Poll: Rape is totally okay to joke about, right guys?

[hazabaza1]

Of course people who have been raped are going to hate jokes about it, that doesn't mean others can't.

Exactly. But what is it about the jokes that even makes them funny?

Shit, man, that's going into philosophy and biology and shit that I don't know. Sorry.

 

[Crazy]

To joke about rape is like joking about 911, people are sensitive about it. Now, when people make jokes about Jews and the Holocaust... Its a whole different ballgame.

 

[itsthesheppy]

I've made rape jokes and I'm a girl. As long as it's funny I don't think anything is out of bounds.

Just to be fair, your gender doesn't necessarily grant you rights the other gender does not possess. If it's not okay for guys, it's not okay for girls.

Also, I don't think rape jokes are okay.

 

[Ragsnstitches]

Rape, murder, racism, sexism... they are the bottom of the barrel when it comes to subjects for humor. Edgy humor, generally, is paper thin fire and forget material. Its primal "Holy Shit! He didn't just say that? LOL!", the same way cavemen may have cracked wise after seeing a fellow tribesman getting mauled by some seemingly innocuous creature. Its humor derived from tension.

At some level people who flagrantly use these jokes think they are apart of some in-joke, and they see the people that get offended as simply "not getting it" or "not in on the joke", which makes this type of humor, to them at least, all the more special.

The fact is, those jokes are shallow and deliberately made to get a rise out of some for the better of those "in on the joke". That is what makes it funnier.
It's trashy material in comedy, like hyper violence and gratuitous sex scenes in film.

Make those jokes, laugh at them... fine. Just don't think it deserves some respect, since the nature of those jokes are totally lacking in respect.

EDIT: In regards to people "dealing" with real problems by making a skit of them, there is some merit to it... it diminishes the "value" of a problem and makes the ground it stands on less stable. But it doesn't stop the problem, especially when it becomes "novelty".

Richard Pryor helped the issue of Racism:
He made a large number of folk realise that racism is stupid... like, really fucking dumb. But he drew a line.

Chris Rock did not:
And he has perpetuated an entire generation of comedians that mimic his use of "Racism" in his comedy. Its reckless and only accentuates the issue, it doesn't diminish its potency (if it hasn't, in fact, bolstered it).

Here is Morgan Freeman on racism... some of you may have seen this clip before:

There is a point where the issue HAS to filter out of our collective minds for future generations to grow up without a sense of what came before. By all means document this stuff, but a clean slate is needed for the world to improve and that slate will never be clean if people keep sullying it for the sake of satire.

 

[MelasZepheos_v1legacy]

But sitting in front of a rape victim and telling jokes about how she was obviously asking for it and saying thay it would be hilarious if she was gang raped for protesting about the jokes you made? Somewhat less amusing.

Well, obviously, that's just being a ****.

But how about stuff like Lewis C.K's raping Hitler joke? Making a joke about a completly abstract scenario with no hatred directed to anybody in the audience.

Oh, also, saying that you need to experience something to joke about it is kind of silly. I make jokes about 9/11, the holocaust, somebody getting their dick bit off, whatever, but none of these ever directly effected me, so should I not make these jokes?

Context! Context is your friend.

Yes, making a joke about raping Hitler can be funny if handled by a good comedian. But if a tool like Tosh makes a joke about rape it isn't funny. He's not a very good comedian and he doesn't tell very good jokes.

But the problem about abstract is where the line is drawn. Like my friend who was raped. I know that someone will likely before this thread is finished make a joke about my friend being raped. That is abstraction, but it's also a lack of empathy, which is pretty much a social disorder.

Which is why some connection is important. The Holocaust is a once in a lifetime event, so is 9/11. And actually everyone will have been affected by them, even if not directly. Rape is something that happens every single day to hundreds (thousands or more if you count Africa et al) and to be insensitive of that shows a rather worrying lack of empathy.

Making the joke about the abstract? Fine

Making a joke about something that is all too real and current? Very, very careful.

 

[5ilver]

If you're getting offended at something, you should probably rethink things. Look through the other person's eyes etc. That solves like 99% of anger for me.

 

[artanis_neravar]

Of course people who have been raped are going to hate jokes about it, that doesn't mean others can't.

Exactly. But what is it about the jokes that even makes them funny?

