SARA BORRO
staff writer
Comedian and actress Amy Schumer has been rapidly growing in popularity in the entertainment industry for the last few years.
With her fierce, blunt and regularly crude comedy, it is not often one will have any lukewarm feelings about the comedian.
She has created two very defined and divided groups of people that either love her or can’t stand her, with not much middle ground.
However, while Schumer may not be everyone’s cup of tea, she has become an extremely powerful voice in the conversation regarding social justice issues and gun violence in our country.
Schumer was born in New York and graduated from Townson University in 2003 with a degree in theater.
She began her career performing in an off-Broadway play titled “Keeping Abreast.”
For the majority of her early career she made various appearances in comedy clubs, on late-night comedy television shows and performed stand-up specials that were aired on television.
Schumer made her first appearance on Comedy Central in 2010 and the network began airing her sketch comedy series “Inside Amy Schumer” in 2013.
Schumer has also held roles in various movies over the years including “Price Check,” “Seeking a Friend for the End of the World” and “Sleepwalk with Me.”
Schumer appeared in her first leading film role in 2015 for the film she wrote and directed titled “Trainwreck.”
In addition to movie and television appearances, Schumer published a memoir in 2016 titled “The Girl with the Lower Back Tattoo,” which held the top spot on the New York Times bestseller list for two weeks that September.
Despite the crude and vulgar content of many of her performances, Schumer has been speaking out on some very serious matters regarding social justice issues and gun violence in our country.
She has adopted a very effective way of incorporating important social issues in a lighthearted comedy performance, which has proven to be extremely effective in making her point.
Throughout her series “Inside Amy Schumer” she incorporated a lot of content surrounding issues such as sex and gender, feminism and rape culture, creating many “think pieces” that resonated with viewers.
The series won a Peabody Award, which is presented to radio and television stations, networks, online media, producing organizations and individuals for outstanding public service.
Perhaps her strongest stance currently is surrounding gun violence and gun control laws in the United States.
In 2015, shortly after her movie “Trainwreck” was released, there was a fatal shooting in a Louisiana movie theater during a showing of her movie. Two young women, Mayci Breaux and Jillian Johnson, were killed by a man who opened fire in the movie theater.
Ever since this horrendous act of violence, Schumer has been speaking out, supporting stronger gun control laws and advocating for stronger support surrounding mental illness and those struggling with mental health issues.
In her recently released stand-up special on Netflix “The Leather Special,” Schumer begins the routine in true Amy Schumer fashion, making fun of herself and making loutish sexual jokes.
However, during the middle of the performance Schumer takes a somber turn in the routine, mentioning the deaths of the two young women during a showing of her movie.
She briefly discusses the importance of stronger gun control and more support for individuals struggling with mental illness before acknowledging the fact that some people don’t take her or her views seriously because of her coarse and inappropriate jokes.
Schumer then says that an individual can like and enjoy things that are dubbed as “inappropriate,” and “still not want your loved ones to be shot in a theater.”
Schumer has perfected the art of balancing humor and matters of serious importance.
By mixing the two, she is shedding a light on important issues and presenting them in a way that may be easier for some people to swallow, or more entertaining for some individuals to watch and learn from.
So whether you enjoy Schumer or not, it can’t be argued that she is very good at what she does, and she is an important and valuable voice in a time when it is very much needed.

SARA BORRO
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