Poll: Yahtzee changes joke in ZP video

[LaoJim]

Yahtzee? Offensive? Well stop the fucking presses!

He's called black people niggers (cut short on the actual word but he still did an in-depth look into the 'gansta' culture), made any number of holocaust jokes, dead babies galore, a dead cat with kittens beside it asking 'please wake up mummy," gays, countries, specific people, asking said people to die, religion, priests, and who know what else.

And with that rather extensive list out of the way, I have to ask why is transsexuality such a fragile flower? Especially compared to one of the more horrific events in the history of humanity and other situations which have resulted in severe mental and psychological scaring?

The difference is context. With his use, or rather cut-off non-use of the n word, he was finishing a seven-minute review in which he had constantly been making a joke of how he was not racist (And joking about how giving 50 Cent's Blood on the Sand a bad review might be considered racists even though the game was clearly terrible). I think anyone watching the video would understand that he was not being racist, but that using the word was a joke.

He makes jokes about pedophiles priests because he's probably quite angry with the behaviour of the Catholic Church over the issue so they deserve a good kicking. Similarly religion generally occupies such a high place in society that it is fair target for satire.
Being offensive about whole countries is generally acceptable in a way that being offensive about personal sexually is not. His gay jokes are, I think, balanced out by his equally offensive jokes about hetro-sex and are generally scatalogical rather than suggesting gay sex is generally wrong.

Whereas his line about transexuals being gay didn't have any supporting context around it. When writing it he had clearly forgotten that most transexuals don't consider themselves gay, and didn't think of it as an "offensive" joke, except in the sense that it was shockingly sexually explicit rather than transphobic. In his heart he probably does support trans-rights so he changed it.

 

[BoogieManFL]

Joke is a joke, the more we give in to the cry babies the more they'll cry. Boo freaking hoo.

 

[LetalisK]

Kudos to Yahtzee. I don't understand why it's an insane idea that you should take the slightest bit of effort to think about what you're going to say and prevent offending already oppressed groups. It's so easy to take pot shots at the groups that already have it the hardest.

Wait, homophobes are an oppressed group? Because that's who the joke was on, not transsexuals.

 

[piinyouri]

Huh, so that was the original context of the joke?
I have to say, I don;t get it. It doesn't offend me, I just don;t get why it's funny in that context.

 

[Norithics]

It's not that you make fun of a group- that's fine. What really matters is how you do it. Let's say he made fun of gays, like he does from time to time along with most other groups. Here's three jokes:

"It's about as believable as a gay man thinking he's not going to become de facto decorateur for his friends not that there's anything wrong with that"
- Not offensive, due to being a satirical calling out of stereotype.

"It's about as credible as a gay guy trying to pass off that feather boa collection as belonging to his mum."
- A little offensive due to stereotyping, but not terribly- it plays with plausibility and a lot of gays have taken this stereotype on as their own, sort of reinventing it to be a positive. Either way it's not going to make anybody but the very thin-skinned feel outraged.

"It's about as incredulous as a gay boy with a non-dysfunctional father."
- This right here is really offensive, because it questions the very validity of being gay by implying that it's a choice brought on by broken homes.


You see? So there's a reason why some jokes are more okay than others; it isn't that nobody can make fun of transsexuals; that would be crazy. Instead, make the joke, but don't make it from the angle of "Silly pre-op, you're not a real (gender)," go with something else that accepts them as a concept but plays with social aspects.

 

[Sheik.Bazinga]

Not being able to joke about a topic makes it more deviant and exclusive from society therefore making integration harder. I'm part of the LGBT and didn't consider it remotely bigoted until this hoohaa started. Although if transsexualism is still controversial in this way but the gay jokes fly under the radar does this mean I'm accepted now or noone cares anymore? Or should we remove all questionable content from the internet....and then have no internet?

Questions aside, I have a mate who doesn't consider himself gay because he enjoys woman and occasionally likes to play with pre-op transexuals. I just brought this up and he didn't take offense to this comment. So...

 

[michael87cn]

Anyone who gets offended by a joke is too thinned skin.

I've heard some godawful jokes in my time, but I've never once been offended by. Sure, I've found them tasteless, crude, etc, but not once have I thought 'You know what? This joke hurts my feelings. Time to let everyone know just how hurt my feelings are."

The joke in question was more about cognitive dissonance, then it was a dig at transsexuals, but then again, I've seen some really obvious Critical Miss jokes fly right over the heads of people around here, so hey, what do I know?

No such thing as thin skin when you're the butt end of ridicule.

It hurts, man. Regardless of how much of a tough-guy you think you are. No one likes to be laughed at or made fun of.

 

[chinangel]

I'm trans but I get annoyed when people say stuff like this and yes I heard it too and wasn't offended. What irritated me though is that fantasizing about a girl with a dick IS NOT GAY! It's actually a very heterosexual fantasy!

gay guys aren't just attracted to penises, they're attracted to masculinity and heterosexual men are attracted to femininity. A girl with a dick is just fap material for some.

So that's why it bothered me, beyond that I wasn't offended but I can see how mroe sensitive people in the trans camp could be.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Anyone who gets offended by a joke is too thinned skin.

I've heard some godawful jokes in my time, but I've never once been offended by. Sure, I've found them tasteless, crude, etc, but not once have I thought 'You know what? This joke hurts my feelings. Time to let everyone know just how hurt my feelings are."

The joke in question was more about cognitive dissonance, then it was a dig at transsexuals, but then again, I've seen some really obvious Critical Miss jokes fly right over the heads of people around here, so hey, what do I know?

No such thing as thin skin when you're the butt end of ridicule.

