Humor: When does comedy cross the line and turn into bullying?

[Ikasury]

"Bullying" in my experience is the act of one person just being generally mean for no reason to another other then they have some anger issues, inferiority issues, home issues, stress, etc. etc. etc. or are just plain jerks for the sake of being jerks, column A has it where they can 'learn' and alleviate their problems and eventually become better people... column B and no, there's no help for these people, they'll just be assholes because they have no empathy and in their little worlds 'it amuses them' and have no care or concern for others around them...

as for 'jokes' being 'bullying', yes, it happens, more then A LOT, its what i'd call the most prolific form, as 'jokes' can be brushed off or ignored or 'easily' pushed aside with stupidies like 'hey i was only kidding' or 'its a joke, chill' and the offender is pretty much 'guilt-free' because it was 'just a joke' while the offended has to 'deal with it'... its this lack of responsibilities that annoys me more then the actual thing it is...

personally i love sarcasm and satire, joking that is AWARE its a joke, this is fine as its just supposed to be lighthearted and funny... people mocking others and generally being 'mean' in the 'guise' of a joke... yea, not funny... especially when the people don't even realize the 'fake'-joke is 'just a joke' and take it seriously, because they actually have a brain and empathy...

i haven't seen the cosplay vid you've shown, but like satire, most people that dress TERRIBLE in cosplay, like a fat-man dressed as sailor moon, mostly likely KNOWS he looks ridiculous and is actually fully aware and fine with that, if not completely feeding into it... so its funny, i'd laugh, with him, not at him... if the person is 'unaware' then no... its not funny... and best to just walk away...

things i also can't stand are rape, domestic abuse, harmful sexism or gender-sterotyping, calling people who commit suicide 'cowards', mocking people who 'serve' from those who do nothing, or ridiculing people for having faith in something beyond themselves who do no harm with it unlike a lot of the other assholes out there craming it down our throats... phrasing these things and others in the terms of being 'harmful' or 'cruel' is a oneway ticket to getting punched in the face within my reach, luckily i'm a typically rational, empathetic person that knows the difference between a 'joke' and people just being assholes, and more often then not i'll laugh at the former if its good and ignore the later as they're usually not worth my time...

 

[kickyourass]

It's a rather nebulous line to be honest, especially in a this sort of context when can't really tell how the other person is taking it. But in general I'd say it's mainly your intent, if you make a comment, 'funny' or otherwise, with the main goal of hurting someone, that's bullying.

It is bullying when it's purpose is to hurt the individual in someway. Most people I know are always making fun of each other but there is no intention to hurt.

Let me preface this post by saying: I'm not trying to be inflammatory here, I was honestly surprised at the reaction to the top 5 video and I'm curious about what you (and others) think.


Does that mean that you think it's okay to call someone ugly or stupid if you're really and truly just joking with them? Even if your words hurt their feelings pretty badly, but you only intended to play around, does that make it okay?

If you honestly weren't trying to hurt them then I would assume you would apologize rather quickly and refrain from saying those thing to that person in the future. If you continue to make those sorts of jokes after they make it clear how they feel, then it becomes bullying since you can't really claim ignorance, or that you didn't intend to hurt them.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

The rule of humor is pretty simple:

If you are making fun of someone and they don't think it's funny, it's not.

That's the line between humor and bullying.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

Ok so I know this thread isn't about the video itself, but I needed context about what started this discussion and here is my take honestly

1)It's a crappy megaman costume, she wasn't mocking the dude himself just the costume. I'm pretty sure a more hard core cosplayer (and I know a few) will be much harsh and meaner to that poor dude.

2)She was pretty much calling the idea of a cat girl costume and how overly done it is and most of the time done poorly.

3)Again calling out the quality of how bad those costumes are.

4)Ok I've seen that photo and he has been a butt of a lot of jokes, she isn't the first. And honestly if your going to go in that costume your opening yourself up for jokes, so maybe just maybe he is fine with it.

5)Again she is calling out how bad the costume is.

Besides the sailor moon guy she didn't really make fun of them, just their costumes and how poor they were.

I actually reported Lisa's post for being offensive as it did cross the line and become bullying. Not everyone has the time, money, or materials to make perfect costumes so to make a video just to mock those people is just mean.

^^^THIS^^^

That video was tasteless at best, and downright hurtful at worst.

