Violence is not a joke and jokes about it are not funny.

[uppityperson]

Rape is not a joke and jokes about it are not funny.
Advocating violence or rape is not a joke and jokes about either are not funny.

[MuseRider]

1. I agree

what the hell did I miss?

:hi: uppity!

[uppityperson]

8. Hi MuseRider

it has been a week of nasty stuff, at least 1 person ts'd over nasty rape stuff. I am just getting tired of it. I am tired of "women are responsible for getting raped" to "rape jokes are funny, it was all in fun and games" to "bend over in the shower" "jokes". It isn't funny. It is violence and violence isn't funny. Just in general I am tired. Quick check in during day at library computer and more bs. Sigh. back to work.

[candidate]

2. Sometimes it can be funny

With someone like George Carlin it can be hilarious.

It all depends on the context, and the person telling the joke.

[uppityperson]

3. So tell us 1 of his rape/violence jokes that was funny.

[Clark2008]

7. Actually, it's not funny - but Carlin at least knows how to

be satirical - unlike that little twerp on campus:

Like rape. They'll say, "you can't joke about rape. Rape's not funny." I say, "fuck you, I think it's hilarious. How do you like that?" I can prove to you that rape is funny. Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd. See, hey why do you think they call him "Porky," eh? I know what you're going to say. "Elmer was asking for it. Elmer was coming on to Porky. Porky couldn't help himself, he got a hard- on, he got horney, he lost control, he went out of his mind." A lot of men talk like that. A lot of men think that way. They think it's the woman's fault. They like to blame the rape on the woman. Say, "she had it coming, she was wearing a short skirt." These guys think women ought to go to prison for being cock teasers. Don't seem fair to me. Don't seem right, but you can joke about it. I believe you can joke about anything. It all depends on how you construct the joke. What the exaggeration is. What the exaggeration is. Because every joke needs one exaggeration. Every joke needs one thing to be way out of proportion. Give you an example. Did you ever see a news story like this in the paper? Every now and then you run into a story, says, "some guy broke into a house, stole a lot of things, and while he was in there, he raped an 81 year old woman." And I'm thinking to myself, "WHY??? What the fuck kind of a social life does this guy have?" I want to say, "why did you do that?" "Well she was coming on to me. We were dancing and I got horney. Hey, she was asking for it, she had on a tight bathrobe." I'll say, "Jesus Christ, be a little fucking selective next time will you?"

But, I agree. Rape is NOT funny and I hope that idiot writer never gets another date as long as he's on campus - much less any goodies. That's a much better punishment than beating him up or forcing him out of school.

[Katherine Brengle]

4. Nope...

[AX10]

10. No! Carlin is an ass!

[Midlodemocrat]

12. Yup. Funny like a crutch.

Not. Rape is NEVER funny. In any context, ever.

[uppityperson]

14. Still no answer? Maybe you went offline and will answer tomorrow.

maybe. Tell me 1 of his that was funny, or point to a link please.

[johnaries]

32. I don't EVER remember Carlin making a joke about

violence or rape. I know there have been a lot of emails floating around that were falsely attributed to him, though. Perhaps it's one of these you are thinking of.

[mzteris]

5. amen to that.

Why would anyone think it was? What is WRONG with people?

[Marnieworld]

6. I especially hate jokes about prison rape

Don't drop the soap. He'll be somebody's bitch. etc etc.

I can see how frustrated we get with this republican criminals, some war criminals, or even the latest headline of a child molester. Yet it is so wrong for our society to just accept rape as part of the penal system. It's an additional punishment doled out not in a sentence that we are all content with. Or at least that's what this "jokes" imply.

Think of all of the innocent people let alone all of the millions of non-violent drug users in jail. Is it funny if a small-time drug dealer let alone some addict that just got convicted of possession to be raped? Is it fair that something so brutal would be a punishment for this crime? I think that the whole criminal justice system needs an overhaul, as liberals many people are against the death penalty but I think this issue should be added as well. I know that convicts could not be a less sympathetic group and it's hard to get passionate about advocacy. Just it wouldn't hurt to realize how hypocritical it is to laugh about prison rape and yet fight for civil rights for all.

[AX10]

9. I agree!

[Midlodemocrat]

11. uppityperson, you need to lighten up.

:sarcasm:

Don't you know all jokes about anyone who feels oppressed are funny?

