Making fun of the Dead

[Soviet Heavy]

When does it go too far? I ask because of this [http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.291166-Pokemon-Voice-Actor-Passes-Away#11562382] quote, which got the guy reported.

So the guy cracks a joke about cancer using the super effective meme from pokemon, and the guy gets a warning. Leslie Nielson dies and everybody is spouting the "don't call me shirley" joke like its the end of the world and nobody bats an eye. Hell, even the site staff were making jokes in the article about his death!

So why must a double standard come up here? Why is it okay to make light of one person's death but not another?

 

[Jedoro]

I don't think it ever goes too far. People are always dying, and we all die someday. I say get over it and get some laughs out of it before it's your turn.

 

[L3m0n_L1m3]

There's a difference between quoting something someone said, IE "Don't call me shirley," and turning something into a juvenile joke, IE saying that cancer was "super effective."

 

[Lang901]

Because people think that they are special and other people's emotions don't matter.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Do you really not see the difference? The Shirley bit is not directed at him or how he died.

 

[Engarde]

I think both were justified in their actions as if we cannot laugh about death will we not live our lives in fear of it? But I digress, that does sound like a double standard to me and we know where those lead us...

 

[Amondren]

I like to hope that they were honoring his death with a fond memory of him. Cancer affects people around the world and is kinda serious.

 

[KittensTiger]

I agree with George Carlin on this subject... Nothing is too sacred to be immune from humor and satire.

Personally, I found the super effective joke hilarious.

 

[Soviet Heavy]

Do you really not see the difference? The Shirley bit is not directed at him or how he died.

Maybe its a poor example, but should that mean that the guy should have got a warning for it? Everyone else in the thread seemed to think it was in poor taste, but they didn't report him. Only the one guy who took offense did.

So if I was to report you for cracking jokes at Nielson's death, would you find that fair?

 

[Phlakes]

Is it wrong that I sang along to that?

OT: Wait until someone you love gets cancer. Then ask yourself if you'd be okay with people calling their cancer super effective when they die.

 

[Atticus89]

It's all about circumstance and subject.

Let's say you wanted to make a Titanic joke. The joke you're probably making is over any movie which was made about the ship but you're still making a joke about a disaster that left thousands dead. It's in a societal context that we can parody without feeling too much guilt despite the fact that our social mores would frown upon laughing at a topic like death. Now if you were to do something that was more recent, say any of the terrorist bombings in the world within the past 20 years, there's a context that makes us not want to laugh due to the circumstances and the subject material involved.

 

[Sir Thomas Sean Connery]

I giggled my ass off at that...

I say it's fine, unless you're in mixed company, i.e. family members/close friends.

And besides, their dead, what are they gonna do about it? It's the perfect joke victim!

 

[Brutal Peanut]

I like to hope that they were honoring his death with a fond memory of him. Cancer affects people around the world and is kinda serious.

Actually, this is pretty close to what I was thinking.

Using the 'Shirley' joke is in response to his humorous work - not the way he died. Cancer is a terrible disease that kills a lot of people worldwide. It can also be significantly painful for those who suffer from it. I think it was pretty damn disrespectful and I was a bit disgusted, however, I did not report him for it. But I don't really disapprove of the people who did. I'm all over the damn place, aren't I? lol

 

[Kopikatsu]

Eh, I have no idea what my outlook would be called, so...

I don't think anything can be 'too early'. If it'll be okay to make the joke at some point in the future without it turning too many heads, then get over it. :x

Like...if someone does something to upset/anger me, unless I plan on holding a grudge against them from that point on until the day I die, I just drop it and forgive them.

Basically, if something is inevitable, there isn't any reason to fight it. Death is inevitable, and chances are that everyone will be affected by it in one way or another before finally biting the big one themselves. My great grandmother died from lung cancer, and I had skin cancer a few years ago. (Until they carved it out of my back, anyway. Cool scar, though.) and I don't find his joke to be in poor taste at all. Actually, I thought it was kind of funny.

People should stop being so easily offended. :x

 

[Craorach]

I hold no reverence for the dead or "speaking ill" of them, or anything of the sort. An asshole was still an asshole no matter how he died, or that he died. If someone dies in an amusing way it is still funny, if we cannot laugh at death it will always hold its fear over us.

That said... there is such a thing as good taste and considering the feelings of those left behind. Tragic deaths from horribly medical conditions are rarely, if ever, funny. We might sometimes mock or belittle the person, but not infront of their loved ones, and certainly not the condition they died of which belittles all others who suffer from it.

 

[Dango]

The "Don't call me Shirley" joke is a line that the actor himself said, so repeating it is on the same level as praising him.

The cancer joke that the user made is making fun of how someone died.

There's a clear difference between praising a person who recently died and making a joke about their cancer.

So yes, I think you should respect the dead. No matter who they are they've suffered worse than you, so I find respecting them to be the right thing to do.

 

[OmniscientOstrich]

I agree with George Carlin on this subject... Nothing is too sacred to be immune from humor and satire.

Personally, I found the super effective joke hilarious.

This, people can and will make jokes about seriously depraved shit because that's what people do. Some will find it too abrasive and their entitled to that opinion, others will find it hilarious and they're entitled to think that too. I'm sure at one time or another we've all laughed at something in poor taste, making jokes about Chris Benoit, Madeline McCann and the like. For the record, I have an aunt who died of cancer and got a good chuckle out of the joke. After all, the most I can say about a joke that offends me is that it's in poor taste, I can't declare it off limits and you can't stop people from speaking they're mind. It's just a joke and it's at the expense of someone who's not around to hear it.

 

[Amondren]

I like to hope that they were honoring his death with a fond memory of him. Cancer affects people around the world and is kinda serious.

Actually, this is pretty close to what I was thinking.

Using the 'Shirley' joke is in response to his humorous work - not the way he died. Cancer is a terrible disease that kills a lot of people worldwide. It can also be significantly painful for those who suffer from it. I think it was pretty damn disrespectful and I was a bit disgusted, however, I did not report him for it. But I don't really disapprove of the people who did. I'm all over the damn place, aren't I? lol

I may be over analyzing but also some people cope with grief with humor. They may not be crying but they may be distraught over the death of a beloved actor.