Those people spent a lot of time and effort, and put their self-esteem on the line. No reason to belittle them.

You can spend a lot of time and effort making something but if it's crap it's crap. I wish my professor had that though process in my programming class, I would have had an "A" for the project I spend all my thanksgiving vacation on. And if you don't tell someone their costume or work is bad they would never learn and get better.

 

[lowkey_jotunn]

Simply put : It turns into bullying when the person you're making jokes about tells you to stop, and you don't.

Unfortunately, in the video referenced, the people in question weren't asked, so that metric kinda fails out the gate. But given the quality of work put in, I doubt any of them are really taking it personally. With the possible exception of the Felicia attempts at #4, none of the other costumes look like costumes at all. Strapping water-jugs to your feet and bath towels to your hand does not really make a costume... and if you try that, you HAVE to know that you will catch a little flak. Likewise if you're a guy with a FULL BEARD, dressing as Sailor Moon... yeah, you are clearly trolling. Wear the costume with pride and be prepared for some lols.

Hopefully you'll be laughing along side everyone else.

 

[fibchopkin]

But if the purpose isn't to hurt someone it's not bullying which was what he is getting at. I have a friend I met in college and the first thing I said to him was "Who is this pedophile passing out candy?", and that was it we were friends since then. We have been in screaming matches saying the most harshest things we can thing of Like how "I dug his mother up cracked her open like a cold one and filled her with life like the dirty **** river women she is", and he would retort about how "my tarness would stick to everything i touched and covered in **** all day because of it". That's just a sample of it, another time we were behind a asian mart screaming at each other about what the other would do to a butterfly (I said he would have real first for the first time in years, and he said i would have it as a pet and kill it with my tar).

So I honestly don't think there is a line to cross as long as it's intention was not to hurt someone. That is a problem because outside of our circle of friends it would seem vulger and offensive to a "PC" person with out insults, but to us we laugh and go watch a movie.

Clearly you and your friend have a good relationship and you both feel comfortable with these types of jokes. I get it, as an army vet, I have a lot of buddies who served/ still serve in the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. I imagine that some of our more insensitive and lewd jokes about the differences between our chosen services would sound ugly to an outsider. However, I'm pretty careful to refrain from obviously inflammatory content in a public setting, and I would NEVER call out a random person on the street or on the internet and tease them simply to get a few laughs. I feel like what was done on the Top 5 was akin to seeing someone on the street who looked different from everyone else, a little fatter, a little poorer, maybe, and so that made it "okay" for the pretty girl with the expensive clothes to poke fun at them.

It's a difficult line to walk, and I think the show fell off on the wrong side, but I appreciate that you offered your viewpoint, you and your friend sound like fun, if a bit un-PC

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

Ok so I know this thread isn't about the video itself, but I needed context about what started this discussion and here is my take honestly

1)It's a crappy megaman costume, she wasn't mocking the dude himself just the costume. I'm pretty sure a more hard core cosplayer (and I know a few) will be much harsh and meaner to that poor dude.

2)She was pretty much calling the idea of a cat girl costume and how overly done it is and most of the time done poorly.

3)Again calling out the quality of how bad those costumes are.

4)Ok I've seen that photo and he has been a butt of a lot of jokes, she isn't the first. And honestly if your going to go in that costume your opening yourself up for jokes, so maybe just maybe he is fine with it.

5)Again she is calling out how bad the costume is.

Besides the sailor moon guy she didn't really make fun of them, just their costumes and how poor they were.

I actually reported Lisa's post for being offensive as it did cross the line and become bullying. Not everyone has the time, money, or materials to make perfect costumes so to make a video just to mock those people is just mean.

^^^THIS^^^

That video was tasteless at best, and downright hurtful at worst.

Those people spent a lot of time and effort, and put their self-esteem on the line. No reason to belittle them.

You can spend a lot of time and effort making something but if it's crap it's crap. I wish my professor had that though process in my programming class, I would have had an "A" for the project I spend all my thanksgiving vacation on. And if you don't tell someone their costume or work is bad they would never learn and get better.

There is a distinct difference between bullying and constructive criticism. Lisa's video easily fits into the former category. There was no advice for improvement, this was "point and laugh at these losers" straight from a 4th grade playground.