[uppityperson]

15. However, here is my gripe.

Just because I am a middle aged whitish female heterosexual with a child, I want people to quit telling me I have NO say if something is oppressive or not. Fine, sometimes I can tell, sometimes I can't, but I will accept it if someone else finds it oppressive. Yeah, I don't know what it's like to be black male old fat skinny gay childless paraplegic jewish muslim etcist etcic etcism, but still, I hate people being mean outright or covertly and I just wish to hell (and heaven) that we could all just treat each other like people with differences but all just like people. Yeah, now I'm anti-cats. Not really. end of rant. end of violence, end of bigotry, end of intolerance, blah blah blah. end of rant.

[Midlodemocrat]

35. Girlfriend you are preaching to the choir.

:applause:

I think that a lot of the incivility comes from those behind the keyboard who feel it is okay to say mean things 'cause it's the internet'. They wouldn't dare say such mean things in person. I, on the other hand, am much meaner in person, (only half kidding) because the nuances of inflection and body language aren't apparent over the net.

It certainly doesn't diminish me to have compassion for someone who is experiencing discrimination or hatred based on their skin color, or the religion, or the sexual identity. In fact, I like to think it makes my heart bigger and more responsive when I have that compassion.

Compassion of the heart and soul doesn't cost anyone anything. Even if you (global you,here, not uppityperson) couldn't afford to send a dime to the Katrina victims, or HRW, or savedarfur, you can still have compassion in your heart and speak out about the horrors they went through.

That's what is lacking these days, it seems. Everyone has their right to their own opinion of course, but if something bothers my AA friends, or my GLBT friends, I, as neither of those, really shouldn't tell them to 'lighten up'.

[TlalocW]

13. Jokes about violence are never funny

And I'll beat the crap out of anyone who says that they are.

TlalocW

[rebel with a cause]

16. Jokes about rape or any violence is not funny but

I can guarantee you that people that work in the field will sometimes joke about the very violence they deal with. In most cases it will not be about the victim but about the predator. It is not joke jokes, it is more sarcastic type of things. It is sometimes the only way to retain your sanity when you deal with horrors day in and day out. I know because I have been there.

[uppityperson]

24. Having worked for yrs as a nurse, I know about black humor

we laugh to keep from crying but we laugh because it is not funny at all. This is different and, while some sick things may make me laugh, I don't consider them "funny".

[hfojvt]

17. Violence is quite often funny

Look at any sitcom and see how often violence figures into the humor. I can think of many instances on Seinfeld or think of the violence of the Austin Powers movies. Or the scene in Spaceballs where Han Solo hands the Princess a gun and tells her to cover him. She says "No way. I hate guns." Then a gun zaps past her and she says "They shot my hair!!" grabs the gun and mows down a dozen storm troopers. Nobody really gets hurt, and it is quite funny.

Real violence is not anything to joke about, and I cannot think of any jokes involving rape (except one from Sam Kineson, and I am not ready to claim it is very funny) Now that I think of it though, Jay Leno did several jokes about the guy in Wisconsin who was caught having sex with a dead deer. I am not sure that qualifies as rape. As close as I can remember.

It seems to me that most TV shows and movies do advocate violence. Usually the bully or the bad guy gets beat up or shot. Many of the plots involve physical conflict or some kind of revenge. Biff has to get decked before the McFlys can live happily ever after.

[NuttyFluffers]

18. i'm curious where Tom & Jerry and other cartoon violence falls in this.

because cartoons are often very violent, and often use it for humor.

or is there some sort of context to this comment that i'm missing. seems a bit out of left field, 'cuz i don't spend all that much time on DU.

[murielm99]

20. The context is a student newspaper

piece on the benefits of rape. There is a thread about it with over 300 replies.

[NuttyFluffers]

21. just saw it. absolutely dumbfounding.

when i first read the whole article i immediately got "reactionary asshat about to attempt humor" warning sirens going off in my head. when i saw his abortion and affirmative action articles, i knew my suspicions were confirmed. i stand by my theory that RWers cannot do humor. it is simply beyond them. even dark humor, which is quite an acquired taste, has standards. hmm, i wonder if this taste in humor differential in determining reactionaries can be applied by extention to reactionary taste in fashion...

[NuttyFluffers]

22. double post delete.

[uppityperson]

25. Context is recent postings on rape and sexual orientation

promoting violence isn't funny and making jokes isn't funny either. You raise an interesting point, as did hfojvt above, that comic violence can be funny, probably because it is so unreal. Here is another couple questions that I have thought about. Does cartoon and comic violence subtly (or not so) train young minds that violence is ok? Why is violence (even comic/unreal) ok on tv but sex (even much kissing) not?

[murielm99]

19. This is not the first time

that sort of thing has happened.

