Today’s comedians are constantly faced with criticism regarding the nature of their jokes. The rules of humour are ever-changing, and it is crucial for a good comedian to know them. A joke about a plane crash may have been a knee-slapper on September 10th, 2001, and a career-ender the next day. But apart from knowing the cultural circumstances which forbid certain jokes and encourage others, a comedian now has to respect people’s feelings, religions, personal choices, dietary habits and about a billion other topics that might insult someone. In fact, it seems that the line between funny and offensive is shifting into a direction when very little of the comical is not considered insulting by at least one person. We are now at a point where we
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Have we become too sensitive to take a joke? I can’t help but be reminded of Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, about a dystopian future where books are forbidden and only the shallowest of contents is allowed. The reason behind the incineration of books is explained in this famous passage: “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, What do we want in this country above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right? [...] Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet, to the incinerator.” Is this what the future holds for humour, complete annihilation in order to avoid offending? Isn’t humour the one thing that proves we are capable of self-reflection, accepting our strong points as well as the …show more content…
I believe it is time to stop trying to protect people’s feelings from getting hurt, because it might cost us dearly. Some of the best literature, art, and comedy is considered greatly offensive by specific groups of people, and due to complaints, schools are already banning masterpieces such as To Kill a Mockingbird for being “inappropriate”. We should consider the fact that the content itself might not be inherently offensive. It is us, or perhaps our inability to laugh at ourselves, that makes it so. To answer the final question: the line between funny and offensive is established by each person themselves. But be careful – take offense too readily and you might miss out on some quite exceptional
Have we become too sensitive to take a joke? I can’t help but be reminded of Ray Bradbury’s novel Fahrenheit 451, about a dystopian future where books are forbidden and only the shallowest of contents is allowed. The reason behind the incineration of books is explained in this famous passage: “You must understand that our civilization is so vast that we can’t have our minorities upset and stirred. Ask yourself, What do we want in this country above all? People want to be happy, isn’t that right? [...] Colored people don’t like Little Black Sambo. Burn it. White people don’t feel good about Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Burn it. Someone’s written a book on tobacco and cancer of the lungs? The cigarette people are weeping? Burn the book. Serenity, Montag. Peace, Montag. Take your fight outside. Better yet, to the incinerator.” Is this what the future holds for humour, complete annihilation in order to avoid offending? Isn’t humour the one thing that proves we are capable of self-reflection, accepting our strong points as well as the …show more content…
I believe it is time to stop trying to protect people’s feelings from getting hurt, because it might cost us dearly. Some of the best literature, art, and comedy is considered greatly offensive by specific groups of people, and due to complaints, schools are already banning masterpieces such as To Kill a Mockingbird for being “inappropriate”. We should consider the fact that the content itself might not be inherently offensive. It is us, or perhaps our inability to laugh at ourselves, that makes it so. To answer the final question: the line between funny and offensive is established by each person themselves. But be careful – take offense too readily and you might miss out on some quite exceptional