
I got into an argument with someone recently who insisted comedy can go too far.
Weโve seen this trend recently over the past few years where social media activists have to prove a point by nagging people into meaningless apologies.
Of course, comedians have been one of the prime targets of these tactics.
The controversy always plays out the same way: the comedian makes a joke โ almost always a funny one โ the social justice types complain that โX is not funnyโ or โthereโs nothing funny about Xโ and as my favorite comedian Bill Burr puts it, โYou end up on the nightly news doing a split-screen with some bloggerโ trying to defend yourself.
These protesters fundamentally donโt understand what comedy is.
The craft is supposed to offend and itโs supposed to cover touchy issues. Not to mention itโs the comedianโs show. The stage belongs to them, not the audience and certainly not to people who watch a joke on YouTube. This irony is obviously lost on people whose job it is to be perpetually outraged at every opportunity, who have begun to actually destroy what has historically been one of the most progressive occupations in history.
Thatโs not to say that jokes canโt go too far, but the ones causing controversy almost never do.
The bottom line is a joke shouldnโt be considered offensive unless itโs a sincere thought from the person making it.
These are jokes being told, not statements being made. If we donโt look at the intent behind the joke, we are left with just words, which can be taken out of context or misconstrued to mean anything.
Itโs like if someone who hates you makes a joke about your looks and your best friend makes the same joke.
The words might be the same but the intent is different. When we isolate 12 seconds of an โoffensiveโ stand-up routine and leave out all contexts, we arenโt accurately presenting the situation.
One of the strangest things about all this is that the most horrific topics never receive backlash. Jerry Seinfeld, the world famous Jewish comedian, actually does jokes about the holocaust. And heโs not the only one.
Louis CK, Gilbert Gottfried, Jon Stewart and even Joan Rivers have all made fun of that topic and it never causes a stir.
Instead, itโs jokes about identity politics that spur the anger.
I think that basically sums up how inconsistent these bursts of outrage really are.
When mass murder is being joked about regularly, finding anything else to be offended by is extremely petty.
So letโs stop getting riled up every time someone says something we donโt like, grow some thicker skin, go down to a comedy club and have a good time.ย ย ย
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