Making Mirth With Rape, Murder, Slavery, Etc....When Is It OK? Or Wrong?

[Revoltingest]

I recently posted a video of Cunagonde's (Cook & Chenoweth versions) "Glitter & Be Gay" from the musical, "Candide", in the thread about singing vocals. Then it occured to me that this comedy makes light of:
Rape
Slavery (ordinary kind)
Slavery (sexual)
War
Death
Physical mutilation
Torture
Catholicism (There's an auto da fe in one scene.)
I'm not offended by it, but I wonder what others think. It's widely performed on stages large & small, even at very very PC & progressive universities. Is this a sign that we're inured to violence, or is does it get a pass cuz it's a classic based upon a great Voltaire work?

 

[Draupadi]

These things are certainly not to be made light of, no matter who wrote it.

 

[Terrywoodenpic]

It is called context.

In the right context almost any subject can form the basis of a joke or performance .... and people will laugh and cry as appropriate .
However Taste and PC. changes how and what we may joke about, and how it is received by a particular audience.

In the context of academia almost any thing goes.

 

[Wirey]

These things are certainly not to be made light of, no matter who wrote it.

I disagree. Mockery is an effective weapon when wielded by the right person.

 

[sun rise]

I think in academia there's more of a standard of "PC" than in the general public rather than "anything goes".

But I'm reminded of Sweeney Todd which is still being performed today. And, of course, there's the Monty Python barber shop prolog to the Lumberjack Song which I happen to enjoy. And then there's the very incorrect Shakespeare "Taming of the Shrew". And shows that denigrated blacks which are not acceptable today.

A couple of thoughts: standards change so what is perfectly fine one day is not sometime later. But also some people are more sensitive to things that they might have dismissed at another time.

But also I think that you have a point about needing a great work to pull it off. If the work is well done and does not promote approval of what we consider evil, it's fine with me.

 

[dust1n]

As a comedian with incredibly dark jokes, there's about two rules I follow."

1.) Joke about anything, but it better be funny.

2.) Victims (especially living or present victims) should never be the butt of a joke in the aforementioned topics.

 

[Brickjectivity]

I think dust1n's on the right track with this. In war humor is used to dehumanize the opposition. Lets at least not use it for that in peacetime.

 

[Secret Chief]

Comedy is a serious business. Context is all, as already alluded to. Any topic can be used in humour, but it is the treatment that determines appropriateness (or not).

 

[Secret Chief]

I disagree. Mockery is an effective weapon when wielded by the right person.

Mel Brooks said as much when talking about The Producers (regarding Springtime for Hitler).

 

[sun rise]

Mel Brooks said as much when talking about The Producers (regarding Springtime for Hitler).

Also worth noting is Charlie Chaplin's "The Great Dictator"

 

[Draupadi]

I disagree. Mockery is an effective weapon when wielded by the right person.

I meant according to the context of the OP's situation. If such things were done to make our feelings blunt about it, then it's a huge crime IMHO. The world is already enough blunt about it. A few days back my mum saw a young man throw himself under the train and die. She noticed that nobody had called him out let alone try to stop him. Later I came to know that he was from my university and did that because he couldn't get a job.

 

[Wirey]

I meant according to the context of the OP's situation. If such things were done to make our feelings blunt about it, then it's a huge crime IMHO. The world is already enough blunt about it. A few days back my mum saw a young man throw himself under the train and die. She noticed that nobody had called him out let alone try to stop him. Later I came to know that he was from my university and did that because he couldn't get a job.

To say anything is automatically off limits is a form of extremism. I'm a non-fan. In fact, all extremists should be shot!

 

[Robert.Evans]

I recently posted a video of Cunagonde's (Cook & Chenoweth versions) "Glitter & Be Gay" from the musical, "Candide", in the thread about singing vocals. Then it occured to me that this comedy makes light of:
Rape
Slavery (ordinary kind)
Slavery (sexual)
War
Death
Physical mutilation
Torture
Catholicism (There's an auto da fe in one scene.)
I'm not offended by it, but I wonder what others think. It's widely performed on stages large & small, even at very very PC & progressive universities. Is this a sign that we're inured to violence, or is does it get a pass cuz it's a classic based upon a great Voltaire work?

I don't know anything about the post. But as for the title, we use humour to get by, to allow us to take the pressure of life. Without it you crack, and then things get worse. Of course, that would not happen if we did not do those things in the first place, but to do that, one would have to take it seriously, wouldn't they, then we could sort out the problem. But the problem with that is, one man's meat is another man's poison. So an answer to one is not an answer to another. Hence I say live in our own groups realtive to who we are and what we believe about life, then we are not offending others.

 

[Revoltingest]

But as for the title, we use humour to get by, to allow us to take the pressure of life. Without it you crack, and then things get worse.

Humor is pain.

 

[Robert.Evans]

As a comedian with incredibly dark jokes, there's about two rules I follow."

1.) Joke about anything, but it better be funny.

2.) Victims (especially living or present victims) should never be the butt of a joke in the aforementioned topics.

I bet you don't really joke about anything though, do you? Not unless it is a select group of people you are telling it to

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I've laughed at a lot of things that would be utterly horrible out of context, like South Park. But overall, any comedy will involve things that aren't really funny, but when it's put through a comical spin, it becomes hilarious.
It's like this one time, back when I had the Nelson "haw-haw" as my text ring on my cell phone, I had a water pipe bust under my house, and after I fixed it, I turned the water back on, the "fixed" joint bust open, and just a second after that happened I heard "haw-haw!" It's not to cool to laugh at people's misfortunes, but I was laughing my *** off over the situation.

I bet you don't really joke about anything though, do you? Not unless it is a select group of people you are telling it to

That's quite a claim to make. Of course one must consider the audience (as the case when performing a concert, giving a business presentation, writing an academic paper, creating a news report, or even just telling a joke), you can just bow to the PC expectations or you can just let people think you're a weird person. Me, I'd rather them just assume I'm cold and/or messed up in the head. IMO, they are taking life too seriously.

 

[sun rise]

Humor is pain.

Some humor is a way of relieving the pain. Other humor is a way of inflicting pain.

 

[Revoltingest]

Some humor is a way of relieving the pain. Other humor is a way of inflicting pain.

It's about pain, one way or the other.

Edit: I agree with you, btw.

 

[Revoltingest]

I meant according to the context of the OP's situation. If such things were done to make our feelings blunt about it, then it's a huge crime IMHO. The world is already enough blunt about it. A few days back my mum saw a young man throw himself under the train and die. She noticed that nobody had called him out let alone try to stop him. Later I came to know that he was from my university and did that because he couldn't get a job.

In Candide, the horrible acts themselves aren't seen in the show. They're more of climates which the characters experience on their journeys.

 

[dust1n]

I bet you don't really joke about anything though, do you? Not unless it is a select group of people you are telling it to

I'm not sure what you are implying.