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"Rape jokes are no laughing matter"
- Thread starter MoonWater
- Start date
I think this video makes a lot of good points about why rape is and probably should remain such a taboo topic in the realms of lighthearted entertainment.
The Escapist : Video Galleries : Jimquisition : Rape vs. Murder
The Escapist : Video Galleries : Jimquisition : Rape vs. Murder
and optimism
And delirium.
Lady B
noob
That is an excellent link, thank you, I pray we as a people do not get so desensatized that rape video games become acceptable dang....
I agree in regards to this. For the most obvious part, because it's actually addressing a specific rape victim. The less obvious part is the fact that it's material is just basically highlighting the traumatization of the victim and it's hypothetical effect on her, which is both cruel and simply stating the obvious (in that there would certainly be an effect on her after such an experience). That is neither funny nor okay.
I think the thread started off addressing rape jokes in general and including any context, and has now developed more along the lines of addressing it's appearance in the media. I think this area is a bit more complicated.
I agree with what George Carlin said from the video posted earlier, in that context and the joke itself can make a lot difference. In such a case as the above, this is pretty bad.
However on the other hand some of the jokes Carlin made in the video made me laugh, as they're exaggerated hypothetical situations and thoughts he's sharing about the idea in general while targeting multiple things to be the element based upon which the laughter would be generated. He also included as much as possible (without getting out of character and/or getting too serious) something that would clarify his feelings about rape.
While i can still see the possible reservations some might have even to his jokes, i at least don't think they're cruel. I would include them, at worst, with the list of inadvisable bunch.
I also think that the video posted by MoonWater makes some valid points in regards to the media element in general and the place of such things in it.
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Father Heathen
Veteran Member
"Rape video games" haven't become acceptable. Such titles have no mainstream interest or following, nor do any mainstream retailers sell such titles, nor have any been made by any major, reputable developers. The adult industry catering to specific fetishes is nothing new and isn't indicative of any cultural climate. As disturbing as it is, the game is just an obscure oddity. There might even be a game out there themed around corpophilia, but that wouldn't mean that a **** eating craze is sweeping the nation.
Lady B
noob
ewwww just eeeewww
I wish I hadn't googled that word.....I don't see why any particular subject matter should be 'banned'- or off limits- as comedy is concerned.
It is the overall context, the specific content, and the delivery alltogether that generate laughter.
And there are different kinds of laughter. Some laughter is a bit uncomfortable, and this kind of laughter reveals things about us, and to us, as well.
No joke is going to make a thing that is not funny, funny.
It is something else there... that generates the laughter.
Sometimes that 'something' is a play on our own discomfort.
Comedy compells us if just for a few minutes to put down our serious 'stance' and 'defence' mechanisms.
In very much the way that laughter itself can be healing, this can be healing (and personally revealing) as well.
It is the overall context, the specific content, and the delivery alltogether that generate laughter.
And there are different kinds of laughter. Some laughter is a bit uncomfortable, and this kind of laughter reveals things about us, and to us, as well.
No joke is going to make a thing that is not funny, funny.
It is something else there... that generates the laughter.
Sometimes that 'something' is a play on our own discomfort.
Comedy compells us if just for a few minutes to put down our serious 'stance' and 'defence' mechanisms.
In very much the way that laughter itself can be healing, this can be healing (and personally revealing) as well.
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Beyond what I said up above your post, we all have the right to keep up our serious stance mechanisms. If a good comedian can't take you off guard and snatch them down on you, obviously you have very strong and personally compelling reasons for keeping them up like a bulwark.
If you have a lot of these though (bulwarks), it probably doesn't make any sense to go spend money to see any good number of comedians. (is it fair to say that 'controversial' has become main stream?)
That said, I can't say as if I've heard any pedistrian rape jokes.
I occasionally watch professional comedians on youtube.
(with varried effect)
I lead a fairly isolated life though socially, so I don't know the fare of pedestrian jokes that are out there.
Most of them may not make me laugh either. Don't know.
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Beyond what I said up above your post, we all have the right to keep up our serious stance mechanisms. If a good comedian can't take you off guard and snatch them down on you, obviously you have very strong and personally compelling reasons for keeping them up like a bulwark.
If you have a lot of these though (bulwarks), it probably doesn't make any sense to go spend money to see any good number of comedians. (is it fair to say that 'controversial' has become main stream?)
That said, I can't say as if I've heard any pedistrian rape jokes.
I occasionally watch professional comedians on youtube.
(with varried effect)
I lead a fairly isolated life though socially, so I don't know the fare of pedestrian jokes that are out there.
Most of them may not make me laugh either. Don't know.
It would be really difficult to create the intimacy necessary in order for a rape joke to be humorous, imo, as the nature of rape is contrary to this. {However, I reserve the right to laugh at would-be comics who try}
Maybe there is a difference between making a joke of rape,
and making rape the subject of a joke? (or more properly, the subject of humor)
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I'm not sure it's even possible to participate in humor if you cannot make a joke of yourself.
UTK007
Spiritual Seeker
I believe "jokes" about rape do have a place in community discourse if they are used properly. Comedians Sarah Silverman and Lisa Lampanelli regularly use rape in their routines, in my opinion effectively, to both call attention to the issue of rape as well as to make the audience think about the implications that rape has for our society. Do they trivialize rape or give this cowardice act any kind of social acceptance? No. If anything, they use "jokes" as a form of female empowerment. This is not a one-size-fits-all issue. Having said that, jokes about rape, or any other act of terrorism, that are meant to intimidate or humiliate have no place in polite society.
Wirey
Fartist
You mean Bobbit jokes? I already told them.
Kilgore Trout
Misanthropic Humanist
I think that most people don't understand the function of comedy.
UTK007
Spiritual Seeker
I am inclined to agree. I find comedy to be most effective when it calls attention to the perfunctory of every day life, or when it causes individuals to reexamine their values system by calling attention to social taboos.