Funny thing is there are cosplayers who get very very pissed off seeing people who half ass it, and these people more then half assed it. And some of these hard core cosplayers can get mean and nasty, I remember talking to one guy who was pissed that his group lost to some store bought costumes while there's was hand made pretty much saying they were lazy and had no bussiness in a costume contest (granted it was halloween during this incident). I have a friend who does cosplays and he gets really annoyed at "fake con goers" who just slap on a costume and don't put any real effort. And you don't need to think long and hard to tell they could have tried harder.

 

[solemnwar]

I just want to mention something, that has to do with bullying (and also discrimination/any of the various "isms").

YOUR INTENT DOESN'T MATTER. DOES. NOT. MATTER. I someone is still hurt by your words, it doesn't matter if you meant them only as a joke, that hurt is still there. You'll be treated more LIGHTLY, generally, if you had only meant it as a joke (it's generally why it's suggested (but not required) in the steps for dealing with harassment to ask them to stop and talk about it, because sometimes people are a little thick and don't realise they're upsetting you).

So I wish people would stop whining about intent. It doesn't really matter what you INTEND to do, only what you ACTUALLY do. Your "intent" is invisible and for the most part meaningless- it's what actually comes about from your actions that matter. I have some experience with this, I joked with a former friend that she was "stupid", when obviously she was not, and I had thought it was a joke that we both shared, and didn't notice that it was upsetting her, and it was one of the (many) things that ultimately broke up the friendship.


If you want a wider scope of "intent does not matter", see various laws meant to stop shit but ended up making things worse. I'm sure a quick google search can bring up millions of those.

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

But if the purpose isn't to hurt someone it's not bullying which was what he is getting at. I have a friend I met in college and the first thing I said to him was "Who is this pedophile passing out candy?", and that was it we were friends since then. We have been in screaming matches saying the most harshest things we can thing of Like how "I dug his mother up cracked her open like a cold one and filled her with life like the dirty **** river women she is", and he would retort about how "my tarness would stick to everything i touched and covered in **** all day because of it". That's just a sample of it, another time we were behind a asian mart screaming at each other about what the other would do to a butterfly (I said he would have real first for the first time in years, and he said i would have it as a pet and kill it with my tar).

So I honestly don't think there is a line to cross as long as it's intention was not to hurt someone. That is a problem because outside of our circle of friends it would seem vulger and offensive to a "PC" person with out insults, but to us we laugh and go watch a movie.

Clearly you and your friend have a good relationship and you both feel comfortable with these types of jokes. I get it, as an army vet, I have a lot of buddies who served/ still serve in the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force. I imagine that some of our more insensitive and lewd jokes about the differences between our chosen services would sound ugly to an outsider. However, I'm pretty careful to refrain from obviously inflammatory content in a public setting, and I would NEVER call out a random person on the street or on the internet and tease them simply to get a few laughs. I feel like what was done on the Top 5 was akin to seeing someone on the street who looked different from everyone else, a little fatter, a little poorer, maybe, and so that made it "okay" for the pretty girl with the expensive clothes to poke fun at them.

It's a difficult line to walk, and I think the show fell off on the wrong side, but I appreciate that you offered your viewpoint, you and your friend sound like fun, if a bit un-PC

Thanks, we do get along (I can't wait to see him to watch man of steel oh god the jokes O_O). And I get that not everyone can take the same jokes, I have to balance which friends I insult with what and where I am at (I'm not going to to call a person that I don't know a filthy dirt ***** like I call my friend). And I did watch the video and honestly, she was mostly calling out how bad their costumes are (Not the sailor moon guy). But the thing is they are making themselves into spectacles of the public eye more so then a plain clothed person. And I saw nothing wrong in her saying the costumes were bad, because it looked like no effort went into it. And they can do two things, get hurt and cry about it or make a better costume. I mean if they went to a costume contest they would flat out lose, and more hardcore congoers would most likely talk a lot more shit (and meaner) like how they should have no business or they are not true fans. But you can go and do something you like, but the moment you put it out on public it's going to be judged.

 

[Caiphus]

I just want to mention something, that has to do with bullying (and also discrimination/any of the various "isms").

YOUR INTENT DOESN'T MATTER. DOES. NOT. MATTER. I someone is still hurt by your words, it doesn't matter if you meant them only as a joke, that hurt is still there. You'll be treated more LIGHTLY, generally, if you had only meant it as a joke (it's generally why it's suggested (but not required) in the steps for dealing with harassment to ask them to stop and talk about it, because sometimes people are a little thick and don't realise they're upsetting you).