It hurts, man. Regardless of how much of a tough-guy you think you are. No one likes to be laughed at or made fun of.

Except he wasn't making fun of transsexuals, again, he was making fun of homophobes and a system that refuses to acknowledge transsexuals.

It has nothing to do with being a tough guy, it's about not having a persecution complex and actually recognising the real joke.

I don't give a fuck what's between your legs and when, but that doesn't mean you're out of bounds when it comes to taking the piss.

 

[Scott Rothman]

Kudos to Yahtzee. I don't understand why it's an insane idea that you should take the slightest bit of effort to think about what you're going to say and prevent offending already oppressed groups. It's so easy to take pot shots at the groups that already have it the hardest.

Wait, homophobes are an oppressed group? Because that's who the joke was on, not transsexuals.

He was apologizing for his use of the word 'tranny' and "I realise now that this was a poor choice of words, because some people who identify as female have cocks. Lord knows I have nothing to gain from enforcing gender roles, 'cos I don't like cars OR football."

He wasn't apologizing for mocking homophobes.

 

[Strazdas]

I voted for joke should have remained. I believe that a person should be able to speak his mind, regardless if it is politically correct or not. We are not forced to like it, we can always stop watching his movies if we want, but he should be allowed to use any language he wants in them. That being said, if Yatzee wanted to change it, he had full right to do that as well, point being he can do whatever he wants with his work.
ALso its worth mentioning that this was a joke, and as some big boys here at escapist said (dont remember exact names) you should be able to go as far as you want with a joke. Its a joke, its not offensive by definition.

It really doesn't take that much effort. But you would rather have other people continue to get pissed off at you, than take a millisecond and think about what you say. Or at least be apologetic for it rather than blaming the other person for being upset.

If i say this sandwitch is tasty, and another person gets offended, because he thinks it tastes like shit, do i need to apologize him because i offended him?
You shouldnt be offended at things that arent offensive, and if you are, well, i think its ok to blame you for getting offended at non-offensive things. because it is your problem after all.

 

[Smeatza]

It frustrates me how many people don't understand comedy properly, and use their own ignorance as an excuse to get all riled up and encourage censorship of others.
It frustrates me even more that Yahtzee bended to their wills, I thought he was above that.
Still, I'll give him a break, because he's not a professional comedian and probably isn't used to assessing whether the backlash he's getting is justified or just a whine (which it was in this case).

The fact that "some people who identify as female have cocks" is entirely irrelevant. Ignorance, exaggeration and generalsation are cornerstones of comedy. The clinical nature of the original joke added to the rawness and therefore the humour.

Plus your average person does not have a detailed understanding of gender roles and gender identity. If it has a penis it's a man, if it has a vagina it's a woman, if a man likes men he's gay, if a man likes women he's straight.
And there's nothing wrong with that. There are many things in this world that are more complicated than the uneducated might believe, but we don't go trying to force a detailed understanding of the behaviour of electrons through censorship.

 

[Scott Rothman]

If i say this sandwitch is tasty, and another person gets offended, because he thinks it tastes like shit, do i need to apologize him because i offended him?
You shouldnt be offended at things that arent offensive, and if you are, well, i think its ok to blame you for getting offended at non-offensive things. because it is your problem after all.

That is not even close to a reasonable parallel.

Making a joke at the expense of a marginalized group in society is not even remotely the same as disagreeing over the quality of a sandwich.

 

[Pyramid Head]

Maybe Yahtzee edited it because he really didn't like the joke. Maybe the backlash against it made him nervous.
Maybe Danny Bonaduce was threatening to sue.

 

[Undomesticated Equine]

It is a joke people should be able to say things like that. You have a internet warrior for equality who is getting all angry about a transgender joke while at the same time also shakes his had on something like Monthy Python Life of Brian bans or some other censorship issues.

 

[lacktheknack]

Apparently, the joke was offensive because it could cause mental distress to MtF transsexuals who watch it.

I don't particularly buy this argument (are they undistressed now that he's talking about crossdressers? Seriously?) but it's Yahtzee's choice to change it.

I don't think it was worth the fuss (I don't think having people hate you and a higher death rate makes you immune to jokes), but people will yell at you for not being as dogmatic about things as they are, so it's not worth the bother to tell them it's not worth the bother.

 

[LetalisK]

He was apologizing for his use of the word 'tranny' and "I realise now that this was a poor choice of words, because some people who identify as female have cocks. Lord knows I have nothing to gain from enforcing gender roles, 'cos I don't like cars OR football."

He wasn't apologizing for mocking homophobes.

I know, I was being sarcastic as the ones who are the butt of the joke should be offended, if anyone. Not to imply that I would care if a homophobe was offended by the joke.

 

[BloatedGuppy]

Self censorship is the worst kind of censorship. The implications of it are the most sinister. It suggests a climate of fear.

The fuck? That's quite a leap. How do you figure?

It's not unthinkable a comedian could just decide to change their joke. Those guys are their own worst critics.

 

[xmbts]

Well if he himself wanted to change it then by all rights he can. People go on about changing something as a sign that the PC crowd is about to stone them to death but this site does allow for quite a bit of freedom from what I've seen, at the most slapping an age confirmation before a video.

If Jim Sterling can show a man killing himself I think ZP can make a transsexual joke, and if the person who made that joke feels uncomfortable with making it than that's his own business to take back.

 

[twohundredpercent]

They shouldn't even bother changing their material or apologizing. Apologies are not effective in these situations.

Has anyone forgiven Michael Richards or Daniel Tosh or Tracy Morgan because they apologized? Not likely. They're seen as bowing to pressure. Not as people who sincerely want to reconcile with those they offended. They lose some of their dignity and the people looking for things to target move on to something else.