What makes a joke funny? If I laughed at it, it's actually pretty simple.

snip

I'm not sure if this is ironic or just coincidence but that did make me smirk a little.

It is ironic but not for the reasons that you suspect.

There's an easy argument that I can make and it is this:

If you can find me one rape victim that finds any rape jokes funny, I will concede your point that jokes about rape can be funny.

Good luck.

I have a friend who was raped and finds rape jokes funny. Laughing at it helps her take the power away from the act, when she laughs she doesn't have to dwell on the pain and suffering of the act, she can push past it and become a better person. Yes rape is traumatic, and it is horrible that it happens, but some people deal with the bad by making jokes.

I do thank you for conceding my point though.

 

[Suicidejim]

Here's a question: Why should comedy be immune to criticism only by virtue of the fact that it is comedy?

Also,

Why are dark/edgy/risky jokes amusing?

Various reasons. We need laughter. Everyone's tastes in humour are different, and for some, darker humour is to their taste. Laughter can take the sting out of things that we fear, make us feel safe. It can act as a coping mechanism. Everyone is offended by something, and when we start dictating what may or may not be made into a joke, you open the doors for severe restriction of speech.

It is worth asking the reverse. Why, in a world where any subject can be made into a joke, when even a small child can be exposed to the sort of slapstick humour that should, by all means, be traumatizing (just look at poor Wile. E. Coyote), when there are jokes that span the entire spectrum of 'light' and 'dark,' should rape be exempt?

I know victims of child abuse who can make jokes about it, people who have been beaten by partners who can nevertheless make light of the fact, and yes, even rape victims who can spin a joke out of it. For some people, such humour holds no fear, may even help them. Not every rape victim is a joke away from a nervous breakdown, and it's patronizing to assume otherwise. Yes, some people can be offended or hurt, and yes, occasionally the joker should apologize for causing such distress, but that doesn't justify widespread banning of certain kinds of humour simply because said people may be hurt or offended.

EDIT: I looked at that article about Daniel Tosh, and one thing the woman said stood out to me.

I don't sit there while someone tells me how I should feel about something as profound and damaging as rape.

That, I think, is very important. For someone to tell you how you should feel about something is indeed wrong. But it runs both ways. You can't just sit there and lecture a person on how they absolutely must find rape jokes funny, but it's just as bad to sit there and lecture someone about how they must find rape to be a serious and traumatizing subject that they must only ever treat seriously and sternly.

This, I think, is the problem. People here aren't specifically trying to defend rape or rape jokes specifically, but the assertion that they must feel such a way about rape, and may never treat it in any other fashion. It could be any other taboo topic, and receive the same response.

 

[kasperbbs]

I don't care as long as its funny. If people stopped making jokes that might offend people then whats left? Fart jokes? Yesterday i saw an episode of boondocks where they made fun of anal rape in prisons, you know, showers, soup and stuff. Didn't think twice about it because first of all it's fiction, secondly it's not hurting anybody and if you don't like the joke then don't laugh or just ignore the material if you dislike it so much.

 

[hazabaza1]

But sitting in front of a rape victim and telling jokes about how she was obviously asking for it and saying thay it would be hilarious if she was gang raped for protesting about the jokes you made? Somewhat less amusing.

Well, obviously, that's just being a ****.

But how about stuff like Lewis C.K's raping Hitler joke? Making a joke about a completly abstract scenario with no hatred directed to anybody in the audience.

Oh, also, saying that you need to experience something to joke about it is kind of silly. I make jokes about 9/11, the holocaust, somebody getting their dick bit off, whatever, but none of these ever directly effected me, so should I not make these jokes?

Context! Context is your friend.

Yes, making a joke about raping Hitler can be funny if handled by a good comedian. But if a tool like Tosh makes a joke about rape it isn't funny. He's not a very good comedian and he doesn't tell very good jokes.

But the problem about abstract is where the line is drawn. Like my friend who was raped. I know that someone will likely before this thread is finished make a joke about my friend being raped. That is abstraction, but it's also a lack of empathy, which is pretty much a social disorder.

Which is why some connection is important. The Holocaust is a once in a lifetime event, so is 9/11. And actually everyone will have been affected by them, even if not directly. Rape is something that happens every single day to hundreds (thousands or more if you count Africa et al) and to be insensitive of that shows a rather worrying lack of empathy.

