This article won honorable mention in the 2021 Michigan Interscholastic Press Association spring awards ceremony.
This is part of a pro-con package. To read the con side, click here.
About a year ago, renowned comedian Dave Chappelle was featured in a stand-up special on Netflix called Sticks and Stones. He faced immediate backlash from outraged critics, claiming that his jokes were insensitive and cruel.
According to an article from NBC, critic Inkoo Kang said that watching the Netflix comedy special was like “‘dropping in on a rascally uncle who doesn’t know, or doesn’t care, how much he’s disappointing you… his jokes make you wince.’”
Despite all the negativity surrounding Sticks and Stones, the show earned 99% audience approval on Rotten Tomatoes. This is likely because the “distasteful” and “cruel” jokes actually turned out to be pretty funny.
If you find yourself laughing at offensive humor, it’s because it’s amusing. You shouldn’t have to pretend that it isn’t. If you’re the type of person to get offended by this genre, then it’s not for you, and that’s okay. Someone else will likely enjoy it.
I firmly believe that humor is subjective, and walking on eggshells when making a joke is a surefire way to fail.
Oftentimes in internet comment sections you see people say things like “That’s not a joke.” However you don’t get to dictate just because you take offense to it or you don’t agree with how it’s formatted. It is whatever the creator intended it to be.
“You have to be able to offend as a comedian. What would George Carlin’s career have been like if he never took a chance on offending?” talk show host and actor Chris Gethard said in an interview with Vox. “Have you watched Richard Pryor? Some of that feels risky today, and it was 30, 40 years ago he put it out.”
That’s part of what people find so enticing about comedy, the boldness to be blunt about what everyone was thinking but didn’t dare say. Comedians have been ruffling feathers for decades. That’s their job. They are willing to deal with the indefinite repercussions.
It’s important to remember that people ultimately have the right to be angry if they find something insulting.
We were taught in school from a young age the importance of being careful of what we say because of how it might make others feel. The basics of the Golden rule: treat others how you want to be treated.
Being kind to others is essential, but it’s also a fact of life that not everyone is nice. If you let everything that everyone says get to your head, you aren’t going to be a happy person.
The ability to laugh at yourself and acknowledge that we all have flaws and make mistakes. If you can’t be a good sport and laugh at yourself from time to time, someone else is going to take the liberty to do it for you.
Like all aspects of life, everyone has their own niche in humor. Life becomes much easier if you don’t take everything so seriously.
The joke doesn’t have to start with ‘knock, knock’ to count.