So I wish people would stop whining about intent. It doesn't really matter what you INTEND to do, only what you ACTUALLY do. Your "intent" is invisible and for the most part meaningless- it's what actually comes about from your actions that matter. I have some experience with this, I joked with a former friend that she was "stupid", when obviously she was not, and I had thought it was a joke that we both shared, and didn't notice that it was upsetting her, and it was one of the (many) things that ultimately broke up the friendship.


If you want a wider scope of "intent does not matter", see various laws meant to stop shit but ended up making things worse. I'm sure a quick google search can bring up millions of those.

You say intent does not matter, but then go on to say that the person will be treated more lightly.
I agree that the damage is usually the same for the butt of the joke, regardless of intent. But if the punishment is less, then surely it does matter? Can you clarify?

And the punishment surely should be less. The moral culpability of someone who goes out of their way to make someone feel bad should be less than the person who gets there accidentally, even if the result is the same.

As to your law comment, the criminal law regularly takes intent into account, usually with good effect. It's the vital difference between murder and manslaughter, for example. See: R v Yogasakaran:

Dr Yogasakaran was an anaesthetist who, during an emergency situation, administered the incorrect drug to the patient. The drug had been placed in the wrong drawer by mistake and Dr Yogasakaran relied on the labelling on the drawer without double checking the packaging itself. Dr Yogasakaran was convicted of manslaughter for his omission to take reasonable care. He was convicted and discharged. [footnote]http://www.nzlawyermagazine.co.nz/Archives/Issue148/148F8/tabid/2773/Default.aspx[/footnote].

The anaesthetist in that case was actually convicted but given no punishment, despite killing a man through his carelessness.

Edit: Further reading http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thirsk_rail_crash_(1892)

 

[lacktheknack]

It's bullying when:

-You aren't intending it to be funny
-You make the target frown three times
-You make the target cry
-You cause traumatic triggers in the target

I don't think the Lisa Foiles video was bullying, as the only really "mean" entry was the one about catgirls. The rest of them was her poking fun at costumes that were TRULY horrendous, and clearly were meant to be.

All in all, it's pretty damn hypocritical of quite a few commenters to act so disgusted by the video, saying it was out of line... on a website with a Religion and Politics forum... and people regularly getting banned for being truly mean... and viciously attacking people in the gaming industry they don't like without even trying to be funny... and calling the various game devs that frequent here "corporate shills"...

Apparently, when you see someone's face, it's no longer OK to poke fun at them (except for games industry figures, because screw people who allow us to have high budget games).

 

[BoredRolePlayer]

Ok so I know this thread isn't about the video itself, but I needed context about what started this discussion and here is my take honestly

1)It's a crappy megaman costume, she wasn't mocking the dude himself just the costume. I'm pretty sure a more hard core cosplayer (and I know a few) will be much harsh and meaner to that poor dude.

2)She was pretty much calling the idea of a cat girl costume and how overly done it is and most of the time done poorly.

3)Again calling out the quality of how bad those costumes are.

4)Ok I've seen that photo and he has been a butt of a lot of jokes, she isn't the first. And honestly if your going to go in that costume your opening yourself up for jokes, so maybe just maybe he is fine with it.

5)Again she is calling out how bad the costume is.

Besides the sailor moon guy she didn't really make fun of them, just their costumes and how poor they were.

I actually reported Lisa's post for being offensive as it did cross the line and become bullying. Not everyone has the time, money, or materials to make perfect costumes so to make a video just to mock those people is just mean.

^^^THIS^^^

That video was tasteless at best, and downright hurtful at worst.

Those people spent a lot of time and effort, and put their self-esteem on the line. No reason to belittle them.

You can spend a lot of time and effort making something but if it's crap it's crap. I wish my professor had that though process in my programming class, I would have had an "A" for the project I spend all my thanksgiving vacation on. And if you don't tell someone their costume or work is bad they would never learn and get better.

There is a distinct difference between bullying and constructive criticism. Lisa's video easily fits into the former category. There was no advice for improvement, this was "point and laugh at these losers" straight from a 4th grade playground.

