A Non-Unique Venture into Madness

Certain people get so caught up in protesting rape jokes yet never seem to speak up against jokes involving death, jokes involving mental retardation, jokes involving child molestation (also rape), jokes involving physical ailments such as cancer or AIDS, jokes involving drug abuse, jokes involving alcoholism, jokes involving assault, or jokes involving mental health.

Where were the people outraged over all of the Michael Jackson child molestation jokes?

Where were the people outraged over comedians poking fun at Lindsey Lohan, Anna Nicole Smith, Whitney Houston, and Amy Winehouse’s drug addictions?

Where were the people outraged over everyone and their mother making light of Charlie Sheen’s mental health? 

Why aren’t people up in arms over The Three Stooges, whose shorts “trivialized” assault and dependency in those who physically abuse others?

You’re not wrong to be offended by rape jokes. Nobody is saying that.

You’re wrong to tell people what they can and cannot joke about. Different people find different things offensive and funny, respectively. Dark material in comedy is nothing new. The context of the joke is everything. 

George Carlin said it best, “It all depends on how you construct the joke. What the exaggeration is. Because every joke needs one exaggeration. Every joke needs one thing to be way out of proportion” and then went on to say, “Picture Porky Pig raping Elmer Fudd.”

If you don’t like (x comedian) because they joke about rape, or any other topic - that’s fine. Don’t watch their act or television show. 

But don’t write a blog post comparing them to a rapist themselves or stating that they’re a ‘rape enabler.’ That’s ridiculous and you ought to be ashamed of yourself for lacking emotional self-control. 

People will always say things that you don’t necessarily agree with. That doesn’t mean they’re bad people or that they endorse bad things. What it means is that they have a different perspective on a topic and may not be as sensitive in discussing it as you are. 

No one is arguing that rape isn’t funny. It’s a horrible thing and it ruins lives. 

But you know what else ruins lives? Drug addiction. Alcoholism. Suicide. Murder. Assault. And all of these things are featured in comedic acts, television shows, music, movies, and books twice as much and nobody ever makes a fuss about them. They are all horrible things that affect people directly and indirectly in different ways, and it’s incredibly hypocritical for some people on this website to go on tirades against rape jokes and then blatantly ignore the rest because it doesn’t fit their political or social agenda. 

How you choose to censor yourself is your decision. How others choose to censor themselves, as much as you may dislike it, is up to them. That does not give you the right to slander their name or imply they condone horrible actions against others just because your tolerance to certain topics is at a lesser threshold than theirs.