Amy Schumer is becoming to the 2010s what Chris Rock was to the 1990s. Her series, Inside Amy Schumer, brilliantly and hysterically slaughters every sacred cow imaginable. Schumer’s take on both the oppressive annoyance of the drunken bachelorette party and the desperate-for-positive-press-celeb doing the cliche pity prom date were two examples of her comedic genius.
Like Rock, Schumer has ascended from comedian to social critic.
Last night she took on American rape culture, specifically as it exists within football and fraternity culture.
The vehicle for this discussion was a parody of the Peter Berg television series Friday Night Lights; complete with a running wine glass gag that helps pull the B-Story of the sketch together. Schumer’s send-up of Tami Taylor is hilariously on point, but it’s the background of the bit.
“You might look at this scene and think we’re making light of something serious, but we really are trying to educate,” Schumer said at the Tribeca Film Festival. “We know what message we want to send, and then we also think the premise is funny, and then we go to town.”
Josh Charles stars as a new football coach who implements a strict “no raping” policy.
“No raping?” one player asks. “But Coach, we play football!”
“What if she thinks it’s rape, but I don’t?” says another player.
Watch the Inside Amy Schumer sketch below
Funny and poignant. It makes you laugh and it makes you think. The sketch’s best line, which works on so many levels, is delivered by the coach. “How do I get through to you guys that football isn’t about rape?! It’s about violently dominating anyone that stands between you and what you want.”
“You need to get into the mindset that you are gods and that you are entitled to this. That other team; they’re not just going to lay down and give it to you. You have to go out and take it.”
According to Inside Amy Schumer writer Christine Nangle, who also wrote last season’s take on rape in the military, the sketch was inspired by the Steubenville rape case, which stemmed from a 2012 incident involving high school football players. Actress Connie Britton, who plays Tami Taylor, and does bare some resemblance to Amy Schumer, voiced her approval on Twitter.
Clear eyes, full hearts, don’t rape! Sketches like these are the reason Schumer was named to the Time Magazine 100 most influential list for 2015.
Paul M. Banks owns, operates and writes The Sports Bank.net, which is partnered with Fox Sports Digital. Banks, a former writer for the Washington Times, currently contributes to the Chicago Tribune RedEye edition. He also appears regularly on numerous sports talk radio stations all across the country.
Follow him on Twitter (@paulmbanks) and Instagram (@paulmbanks)