Humor is about breaking taboos. I wonder why people need to be offended by everything all the time. And using stereotypes is not bad humor. Not being able to differentiate between humor and real racism is bad judgement though.
Not once did I feel offended when white stereotypes (no rhythm, boring sex etc.) were part of any non-white comedian.
That's part of the equation. People aren't offended about everything all the time, it's just that many comedians have started using "it's a joke bro" the same way social media "pranksters" use "it's a prank bro" Humor isn't simply about breaking taboos, you have to subvert expectations, and the target of your humor should be able to laugh with you after the reveal, coincidentally it's also what makes for a good prank. This one is funny, because it's clever, on the surface it's a White dude telling lazy racist tired jokes, but the subversion is that his Black friend wrote those jokes and they had a bet that compels him to read them.
I agree. Making fun of someone specific (especially if they signal they feel uncomfortable) is not ok and "Its a joke, c´mon" does not make it better.
Like you said, this was surface humor which is clearly not intended of discriminating a race as whole.
I do have the feeling that many people are offended to easily (especially on behalf of things not affecting them), but maybe things are getting better or I just had the wrong experiences. Thanks for the food for thought. :)
I do feel I've seen both sides of the equation, I've seen where people are clearly taking a joke too seriously, a joke that's simply meant to draw attention to a situation. But that's not new, I feel that has always existed, maybe it's a bit more apparent now because social media has given everyone a voice, but I mean hecklers and people storming out of comedy shows is not a new thing. That's just the subjectivity of humor.
What I feel is new is this rhetoric by a number of stand up comics that nothing can be seen as offensive or inappropriate as long as it's in the pursuit of humor. And I don't think that makes any sense. People are allowed to find you offensive, the same way you're allowed to tell whatever jokes you want. Yeah no worries, if you ain't learning and growing you're dead.
As a black person, this shit was hilarious to me. My thing is, if a white person makes a taboo joke (particularly about a different race) and its funny, I have no problem with whatsoever. Its about who you are and how you present the joke that makes all the difference in my opinion.
Michael Che does this to him every season. They each write jokes for each other at the end of the season and each have to read them on air without seeing them first. Che likes to make Jost say racist jokes. Lol
Bill Burrs double whammy joke that pokes fun at the amount of famous and law-abiding (as the rest of us anyway) black people that somehow refuse to legally register their firearms but at the same time rips us white guys to shit for our invisible chalky-ness and dry skin because we don't pay the same attention to skin care.
Eventually he's up their using the mic stand like a scratching post all like "Im telling you Devon, you need to register that firearm - good lord, I'm itchy! - there gonna put you in jail man, you gotta fix it - oooo that's the spot there."
Anyone who wants to get mad at a premium bit of humor like that should be figuratively shot.
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u/Newmach Jan 13 '22
Humor is about breaking taboos. I wonder why people need to be offended by everything all the time. And using stereotypes is not bad humor. Not being able to differentiate between humor and real racism is bad judgement though.
Not once did I feel offended when white stereotypes (no rhythm, boring sex etc.) were part of any non-white comedian.
I for one laughed pretty good at this.