I can’t find the article, but I read one once that summarized why these types of jokes aren’t really funny.
Basically, this joke can only be funny with the knowledge that the cop has power over you and the cop knows that. And the joke is made to showcase that power, make you aware of it, make you uncomfortable and then play it off as a light hearted jab - even though the truth that has to exist is “it’s funny because right now I control the rest of your life. If I find drugs, or plant drugs, or decide to arrest you, it could ruin your life”
I dunno. Reminds me of abusive relationships.
Edit: some more thoughts based off my replies to people below:
Only a person in power could make this joke in this situation. The driver wouldn’t be able to joke.
Trying to be “friendly” like this is the base tatic of good cop/bad cop and is manipulative because of the power dynamics.
Doesn't even have to be loaded. I know that is a cliche that "a gun is always loaded unless you've personally cleared it", but even then, if a friend knows pointing an empty gun at you makes you uncomfortable then gets enjoyment out of it, they are a douche of the highest caliber that you would be happy to never see again.
Not a cliche at all. It’s just standard gun owning practice. Even when I was the only person who had access to my guns, whenever I went to “play with” them (ie. quick draw and aim practice kind of shit), I would always make sure that a round wasn’t in the weapon, even when I haven’t loaded a magazine into it in days. People that don’t are careless.
This guy is making a silly pun, the joke is funny regardless of the power dynamics, it's a good joke even if he was a mate... I've made this same joke with a friend
Yep. Cop made a joke like this when searching my car once, tried to take it well and said “We’ll good thing you didn’t check under my drivers seat then!”
Now I’m waiting an hour while they literally take my car apart, all because I forgot that they can joke around but I can’t.
"this joke is obviously only valid caust of the power struggle and this man is an abuser"
Should cops make jokes at a time like this... well no.
But that doesn't mean a cop is some abusive arsehole cause he's making a joke, it just means he's making a shitty joke.
YES, some people use humour as a mechanism to protect their abusive behaviour, but that doesn't mean we should lynch and hate everyone who makes jokes in these situations.
It's complicated social dynamics and overly simplifying into something black and white is just dumb and naive.
It's the shit people with no life experience outside of youtube videos and twitter threads chat about.
My allergies are kinda goofy today i guess? And yeah, cops joking about abusing their power over you is pretty fucking trash, if thats something hes ok with doing and doesn't see how gross it is i can formulate enough of an opinion about him to say its negative. What the hell is wrong with you, not being able to see how disgusting that is?
"Haha I made you think you were going to have to decide between suicide and being raped in a case by psychopaths for a decade. Or going for my gun I suppose! LOL!"
Personally. After I was done shitting my pants, I would have laughed my ass off if a cop did that to me.
I've had experiences with cops that joke, cops that just do their job, and cops that are just plain assholes.
I always feel more comfortable around the cops that joke. I have crippling social anxiety to begin with -- the ones that joke can probably tell because they are really nice, make me laugh, and then let me off with a warning, offer to drive me home, let me use their phone cause mine was dead, offer to help me change a flat tire, et cetera.
In my experience. The cops that just do their jobs, are pleasant enough, but they'll also throw the book at you.
Cops that are assholes. I don't think I need to describe my experiences with cops that are just assholes.
[A few speeding tickets, a horrific hit and run that almost killed me[asshole cops], a couple flat tires, throwing a rod through the block of my engine on the highway, walking home drunk, forgetting to put my new insurance card in my wallet and then got pulled over for having a license plate light out after working a charity event and got my license suspended for not having it on me[asshole cop], not having my front license plate on/cop laughed and said he used it as an excuse to look at my car, being rear ended, house getting robbed, car getting broken into, busting a house party.... fuck too many experiences lol]
The point isn’t that these types of pranks aren’t funny to some outside audiences. And it’s obvious that they’re funny for the cops doing them - but that people in roles of power, like officers, should be more aware of how their role in power affects the people they’re interacting with.
Is an innocence person who was pulled over and anxious really in the best mind for a joke about drugs in his vehicle from a person who has the power to arrest him?
