A Short, Informal Essay On Politically Incorrect Humor

I once wrote, almost, in a thank-you letter dedicated to the Reverend of the school for blind children (he himself was blind) - “…thank you, sir, for this eye-opening experience..”. Since then I’ve gotten the habit of double-checking my sentences to ensure their “political correctness”. Even so, expressions that could be considered “offensive” occasionally slip past my notice and make their way into my everyday speech. You would not believe me if I told you that I wasn’t even trying to intentionally formulate such expressions- they just ambushed me, as if my brain was hard-wired to do so. In casual conversations with friends it’s not much of a problem because almost every friend of mine are tolerant of such mishaps. But on formal occasions I have a lot of trouble vigilantly maneuvering through sentences to escape this potentially perilous idiosyncrasy. Perhaps there is a sort of innate comedian inside of me who wants nothing better than to offend people but this is definitely not a valid excuse for my behavior, given that the majority of the people firmly believe that politically incorrect expressions, which they assume are intentional rather than accidental, are not justifiable by any means. It is to this case that I want to dedicate this short essay.

We live in an age where values, traditional or otherwise are constantly scrutinized and molded according to the zeitgeist. Three hundred years ago sardonic barbs about religion could cost a witty satirist his or her head but now it is nothing short of playful albeit controversial humor employed by virtually every comedian who makes a living inciting public laughter at the expense of a particular race, religion, creed, stereotypes, etc. I believe humor is subject to evolution. What is considered banal today might be the joke of the morrow. In such a rapidly changing world, the line between what is acceptable as humor and what is not has diminished in intensity, especially more so since the advent of Internet and hence the internet humor, which obliterates the line completely.

But what is considered playful humor in the cyberspace is still considered a very controversial issue in the real life. Concentration camp jokes are one such type of jokes which have yet to undergo such an evolution. If influential religious leaders whose teachings are still practiced by billions today can be made fun of then why shouldn’t the holocaust be also subjected to the same sense of humor? People are quick to answer “Because it is outright preposterous. To make comical remarks on such an atrocity will be utterly disrespectful to the families and the relatives who have lost their loved ones”. This enduring, and probably all-pervasive notion that we should not make fun of the deceased especially those who went through a painful ordeal might be the reason why concentration camp jokes are met with scorn and contempt by the general public.

Indeed such “heinous” humor pushes the boundaries of controversial humor and challenges the very notion of accepted social norms. People these days are fond of slapping labels like “Anti-Semitic, Racist, Sexist, etc.” without caring much for the significance these words entail. They often fail to realize that not all comedians who embrace stereotype jokes are racist, or that not all comedians who are fond of gender-based humor are sexists. What these comedians are trying to achieve can be thought of as an attempt to expurgate negative connotations from “racism” or “sexism” in order to sterilize these derogatory words. Similar attempts are made by African American people in rap music, which is a predominantly black genre, by repeated usage of the n word to deprive it of its negative meaning.

But I admit that not all people have this intention in their minds. There are some who use controversial humor, especially acute generalizations, i.e. stereotypes, to deride other people who come from dissimilar religious, ethical, or racial backgrounds. For people like these controversial humor is just another apparatus by which they can assert their dominance, though they may not necessarily hold controversial views. Almost all forms of internet humor can be summed up as an attempt to invoke laughter with controversial humor, under the pretense of puerility but with no actual malicious intentions involved. If somebody is dropping n words on social media sites, it’s very likely that he is not doing it to mock African Americans but rather than to sound “cool” among his peers. Likewise if somebody on the cyberspace is cracking concentration camp jokes it’s probably because he wants to garner attention, not because he is an anti-Semite. On the internet (and this is not  a claim) the amount of “coolness” is more or less determined by how many controversial views you appear to embrace.

Whether or not if these jokes will become commonplace in the near future is an issue beyond the scope of my limited knowledge. There’s a very compelling reason to believe that they will not, as far as the painful history of holocaust goes. In the end I believe it all boils down to the very person who is being exposed to such humor. If the spectator feels deeply offended then he or she should notify that the comedian immediately unless of course if you are on the internet then there is not much you can do. If, on the other hand, the person finds it humorous and amusing, and worthy of a laughter or two then the comedian alone is no longer held liable for implications that may arise afterwards.