On DVD: Mind of Mencia: Uncensored Season 3

 

From: Comedy Central

Starring: Carlos Mencia

 

Mind of Mencia: stand-up, sketch, and man on the street interviews showcase the comedy of Carlos Mencia and a small band of regular players.

 

The Movie

 

Here are the thirteen episodes of season three of the Mind of Mencia. Carlos Mencia's Comedy Central show. I don't pay a lot of attention to the world of comedy but even I've heard some of the criticism of Mencia's work, that he borrows material and that he passes himself off as Mexican when he's actually from Honduras. That along with the fact that I'd never really found him all that funny when I've seen his stuff before I wasn't really expecting to much from his show.

 

I was pleasantly surprised. The show has it's moments. When it's good it's good but to be brutally honest most of the time it's flat. Yeah I giggled in a churlish school boy way the first fifteen times he used the term “beaner” or “wetback” but just the terms themselves aren't really funny. I'd say about a third of the time he would put something together that was really funny and every time that happened he was actually using humor to say something that needed to be said but that political correctness would prevent being said under normal circumstances.

 

Instead of Croce's “I'll have to say I love you in a song” you get Mencia's “I'll have to tell you the truth in a joke”. Not that there is anything original about that. Good comedy, or just good art period has always done that. I just didn't except it from what I had previously seen of Mencia's work. One man on the street bit sticks out in that respect. He goes out on the street with a camera and asks people if they think they are racist. Of course no one in their right mind is going to admit on camera that they might possibly harbor even the most remote sliver of the beginnings of a racist thought. So then he asks them to do impersonations of different ethic groups or races. Things like an Asian, a Black woman, a Hispanic, or a Jew. And of course they act out the typical stereotypes you would expect. Stereotypes that we pretend aren't there, but are ingrained in everyone who's been raised in this country psyche.  Like most hard problems it's easier to sweep it under the rug and chip away at the symptoms instead of getting to root causes. What Mencia does is pull all of that ugly stuff out into the light of day. You can't solve a problem unless you can talk about it, and if you can laugh about it you might actually get somewhere before you decide to just chuck it all and start calling in fire missions.

 

All of the episodes were broadcast this year so you get some topical commentary as well. There is one point where he tells everyone to lay off Paris Hilton and he does a bit on the firing of Don Imus and the etymology of the word “nappy”. There is some material about the 2008 Presidential elections and war in Iraq but he keeps the material broad enough that even five or six years from now when the details of the events have faded the humor, in the instances where it's funny to begin with, will not be compromised.

 

One thing I was impressed with though, and it's kind of sad that this is something I find worth pointing out ( I mean that I should be able to take this attitude for granted, but that I don't), is the several times in different episodes that Mencia expressed how good we really have it in America and what a wonderful place it is. To paraphrase one of his jokes: There may be fence between the US and Mexico, but at least it isn't electric.

 

6/10

 

The Video

 

The video is beautiful. The colors are deep and rich, the blacks look great. I never noticed any aliasing or jaggies or blooming of the reds ant the focus was always spot on. The only possible knock is that it's in the normal aspect ratio instead of wide screen.

 

9/10

 

The Audio

 

The sound is presented in Dolby Stereo, no alternative languages or subtitles, there is English Closed Captions, but the levels are good and the audio clear.

 

6/10

 

The Packaging and Bonus Features

 

The packaging is great. The two DVDs are in their own slim DVD cases with a cardboard sleeve for the two of them. The individual cases list the episodes along with a show synopsis. Each episode has at least one deleted scene and there is a commentary track for one of  the episodes. There are also some previews and a flyer of other Comedy Central releases. Some more bonus stuff would be welcome but it's hard to complain with 308 minutes of material.

 

7/10

 

If you are a fan of Carlos Mencia this is really a no brainer, you'll want to pick this up. Comedy Central did this release right. If you've seen the the show a couple of times and enjoyed it it's probably worth the money. I'm usually easily entertained, but the episodes I had managed to catch on TV really didn't do much for me. Seeing the whole season back to back I enjoyed it much more. Still though Mencia's race based humor is not for everyone and the fact that I, who laugh at nearly anything (and I'll say it again; I am easily entertained), really only laughed at about a third of the material makes it hard to give this a general recommendation.

  

Overall (Not an Average) 6/10

The Review

The Movie 6/10

The Video 9/10

The Audio 6/10

The Packaging and Bonus Features 7/10

Overall (Not an Average) 6/10

 

-Mike Young