Funny thing is there are cosplayers who get very very pissed off seeing people who half ass it, and these people more then half assed it. And some of these hard core cosplayers can get mean and nasty, I remember talking to one guy who was pissed that his group lost to some store bought costumes while there's was hand made pretty much saying they were lazy and had no bussiness in a costume contest (granted it was halloween during this incident). I have a friend who does cosplays and he gets really annoyed at "fake con goers" who just slap on a costume and don't put any real effort. And you don't need to think long and hard to tell they could have tried harder.

Didn't realize it was a competition. I cosplayed for KumoriCon two years and SakuraCon one year. My outfit was top notch, but my hair was terrible. Couldn't get the white dye good enough, so it was more platinum blonde. Still had a lot of fun. I also spent a decent chunk of change on my outfit. I'd be upset if someone made fun of me for not getting my hair right.

The point of cons is to have fun, and having people be elitist because some people don't have perfect costumes is still a crappy move.

You critique, you do NOT belittle.

No I agree the point is to have fun, but people are still going to call you out if your costume is bad cosplayer or not. And she kinda did critique issues with some of the cosplayers costumes, like how the megaman guy was using water jugs strapped on (they were boots), the cat girl costumes looked like they were low quality (saying the good one looked like it wasn't falling apart), the iron man guys looked poor held together with tape, again the sailor moon guy i agree was not fair to do(his costume looked fine), and the metriod guy looked awful. And after she did go over each one with her jokes, she showed what a better version of that costume looked like. So while it was harsh (imagine that a harsh critique) she point out what was wrong and showed a better example. Is that not what a critique, hell I remembered if I did bad playing piano my teacher would get on my case for not practicing enough (even if I did).

Also I don't think your hair being of color is as bad as those guys costumes.

 

[solemnwar]

I just want to mention something, that has to do with bullying (and also discrimination/any of the various "isms").

YOUR INTENT DOESN'T MATTER. DOES. NOT. MATTER. I someone is still hurt by your words, it doesn't matter if you meant them only as a joke, that hurt is still there. You'll be treated more LIGHTLY, generally, if you had only meant it as a joke (it's generally why it's suggested (but not required) in the steps for dealing with harassment to ask them to stop and talk about it, because sometimes people are a little thick and don't realise they're upsetting you).

So I wish people would stop whining about intent. It doesn't really matter what you INTEND to do, only what you ACTUALLY do. Your "intent" is invisible and for the most part meaningless- it's what actually comes about from your actions that matter. I have some experience with this, I joked with a former friend that she was "stupid", when obviously she was not, and I had thought it was a joke that we both shared, and didn't notice that it was upsetting her, and it was one of the (many) things that ultimately broke up the friendship.


If you want a wider scope of "intent does not matter", see various laws meant to stop shit but ended up making things worse. I'm sure a quick google search can bring up millions of those.

You say intent does not matter, but then go on to say that the person will be treated more lightly.
I agree that the damage is usually the same for the butt of the joke, regardless of intent. But if the punishment is less, then surely it does matter?

And the punishment surely should be less. The moral culpability of someone who goes out of there way to make someone feel bad should be less than the person who gets there accidentally, even if the result is the same.

As to your law comment, the criminal law regularly takes intent into account, usually with good effect. It's the vital difference between murder and manslaughter, for example. See: R v Yogasakaran:

Dr Yogasakaran was an anaesthetist who, during an emergency situation, administered the incorrect drug to the patient. The drug had been placed in the wrong drawer by mistake and Dr Yogasakaran relied on the labelling on the drawer without double checking the packaging itself. Dr Yogasakaran was convicted of manslaughter for his omission to take reasonable care. He was convicted and discharged. [footnote]http://www.nzlawyermagazine.co.nz/Archives/Issue148/148F8/tabid/2773/Default.aspx[/footnote].

The anaesthetist in that case was actually convicted but given no punishment, despite killing a man through his carelessness.

Not necessarily will you be treated more lightly. In cases of discrimination and harassment (which is what bullying IS, after all), the labour board of where I live point blank says that it doesn't matter what your intent was, just what your actions have caused. A lot of people use the "intent" excuse as a cop-out to not think about their actions or their effect on other people. They say "It was just a joke!" to get out of responsibility of what their actions have caused.

In the case of that Dr., he or whomever was in charge of the drugs should have been charged with criminal negligence, as someone was harmed by their carelessness. I THINK that's more of a civil law thing than a criminal law one, however, it's been a while since I took law. The family would have full rights to sue the ever loving fuck out of the place. Then again, laws vary from place to place, that's just what it's like here in Canadia.

