributors who have acknowledged an absence of God & “secular-humanism” run amok in Harry Potter. With that inanity, I have a problem. Poorly executed jokes — people will grow out of them.
I thought it was funny.
it is funny im sorry you have something stuck up your assholes
I thought it was funny, and obviously so do 150,000 people. I agree with the person above me..
some Mexican with a ged wants to look cool by critiquing superior American humor, thats all i got from this artical
That group is hilarious, creative, and original. SUCK IT.
the group is funny and your article sucks
Sure I thought it was funny as well until I saw this at the bottom of the description.
“The evidence is so obvious and around you guys! And they’re even poisoning our little children with them… Who wants our toddlers to grow up knowing spanish before english?! Even if it’s the USA…”
the irony is that the parents of the creator of the group come from China. God forbid he was poisoned by learning Cantonese before english?! even if it’s the USA…
i think the person was referring to children whose parents were born and raised in the US. Plus, we of the US tend to be rather egotistical.
the group is hilariously kickass and once again, your article sucks
I’m Andrew Yu, creator of the group and joke, and in response to cynthia up there 2 comments up, i was born in the US, am Korean, and am as liberal as they come.
As for the joke, this group does not advocate stereotypes. In fact that’s what i’m satirizing.
The group’s humor (besides everyone’s hatred towards dora) was supposed to be making fun of the stereotypes and how even a fictional cartoon character would qualify for the label of “illegal”.this humor however seems to be lost upon most people as they get all heated at the mere notion of stereotypes
The group does shift in and out of “the gray area”, that last line you’re complaining about being one of the big ones (reason 1 another complaint magnet). But that’s what makes it fun.
Hmmmm, im in the group, i think its funny, im asian, i get sterotyped everyday of my fucking life….i think i should be able to say this..ITS A JOKE GET A LIFE AND LAUGH AT IT, i dont care if your insulted at it, your just sensitive about you race? well you shouldnt be, you prob steryotype everyone too…………
Seriously?
You have enough free time on your hands to complain about “high school facebook groups”?
No, it isn’t hilarious, I didn’t fall from my chair laughing.
But it’s a cheap chuckle, like most facebook groups. You PC asses really should consider that maybe you are the reason there is still issues with acceptance in this country, reinforcing boundaries between people.
I think the group is hilarious. I am half balck and also know what it’s like to be stereotyped. If we are able to make positive out of negative in our society then well thats fabulous. Also I just had to point out I know in the USA you spell some word different like colour or favourite but “A LOT” is two words!!!!!
I’m sorry, but you just can’t take a joke. I think the group is funny, and even though its your right as human beings to disagree, that’s no excuse to attack it.
grp + article
full of bad
Repost of my fave wall post:
I see that the intent of the group was for something funny. Instead it turned into something stupid and offensive. I’m not even going to attack the retarded ‘evidence’ listed in the group’s description or the ignorant officer titles. Comments and opinions on the wall are worse. You are using Dora to vent your stereotypical and prejudiced views and attack on an entire group. Then their is the creator’s laughable attempt to dissuade people from posting racist or slandering statements when the group itself is just that, a racist statement. Congratulations on creating a group full of contradictions, where you attack the character’s use of her language and attempt to teach it and then turn right around and announce things in Spanish. Here’s to you for creating a nice forum for the entire racist spectrum: from those who believe these statements are innocent and ‘just a harmless joke’ to the flat out racists who go above and beyond calling her an illegal. This group sickens me.
the group is a JOKE! It is for those of us who MAKE FUN OF Dora. It is such an easy thing to do. We ARE NOT stereotyping.
tyler says that you have a water melon head
Stop accusing a not detrimental joke for being a slur against a minority ‘pinned down by illegal immigrant stereotypes’ as you so put it. Victims of an all to brutal world. Always the victims and never the aggressors, the firsts to make that mountain from a mole hill. Have you ever stopped to consider, that possibly those belligerent stereotypes may conceivably have a deeper meaning than to degrade an individual?
A stereotype begins with an action, many actions perhaps. There are an abundance of like stereotypes for all divisions of society, races and religions; all relative to particular actions affiliated that divide by the mannerisms of some. There is a typecast that all British people have ‘rotting teeth’ and all people from Europe smoke which assuredly may represent a percentage of those accused, it does not symbolize an entire population. Like a minority of ‘Latino’s’ living within the US are doing so against the wishes of the government and therefore are ‘illegal immigrants’. It may not represent the entire Hispanic population but, much like those used against other cultures, portray a certain disregard to those whom do not conform to that ideal.
Learn to deal with the fact that some may choose to condescend, we all have, and we’re much better of for it.
the group is for fun. do you know how many people make fun of Dora the Explorer? we are not stereotyping people. Plus, I usually am against anything on the topic of illegal immiration, I mean people came for a reason, and the US was founded on freedom. However, I am one of those people who enjoys making fun of cheesy kids’ shows. LET IT BE!
Oh, come ON. I can’t believe people are getting so worked up about this. And I REALLY can’t believe one of the bigoted comments someone who was against the group made. “the irony is that the parents of the creator of the group come from China”
First of all, just because somebody’s first or last name is “Asian,” doesn’t mean they’re “from China.”
My name may be Mei, but I was born in the US, and I’m half Caucasian. Are you going to say I’m “from China” now? Ridiculous.
All we’re doing here is using a few high school kids’ jokes against them, trying to get our point across, when these kids aren’t actually racist, and probably don’t want to hear it anyways.
I believe it was simply a joke, not intended to hurt any group. Remember, at the heart of any stereotype is the twisting of a truth…
I’m Hispanic…and I though it was pretty funny….
Except for the last part;
“The evidence is so obvious and around you guys! And they’re even poisoning our little children with them… Who wants our toddlers to grow up knowing spanish before english?! Even if it’s the USA…”
I didn’t find that funny.
I don’t know if it was just me, but I though that pic was HILARIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And yes, the bazillion exclamation points are necessary. Got a problem with that?
These people should just seriously chill. It’s just a joke. If you take a look at the catagory, it says it’s “Just for Fun” and “Outlandish Statements”. Stop psychoanalyzing things and give us a break.
I would take this article/critique a lot more seriously if it weren’t for three things:
1) I’m a senior in high school, but I didn’t think it was that outrageously funny. Sure I chuckled, but it’s not like we “adolescent pranksters” consider the group to be the epitome of good satirical humor. “Just to be clear,” I’d like to point out again that it’s a JOKE, not a revolutionary/ground-breaking attempt to rock the world of “irony and sarcasm”.
2) Being that it IS in fact a facebook group/joke, it therefore cannot be considered some author’s attempt at creating a new classic that delves deep into the human psyche or some other bull.
3) THEREFORE, why on earth did you spend time critiquing/criticizing this? The message I’m getting from this article based on your tone and the content is basically this: “I’m an adult, you are adolescents. Therefore I have the natural right to look down upon you and I will do so by pointing out the major shortcomings of your pathetic little attempts at humor! Ha!”
Seriously, get off that high horse of yours, remove the stick shoved up your ass, and get rid of that prejudice that “adolescents” know nothing about sarcasm and irony. (And all that based on a measly facebook joke!)