Classic comedy encodes assimilation tension

Some well‑known jokes (here, Abbott and Costello’s “Who’s on First?”) can be read less as pure gags and more as staged interactions where an 'establishment' figure verbally dominates a less‑assimilated immigrant, turning confusion into a power play rather than harmless wordplay. That reading changes whether we call the material merely dumb, merely nostalgic, or a cultural artifact that reproduces and normalizes ethnic‑class hierarchies. — If canonical comedies are frames for assimilation and class power, debates over censorship, historical context, and cultural memory should focus on structural messages the works carry, not just surface humor.