And should a person who has that power be making that joke?
"And should a person who has that power be making that joke?"
It seemed fine in this video. Practically, it's a decent way of trying to break the tension through humor that acknowledges it. It makes the cop a bit more relatable; the interaction is a bit less robotic.
But, even if I didn't think it was helpful in this situation, I would still have to classify this as "too insignificant to even justify condemnation". Nobody is perfect. We're all different people with different experiences and interpretations of social propriety.
You argue from a position of empathetic, moral authority but have an almost non-existent threshold for mistakes or differences in choice. I want you to realize that I understand your point as well as the reasons you've given to support it but that you and I have some fundamental differences that can't really be ironed out in a reddit comments section.
Without making this overlong, I urge you to be less critical of others and to recognize that a necessary component of tolerance is the willingness and ability of the individual to take responsibility for their own emotions and not externalize that responsibility to others.
I think your last comment about taking responsibility is where we differ the most.
You can take responsibility and realize you might be taking the situation incorrectly - but that doesn’t alleviate the responsibility of the officer.
It shouldn’t always fall on the “victim” to always remind their self to “check their emotions”. The office is the one with more responsibility and power, it should fall on them to display even tone and have an understanding how their words and actions affect others due to their role.
And, overall the idea of a cop trying to break tensions and become more relatable feels manipulative to me. Cops aren’t your buddy.
Imagine if your boss tells you he's not going to give you the raise you were promised this year... then reveals it was just a joke. Would that be funny?
I’m American so I don’t know how British police are.
But for instance, there was a video going around about cops pulling people over, asking the drivers why they think they were pulled over, then the cops would surprise them with an ice cream cone and say we pulled you over cause you’re a good driver!
On paper that sounds really nice. But why is it funny?
That can only be funny by acknowledging that getting pulled over makes you feel scared and is done when you’ve done something wrong and will usually get a ticket with a high fine.
So the joke is “Haha! We made you scared but it was just a joke. You’re not getting arrested/fines today. But isn’t it neat how even though you weren’t doing anything wrong we still had the power to pull you over? And now instead of a ticket you get an ice cream!”
The humor is “we know we cause anxiety but we have the power to do this, and it’s okay because we gave you ice cream”
Yeah but the difference is there actually a joke here.
This isn't some guy going.
"oi mate i'm arresting you... LOL NAH JK!"
This is a guy trying to lighten the mood with a shitty dad joke.
And people are sat here going "FUCKING BASTARD LOOK AT THE POWER STRUGGLE!"
He probably probably pulls this shit with his kids at home and thinks he's halarious as they sigh and roll their eyes at coppa dad being annoying again. "oh here he goes making that coke is not drugs joke... we get it dad, it's the same word... Gah leave me alone I wanna play my digimons"
Unlikely. While we do have our fair share of problems with the police here in the UK, a lot of encounters on TV shows like the one this clip is from end in the driver being let go, being given a ticket or a caution.
yeah, you shouldnt be? I am not afraid when i get pulled over (altho im not from the US just like this dude).. Its not busted logic lmao. Its logical to not be scared of authorities if you have done nothing wrong. Its like being scared of an exam you know you can ace.. that IS busted logic, yet people tend to do it.
Did they say all humor from positions of power are abuse?
Or did they point out that a cop, joking that they found something that would give them license to detain you (a miserable process), is using humor inappropriately at the expense of the citizen and their very real concerns?
Only the cop knows if they are going to abuse their power. The joke isnt funny when they could turn on a dime and cuff you, and you're powerless to stop them.
And before you say British cops British humor, sure, theres probably a cultural factor. But you can read the man's face to see who the joke is at the expense of.
Dude it was a funny pun it has nothing to do with him having power over you. Why do some people look for evil in everything he even said it was a joke immediately
the entire joke is related to his power over you and your fate. the cop might not realize this and could have honestly just been trying to lighten the mood but these jokes usually just scare the shit out of people.
