TO PREFACE: I understand it's difficult to take this post seriously on my stupidly pink blog. Please ignore it. If you need to, copy and paste the text into a plain Word Document if my immature femininity distracts you.
Now, onto what you came here for.
Recently, there has been some controversy with Viner Evyn Collins who defended a revine he made about domestic abuse and rape. He then continued to rant in defense of himself, claiming that those who use social justice propaganda to limit his comedy are “the worst people on earth”. (Vines and defense can be viewed on his Vine page). He then further defended his stance on why these jokes shouldn’t be shunned in order to protect comedy. His comedy shouldn’t be compromised because it might trigger someone on the other side of the screen.
Thoughts like these are not uncommon on Vine. There is an unfortunate plethora of stupid and insensitive jokes on the topic of rape, sexual abuse, race, sexism, etc. After the thousandth time of seeing someone try to defend themselves after such a backwards move, I thought it was time to address this.
Now here, Evyn, I’d like to address you directly.
Unfortunately, your defense doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. Not only do you demean many social justice causes, basically claiming it’s a bandwagon for people to jump on and seem socially aware and cool, but your also wrong on the core reason why these jokes shouldn’t be used anymore.
Like you said in your defense, comedy is a powerful medium. Everyone loves comedy. People like to laugh! People digest comedy and the thoughts that influence these jokes without even thinking about it. Not to mention that comedy is enjoyable for nearly everyone. Nobody hates being happy. Comedy is supposed to make you laugh, and laughing = happy. I’d argue that comedy, especially in a social media generation, can reach and influence more people than any other medium ever.
To claim the core values of comedy is mindless and completely uninfluenced of politics and social issues is completely false. The foundation of comedy is Greek theater. Greek comedy wasn’t just a series of people getting kicked in the balls or talking about “relatable moments". This comedy was most often a satirical form of political commentary. Comedians were politically and socially aware. They understood the power of comedy. It was a lighthearted way for the writer to influence their watcher’s views and values, with a couple of ball kickings and relatable moments in between.
Making an insensitive joke without context about a political or social issue can be devastating. It completely desensitizes people to the issue. For example, a rape joke. If you make a dumb joke about getting raped, or someone being rapey, etc, the person hearing it will probably think “Oh! Rape is funny! It’s not really a huge deal". Or worse, “Oh, this dude is making a rape joke! These chicks are overreacting. Sexual consent isn’t that important. In fact, I might go rape someone now since it’s not a big deal! Right?” Ok, that is a bit overdramatized, but you get the point. Whether this exact thought passes through someone’s mind, in any shape or form, your joke makes it less bad. Your joke makes it OK.
These stupid jokes (usually Vines) that comedians continue to make completely trivialize these major issues. This can put a huge dent in a social movement. This is true especially now that one joke can reach thousands, if not millions, in a matter of seconds. The impact is multiplied. To be totally honest with you, a trigger isn’t really the main issue I have with these jokes, while they’re still a problem. The issue is that your insensitive joke sends a message to thousands of people that rape/racism/sexism/domestic abuse/etc. is less bad. It makes it OK. Rape/racism/sexism/abuse/etc IS NOT OK. It has the potential to train the generation of people who watch your comedy to feel less emotional about these topics. It takes them off people's minds. If you honestly believe that rape/racism/sexism/abuse/etc should be forgotten, I seriously pity you.
Comedy should be taken seriously. If you disagree, please see previous paragraphs about the origins of comedy and the impact of comedy. To say that comedy is harmless is an insult to the comedian. You’re insulting yourself.
I hope this makes sense, and I hope all comedians think a littler harder about the message they put out with their jokes.
camille
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