My daughter did her graduate work at Carnegie Mellon. Every year on April Fool's Day, they have a satire version of the student paper. The paper is usually called the Tartan. The satire edition is called the Natrat.

The year she finished there, the satire paper was hideous. There was an unfunny comic strip that had a racist joke. There was an article mocking rape victims. I seem to remember some graphic depictions of female genitalia in that article. There was a joke making fun of Asians. I did not get it until someone explained it to me.

The whole mess was discussed in University Senate. My daughter was a member, representing her department. They sent people out to collect as many papers they could find. Of course, they did not get all of them.

I actually found a website with pictures of the comic strip, and excerpts from the other articles. There were fools there defending the whole thing. I forwarded it to my daughter.

I am sorry, but this is not a freedom of speech issue. When one attends a private university that has standards and guidelines for their publications, they can expel anyone they want, and ask for any apologies they feel necessary. They can censor this paper and burn all copies if they choose. I don't remember the outcome, but I hope they got rid of some of the idiots who were responsible.

Does anyone else here remember that?

[William Bloode]

23. I'll disagree.

As a victim of rape at the age of 5-6, and more violence than you could dream. I whole heartedly reserve my right to joke about these things. If i could not, or had not learned to laugh at these things i would be more messed up than i am now. Lets not mention suicide.

No one has the right to tell me what i may, or may not find amusing, or hilarious. Those things are the discretion of the person involved.

[uppityperson]

26. I agree that black humor has a place and that jokes have their place.

Advocating real violence, advocating real rape, those are unacceptable. You can find whatever you want amusing, or hilarious. Of course you can. But advocating violence and/or rape is unacceptable. I am glad you have figured out how to live with what has happened to you, cannot imagine how it must be, and with peace for you and all.

[Midlodemocrat]

37. And I will agree with you that the black humor aspect is

certainly a different spin. However, as an avowed 'black humor' expert, (seriously, in the ICU waiting for my husband to have his quadruple bypass, I had the nurses in tears) I think the audience is an important part of the black humor aspect.

And, FWIW, I'm terribly sorry about what happened to you. I have a son and I would be devastated if something like that happened to him. I hope you can find healing.

[11 Bravo]

27. You ought to have your ass kicked!

:evilgrin:

[uppityperson]

28. I have had that happen and, while my face did look funny, my broken nose sure hurt

Why did I get kicked in the face and torso? Why did I get my ass kicked and have a broken nose and ribs? Because I wouldn't get out of my boyfriend's car as we were driving at 30mph. Why further? Because I objected to his bringing other women to my apartment for casual sex while I was home. I didn't think it was funny, though people told me my face looked really funny for a while.

Yes, there are not "always", and yes, joking between each other while knowing that what you say is in no way serious can be humorous, I still don't agree that it is ok.

[Clark2008]

29. I hope you're out of that situation - and never have to return

to it with that guy or any others.

Cheating men are many times very abusive when caught. I went through it with my ex husband. Caught him cheating, kicked him out and he tried to beat me up in front of our baby boy because he got caught and was being made to pay the piper.

BTW, did you see my post above regarding the Carlin joke. I posted it, but forgot a link. The joke is NOT funny, but I can see where Carlin absolutely gets satire, while that turd at the college newspaper doesn't.

[uppityperson]

30. Yeah, it was long long long ago.

Helps me understand why people get into/stay in those type situations. And yes, probably gave me a slanted view of things. I can understand how satire, how comic unreal dark violence could be laughed at, humorous, but overall I just don't think it is. It is difficult to get it right. too easy to pass off nastiness as "I was just joking, geesh, you have no sense of humor".

[uppityperson]

31. Perhaps if we knew each other better, had a black humor relationship

context is wrong here though.

[derby378]

33. I think Jews from WW2-era Europe would disagree with you

They basically wrote half of the "gallows humor" jokes you've probably come across as a way of dealing with the insanity of their day-to-day experiences.

[uppityperson]

34. UPDATE: there are reasons for jokes about violence

I still don't like them, but yes, even I have joked. Does that mean I think they are funny? Guess I need to define "funny". Advocating I still do not find funny.

Dark humor, to keep from crying or killing yourself. Joke about it, laugh about it, realizing that it is not funny at all, but still laugh. I have and do. It is difficult to do it right, must be in specific situations, in the right context with the right people. I still do not think advocating violence or rape is funny in most situations though. Peace and thank you all for chiming in.

[Beelzebud]

36. I'll decide what I find funny, thank you.

[AngryAmish]

38. Many on DU think rape is f'n hilarious

Go look up the Rove is indited threads. Many, many jokes about him getting raped.