Making the joke about the abstract? Fine

Making a joke about something that is all too real and current? Very, very careful.

I can certainly see your point, and despite what it may seem like I don't support making jokes directly about rape in front of/to a rape victim. However, being completely honest, I don't see myself not finding these kinds of jokes unfunny.
I guess for some people (somewhat including myself) the dark humour acts as a kind of coping mechanism. When a starving african child comes onto TV and the advert asks me to donate me and my mum will make jokes to feel less bad. My £2 a month likely won't do much even if I were to give it, so I make fun instead. The threat of rape is still very real and aware, but to stop being scared of it every time I leave the house, I make jokes.
This sounds kind of 'deep' and 'philosophical' compared to my intended point, but I'm just throwing up answers.

 

[rob_simple]

It's alright to make a joke about anything, provided that:

A)There's no genuine malice behind it.
B)The joke is actually funny.

 

[zelda2fanboy]

Yeah, it's okay to joke about anything. And it's okay to jump on someone's shit when they offend you. It's a risk reward situation, like everything in life. If it was okay to joke about everything all the time, it wouldn't be as funny. It would just get boring and gross, like the aristocrats joke.

When I'm with my dad, I make racist jokes. I don't make racist jokes with other people and I try to avoid other people hearing my racist jokes. The forbidden element is what makes it fun. If I really felt like I could get away with saying "ethnic group x is fucking stupid" in public all the time, I'd just be depressed and sad that most people felt that way.

 

[blindthrall]

Do you know what's worse than rape?

Spoiler

A starving African baby.

Spoiler

And if you think that's even remotely funny you must be extremely detached because I don't think any emotive person would find that funny at all.

Yeah I reported the OP. Problem?

It's actually depressing when you think about it. Probably has something to do with this. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amusing_Ourselves_to_Death]

Wow that joke sucked. If it had been a dead african baby, maybe I would have chuckled. And that link has fuck all to do with the argument, one guy's painfully obvious observations on domestication through television has jack to do with rape jokes.

 

[PirateRose]

I like to make jokes about women cutting their husband's penis off, boiling them like hotdogs, and feeding them to their dogs. Always gets a laugh out of people.

 

[MrFalconfly]

Rape isn't funny period.

And I'm pretty lax about limits of what you can and can't joke about (example: This is the probable last words of an unknown office intern working at one of the Twin Towers in downtown NY. "Hey that plane is gettin' kinda close". Or the unknown last words of Jens being at vacation at Legoland Billund. "See? You can stand up in the rollercoas(splat)..." See?)

 

[DarkSoldier84]

It should depend on the context. For example, I think holocaust jokes can be hilarious, but I wouldn't tell them loudly at a human rights museum or at synagogue on Yom HaShoah.

Or in a forum where somebody who's lost family to it can read it.

 

[hazabaza1]

See, the fact is that while I may enjoy "dark" humor myself and I'll even admit I laugh at some jokes that others would be offended by, that doesn't mean I go around cracking those insensitive jokes in public, and I certainly don't rush to defend my "right" to make those jokes in public at the expense of victimized people either. But that's because I'm a human being and I don't think only of myself and what *I* like or want, but that I also think of how my behavior affects those around me.

There are some things that are not civil in public, and those things are usually crimes. While you can defend to the death your "right" to run nude down the street, I'm still going to call the cops on you if I see you do it because I don't want to see you wagging your piece at me from the street corner. I think people have gone much, much too far with the idea of "rights". They think it's their "right" to do anything, including violate the "rights" of others. It's just getting stupid at this point. >_>

I never implied it's alright to do this in public. Jokes with friends or in good company or in private shows hosted by comedians are more private occasions, so to me, anything goes.

No, it's more akin to saying "find me a person whose family was victims of 9/11 who thinks that 9/11 jokes are just hilarious". Your example doesn't work because you're looking for someone with an irrational bias against something, rather than someone who was a victim of a crime.

It's actually a pretty reasonable request: find someone who was actually directly scarred as a result of this particular instances of tragedy who still thinks that it's a hilarious type of joke to make, and would make such a joke themselves in public. Worth noting that comedians probably don't count, since....ya know, it's their job and all.

Fair enough, I suppose my example was somewhat illogical.
But I still don't understand why some individuals being offended mean that people in private or people who are renowned for offensive humour are no longer allowed to make these kind of jokes because somebody could take offence.