"If you don't like the humour, don't watch it/don't listen to it"

A common phrase that gets thrown out during discussions about controversial 'comedians' and 'joke posts' is that "if you don't like the jokes, don't watch it" [[Or something along those lines]]. Other defensive quotes are:

"Humour is down to personal taste"
"There's always something somebody will be offended by"
"Any idiot would know no harm was meant"

I'm sure a lot of things come to mind reading this, recent news, comedians with tongue-in-cheek jokes. We laugh at some jokes because they're funny, we also laugh out of nervousness, or astonishment, because we can't believe someone actually said something that would otherwise cause a load of trouble if said by anyone else.

So are offensive jokes actually funny? Are the people who get offended by the jokes 'boring'? 'Spoilsports'? Or does finding these jokes funny mean you have a pretty terrible sense of humour?

Are jokes still funny if they're belittling or harming others?

Yes and No, depends on the context and intent of the joke.

Offence is caused when someone feels they are unfairly targeted or victimised - they are being neutered and hence may feel anger and frustration - trivialising extreme violence which they may have experienced first hand for instance and there is a danger of it becoming tacitly acceptable over time. It can also propagate negative stereotypes which has a tendency to increased bigotry.

For instance, joking about rape may be laughed at by a certain type of person, but not if you were a victim of rape which that person lives with throughout their lives. That is not so difficult to understand.

The problem is that some comedians have always looked for more extreme ways to shock an audience. That is not original and the boundary between satire/parody/irony is lost to many who revel it as a way of legally venting hatred.

And there is the problem: the general public judges where the boundaries of acceptable and unacceptable lay. But when something becomes ingrained in culture because it has ceased to have a shock affect and is then ignored or even condoned, then morality and human rights lose currency and innocent people are the victims.

Ultimately, it is up to society to decide what is and what is not acceptable. But when freedom of expression is broadcast on a national scale, then it is only right that those doing the broadcasting take on their shoulders the responsibility of judgement and accountability if they get it wrong.

When something is aired towards millions of people, regardless of what you joke about....there will be a number of people who have been personally affected by what is being joked about. So the option is to constrict freedom of speech heavily or watch comedy with the right attitude. Comedy is the last bastion of freedom of speech so once we lose that, 1984 here we come.

Don't misunderstand me, I am not suggesting blanket censorship for every thing that may cause offence. Far from it.

I am saying that there is a judgement to be made on certain things whether the general public has the maturity to view something and see it for what it is or whether it will cause widespread offence and may incite hatred to violence.

For instance, making a joke at the expense of a child who was the victim of a paedophile will not be acceptable to most. So why broadcast such a joke if it will cause offence to a majority when the only reaction will be to anger the general public - if there was not an agenda behind the action in the first place?

When something is aired towards millions of people, regardless of what you joke about....there will be a number of people who have been personally affected by what is being joked about. So the option is to constrict freedom of speech heavily or watch comedy with the right attitude. Comedy is the last bastion of freedom of speech so once we lose that, 1984 here we come.

Well evidently that days coming with dapper laughs being pulled off of the tv


Posted from TSR Mobile

the problem with "dapper laughs" is not that he makes controversial jokes, the problem is that he directly advocates the use of sexual harassment and the use of sexually aggressive language and presents it to impressionable young men as serious lifestyle advice.

He's not a comedian, he's just a loudmouth misogynist ****ing prick.

Had seen a bunch of news articles written about him but had no idea who he was. The universally negative comments I'd read about him led me to believe it was a terrible show and he was as you suggest.

Well, I watched it, and turns out it was very entertaining.

lol, I could have predicted YOU would like it Miser. You're into all that misogynistic PUA **** aren't you.

Nothing wrong with liking getting laid, try it some time.

Posted from TSR Mobile

Except PUA doesn't get you laid. PUA is a method used by inadequate failures of men to take out their sexual frustration by humiliating women in public with hateful sexist or threatening comments and harassment under the guise of "trying to pull". lol. As if.

Hence the reason this misogynist piece of **** has been removed from tv. Good riddance.

It's like saying "learning to play the guitar won't make you a good guitarist". If you've tried it and failed then that's most likely down to you alone, if you haven't tried it then you've no business commenting on its success/failure.

So are offensive jokes actually funny? Are the people who get offended by the jokes 'boring'? 'Spoilsports'? Or does finding these jokes funny mean you have a pretty terrible sense of humour?

Completely nonsensical analogy, because PUA does not teach you to pull women, it teaches you to harass and humiliate women. How to lie to them, to trick them, to dupe them.

Of course I haven't tried PUA, PUA is for sad pathetic woman hating losers who couldn't get their dicks wet if they fell off a boat. I'm happy to report I am not, and have never been, a sad pathetic woman hating loser.

Asking for advice on pulling from a PUA is like asking advice on driving from someone who has failed their test 100 times in a row.

I've read up on it quite a lot mind you, so I'm by no means ignorant about it. Know your enemy etc.