Revolution Televised.pdf

76 What You See Is What You Get
Unlike Flip Wilson’s humor, that of other comedians is more
easily cited with written examples, but placing Flip Wilson’s comedy
onto the page somewhat limits its impact because it was based so
much on the performance. The physical moves, as he sashayed
around the podium of his church and called out for an “Amen”
from the crowd, were unique. 62 However, the skit above does address
critical issues within the black church. Raising money from
the congregation is a constant task. Reverend Leroy’s use of a small
boy as bait and the oppositional comments of the female angel,
which indicate that the church may not need as much as the reverend
suggests, question the honesty of the preacher. While a black
audience viewing this could value the humor, the fear of what a
white audience might think was certainly an issue for anyone concerned
with portraying an uplifting view of the black community.
Wilson’s most popular character by far was Geraldine Jones,
who, he said, “carried me longer than my mother did.” 63 Geraldine
gained such prominence in the early 1970s that several of her expressions,
“The devil made me do it,” “What you see is what you
get” (the phrase was captured in a 1971 popular R&B song by the
Dramatics and used to describe the Apple computer system in the
1980s—WYSIWYG), and “When you’re hot, you’re hot; when
you’re not, you’re not,” entered the American lexicon. Wilson performed
Geraldine’s voice in his stand-up but was truly able to bring
her to life in all her glory on his show.
I noticed when comics spoke about women, they either knocked
their wives or their mothers-in-law. They were always putting
women down. So I said, well, I’m going to go the other way. I’m
going to make a positive image of a female character. . . . When it
came time to do the show I said, damn! Who am I going to get to
play her? . . . I said, well, maybe I can get somebody to do it and
I can ad-lib from offstage. Then a voice in the back of my mind
said, “Are you kidding?” Anything that any great person has done
has been a bold step. So I said, well, let me boldly step into my
panty hose. 64
Yet some critics said Geraldine was reminiscent of Sapphire from
Amos ’n’ Andy. Again, this was a knee-jerk reaction to the exploration
of black characters on network television. Geraldine was
strong, sharp, stylish, and had a cutting wit and a sense of selfassurance.