can it be funny?
Sat, 2001-10-06 22:30
#1
can it be funny?
tricky one, this.
it seems that there’s a sizeable proportion of people, possibly the majority, who appear to believe that some subjects are “too serious to be joked about”. naturally, i’m thinking about the current grimmer than usual state of the world, but prior to that there was also a certain spoof tv documentary in the uk about paedophilia, which reportedly [and i didn’t see it] caused widespread offence.
what do abc’ers think? undoubtedly, there *are* offensive jokes, but do people here think that certain subjects are impossible to joke about? is humour an art, and if so why don’t we complain about writers who address these subjects? is is fair to argue that the point is not *whether* a subject can be joked about, but *how* it is joked about? is reading a bad poem about september 11th, just as stomach-turning as hearing a bad joke about september 11th?
dare i ask if anyone knows any really good, topical jokes?
justyn_thyme
www.theonion.com/onion3734/hijackers_surprised.html
Emily Dubberley
I think it depends on who's telling the joke (ie, if a female friend told a joke about PMT, it would be fine, if a bloke told it, it might not be) and on the audience; if there's someone around who has experienced the thing being joked about, then it's probably inappropriate.
I would tell some inappropriate jokes but, as ed, I have to be particularly carful so I'll leave that to everyone else.
Cheers
Em
Mississippi
Its bloody funny.
Tell as many fag jokes as possible mate, I'm up for it.
funky_seagull
I guess sometimes I use humour as a way to cope with stuff..
Trieing to see the funny side to things helps to balance out some of the depression I feel inside.
I have a lot to learn...
I don't mean to offend anybody. I have done in the past and have regretted it. Some people get really upset by jokes about serious events. As I have discovered.
I need to learn to be more sensitive with folk... tread carefully and be meek and lowly. Show kindness to others. The Dalai Lama is my inspiration man.
Empathy is such a beautiful emotion. One I need to work on.
If someones gonna be upset by a joke then its best not to say it. Save the jokes for people who will find them funny.
After all if someone was gonna tell a joke about something that was close to my heart I would feel really wounded.
yeah man sensitivity is the key... I have a lot to learn.
Mississippi
That wasnt me by the way. Just in case anyone was in doubt.
Miss
Yes it was.
Mississippi
hrmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
he's behind youuuuuuuuuuuuuuu
andrew pack
I think on another thread, Justyn Thyme pointed out theOnion.com They did some pieces on the Sept 11 events which were very funny and also quite poignant. There was one about a woman baking a cake which was almost a short story rather than a spoof piece of news.
Very difficult balance to get right. I don't think any subject is completely taboo for comedy (the closest would be paedophilia, but there were bits of Brass Eye that had me in bits with laughter) - I suppose it depends on whether there's a point to it or whether it is just to be controversial.
I would set the bar for taste higher for art than for comedy.There are some pieces of art that I have felt are in extremely poor taste and done purely for shock value. So, in a sense, I'm a hypocrite.
I'm very in favour of Free speech and Voltaire's doctrine of 'while I don't agree with what you say, I will defend with my life your right to say it', but I found this pushed very close to the limit with Salman Rushdie. If he tried to publish the Satanic Verses today, I would be in favour of having it banned. I don't think he did the world any favours with that book.
stormy
as roy says, a lot has to do with timing I believe.
many years ago when that container ferry - I forget which one - sunk after some fool left the doors open I heard this the following evening.
"what the similarity between the SS????? and a condom?"
"don't know" says I knowing I'm about to hear a sick joke and worrying about my reaction.
"they both roll on and roll off and are full of dead seamen"
for days afterwards I felt guilty about laughing..... but I also wondered what would have happened if the guy who was running round telling the joke to everyone he met had told it to someone with a relative onboard?
when I received the emails about bin laden 2 days after new york I didn't crack a smile. (they weren't very funny anyway).
but this week I bought private eye and pissed myself at the jokes. I was also kindly directed to the onion when it recently re-appeared which I found equally amusing.
andrew, that's a good point. maybe we could get everyone to tighten up their writing as follows:
keep the cherries but add a new vote called fatwah!
5 fatwahs and your writing days are over chummie.
Liana
Perhaps we could also give fatwahs to fatuous thread comments?
stormy
like the one above you mean?
Liana
Oh Dear Storms, I sense a slight paranoia.
I was referring to the several other posts on this thread.
(see above)
Not a good idea then?
stormy
oops, sorry.
I just came from the war thread and read it in association with your remarks to me in there.