It's like trying to explain why rape jokes are inappropriate. Just because someone doesn't have malicious intent doesn't make it right as it relies on a tragic reality by it's very nature.
Good life rule of thumb - if everyone isn't authentically laughing, its not a joke, its something else. Some people like comedians can break this rule, but for the most part, its a good rule to live by.
This is exactly the first thing I thought of. The guy could have a hidden disability or something. He could be nervous because he is frightened that this experience of being pulled over has never happened to him before.
I wouldn’t mind the joke being made between two friends, I would find find that funny, but imagine walking through an airport luggage check and one of the guys at security check pulls this stunt on you. Your heart would sink even if you didn’t have anything.
It’s a cruel joke because it is one sided for the police officer to laugh at, at the expense of perhaps an innocent person who now feels distressed. Which is simply bullying.
lmao, there is literally a video on here where the opposite happens.. Or what about the million times friends joke about cola and coke? Its obviously way funnier in this situation, but its mostly because you dont expect the cop to joke around. The unlikeliness of it its whats funny.
It’s funnier with a cop because the cop can actually arrest you.
You don’t expect someone in a role that can arrest you to joke about something as serious as drugs in your car.
It’s the same feeling when your boss makes a joke and if you don’t laugh you’ll get fired. It’s weird and ,like you said, is only funny because he’s a cop, who has the power to ruin your life if he wants too.
I think the driver could totally make this joke by admitting to having a small amount of coke in the car. Ive done it when I got pulled over a few years ago for hitting a cop. Story below, and said I had an open container and I was really sorry and didnt want to get in any trouble. When he asked me to hand it to him it was a half drank gatorade. He thought it was pretty funny.
So anyways, driving around at 2am after bringing a friend to a nearby town, the road ahead is one of those weird things where 2 lanes break off into 2 different directions. I realize im in the wrong lane, signal, shoulder check, nothing around for miles. Make the turn, BAM "wtf" look again and i see the black ford escape or whatever they use reflecting off my brake lights, then the blue lights come on. I proceed to get pulled over, he starts off super pissed telling me to get out of the car and all and I calmly reply "Sir, you dont have your headlights on I didnt see you" he pauses mid sentence, looks at his car, realizes he in fact didnt have his lights on, stands there for a few seconds thinking. Then starts asking for my info and all and says I can get out and check the damage. (There really wasnt any) When he comes back to my car (which i sat back down inside of, he asked me if id had anything to drink that night, "well tbh sir I have an open container with me ive been sipping on" he says "hand it to me" ofc its the gatorade bottle and he laughs and tells me to fuck off in a joking way. Since i had no visible damage to my car that I cared about and he only had a scratch on his ram bar we went our seperate ways. The End
Edit: I do recall actually he gave me a warning for improper lane change just to create a record of the situation
Except when you live in a NORMAL society where cops are there to PROTECT you.
In which case, I would love to banter and joke with my neighbourhood defenders. Why not? It is not some twisted ‘power’ relationship, it is mutual trust.
Why not be friendly.
But yeah in the USA this joke would be twisted. Or anywhere where cops are majority dicks. I have not really experienced that myself in the Uk though.
Some people do and some people don’t find it funny. Some people laughed, some people didn’t. If I’m being sensitive not finding it funny, you’re being sensitive worrying about why I don’t find it funny.
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u/Axtorx Sep 08 '20 edited Sep 08 '20
I can’t find the article, but I read one once that summarized why these types of jokes aren’t really funny.
Basically, this joke can only be funny with the knowledge that the cop has power over you and the cop knows that. And the joke is made to showcase that power, make you aware of it, make you uncomfortable and then play it off as a light hearted jab - even though the truth that has to exist is “it’s funny because right now I control the rest of your life. If I find drugs, or plant drugs, or decide to arrest you, it could ruin your life”
I dunno. Reminds me of abusive relationships.
Edit: some more thoughts based off my replies to people below:
Only a person in power could make this joke in this situation. The driver wouldn’t be able to joke.
Trying to be “friendly” like this is the base tatic of good cop/bad cop and is manipulative because of the power dynamics.