Have to agree - with humour either everything's ok, or nothing's ok, it's the way it has to be. When humour or an attempt at such (as not everyone's going to like every joke, that's a given) starts to deliberately exclude, or avoid a people, person, subject, and treat them differently, as far as I'm concerned that's every bit as damaging as it is to say 'ahh, let's never make jokes about ---- people any more, thus curing prejudice against the --- people'' Sorry, but that's not how it works. Not making fun of someone doesn't stop them being persecuted.
As far as I'm aware there wasn't an international culture of humour, being broadcast across the world, and fed into people's home when the Slave Trade was rife in the 1800s, or when Vikings pillaged the East Coast of this island in pre-Norman times. Exactly what amount of stand up comedy, sit-coms and general laughs were there in Irag under Hussein's regime, there to generate hate against those he persecuted. No. A joke is a joke. it's just that.
Now the theory is that jokes turn into actual snide and hate against the people that are the but of that joke. Yes? Well, ok, so we have a society that has nothing but hate/exclusion of Chickens, blondes, mothers in law and Doctors. Well, last time I checked, Western Society was fairly well-stocked with those mentioned in that list. A host of 'dumb blonde' jokes doesn't seem to have affected the bank balances of Britney Spears, Paris Hilton, Cameron Diaz etc.... Doctors I
think seem to just scrape by, inspite of 'Doctor Doctor' funnies.
So telling a joke and it becoming prejudice, then verbal, then physical abuse, then genocide or war is perhaps like saying playing certain computer games turn us into people who actually go out on killing sprees, or or shoot zombies or whoever. No. Anyone of decent upbringing is aware of the make believe and the real. And where a line should be drawn.
Guess what? I was bullied at school. So was, presumably 50% of us (ergo the other 50% were bullies) and boo-hoo, people have said mean things to me, shock horror - that's called growing up. You tell them to get screwed, and move on, and live your life. They're only words, you can walk away, you don't need someone making legislation to 'protect' you. So therefore, the instant that they make a Government funded 'Northern and Wears Glasses Day' I'm shooting myself.
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Topic: Top gear suspended. (Read 10790 times)