 

[Caiphus]

Not necessarily will you be treated more lightly. In cases of discrimination and harassment (which is what bullying IS, after all), the labour board of where I live point blank says that it doesn't matter what your intent was, just what your actions have caused. A lot of people use the "intent" excuse as a cop-out to not think about their actions or their effect on other people. They say "It was just a joke!" to get out of responsibility of what their actions have caused.

In the case of that Dr., he or whomever was in charge of the drugs should have been charged with criminal negligence, as someone was harmed by their carelessness. I THINK that's more of a civil law thing than a criminal law one, however, it's been a while since I took law. The family would have full rights to sue the ever loving fuck out of the place. Then again, laws vary from place to place, that's just what it's like here in Canadia.

Well, I think it's difficult to outright harass someone without intending to do so. In any case, I'd always be inclined to give some lenience if there was no actual malice behind the actions.

Yes, people will use "intent" as a cop out. Just as with the law though, there will come a point where a person should have recognised that their actions would bring harm. That's when it starts getting fishy.

It's a difficult thing to put a rule to. I can't find myself agreeing with your "Intent is never an excuse" argument. A lot of the time it won't be a very good excuse, certainly. But it's still a factor in deciding how blameworthy the guilty party is.


And yes, that was an English case I believe, with a Sri Lankan doctor (not that his race matters). I'm not sure if any civil law cases arose out of that particular incident. It still goes to show, though. I mean, if he deliberately used the wrong anaesthetic the punishment would have been ten years in prison. But he genuinely made an honest mistake, partially through the nurse's negligence, and killed a man in an emergency. So he got 0.

Edit: Here's a hypothetical. If I make a dead baby joke to a woman who, unbeknownst to me, has suffered a miscarriage, how blameworthy am I?
Would I be less blameworthy than if I'd known about her miscarriage and deliberately told the joke to hurt her?

Further edit: Oh, and the doctor was charged with, and convicted of, manslaughter through negligence. He should have checked the packaging. The court still found that that level of mistake did not warrant jail time.

 

[fibchopkin]

I mean if they went to a costume contest they would flat out lose, and more hardcore congoers would most likely talk a lot more shit (and meaner) like how they should have no business or they are not true fans. But you can go and do something you like, but the moment you put it out on public it's going to be judged.

I don't actually know any cosplayers well, but I do know that: yes, those people are likely to get flattened by the meaner and/or more hard core folks. However, just because someone else is doing it, does that make it okay? Personally, I think that the excuse "Well everybody else is going to laugh at them, so they should either just suck it up or not do it in the first place," falls flat. It's the old "If everybody else was jumping off a cliff..."

I'm not only, or even mostly, speaking about the Top 5 either. On every gaming forum I've been to, there are always entire threads justifying abysmal behaviour because the subject "had it coming," or "should have expected it." Everyone is entitled to their own way of thinking, of course, but I believe that there's a difference between laughing at people and laughing with them, and I believe that the former isn't okay. It's not cool to make fun of people, and just because you think a person deserves whatever treatment he or she is getting, it doesn't necessarily follow that they do.

A good example is the ugliness that befell Jennifer Heppler when she dared to say that she didn't actually enjoy the combat portion of video games and that it is not, strictly speaking, necessary for conflict presentation and resolution. Do I, personally, agree with her. No. I like to chop darkspawn in half and watch the tainted blood splatter across my PC. I find it stress relieving and kinda funny to pop an alien in the face and watch it explode, but that doesn't mean that Mrs. Heppler's opinion isn't valid, and it certainly doesn't make it okay for the internet to suddenly open up and spew forth the kind of wrath that she got covered in. In nearly everyone of the awful youtube videos and ugly tweets, the perpetrators said something like "What did she expect, saying something like that about video games? She should have realized what was coming!"

 

[Ihateregistering1]

Ok, I don't get it, is this for real? Are we seriously that insanely sensitive now?

Look, it doesn't matter what jokes you crack, someone, somewhere, at some time, will be offended...always. If we've gotten to the point where a guy strapping water jugs to his shins and declaring that he's Megaman, or a guy with facial hair who weighs at least 250 pounds dressing up like a female character who looks like she has a 21 inch waist, can't be given a light verbal jab, then I give up.