Now, I have to confess to liking a bit of humour.
I also confess to finding humour in 'darkness'... graveyard / gallows humour you might call it.
Sometimes, this can poke fun at situations that are clearly serious. I would never (with intent) set out to poke fun at race, size, age, intelligence etc... but I will make jokes that cross those topics. It's hard not to.
Since clearly the death of MJ is fresh in our minds, we know there is a wave of humour (or not) on the horizon.
I think we have to be careful here... and not fall foul of the following:
- Sometimes a joke can touch a controversial subject, but doesn't mean the joker condones the subject
- Sometimes folks react to shock in different ways, some cry, but some laugh (yes they do). So try not to be too hard on jokers
- Humour is so often funny because it challenges and provokes and pushes boundaries. Let's never lose that
All of that said, something funny will remain funny for a long time.
In the few hours after anybody's death, I think humour can wait. There's forever to joke about something, only one chance to have show some respect in the circumstances.
This isn't really about MJ, it's more a question of that invisible line of decency... and how folks choose to push it.
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Humour.... the boundaries
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Sex God
I was out in Manchester the night Man Utd lost the Champions League final.
I'm a Merseysider and Liverpool fan. Within minutes of the final whistle being blown, my phone was buzzing with all sorts of text jokes. I was amazed at how quickly people could create these jokes and, with the aid of technology, spread them around.
I laughed at some, smiled at others and nearly fell off my seat guffawing at a few... collective humour can be a powerful tool and a way of people coping too.
There's probably a Social Anthropology thesis in it somewhere...
I'm a Merseysider and Liverpool fan. Within minutes of the final whistle being blown, my phone was buzzing with all sorts of text jokes. I was amazed at how quickly people could create these jokes and, with the aid of technology, spread them around.
I laughed at some, smiled at others and nearly fell off my seat guffawing at a few... collective humour can be a powerful tool and a way of people coping too.
There's probably a Social Anthropology thesis in it somewhere...
Sex God
Quote by TheAnalogKid
i think they are adapted jokes
Yes, undoubtedly some of them are. What I was astonished by was the quick wit that enabled them to be sent out, enjoyed, passed on etc.
I work with dying people every day and I've had some of the funniest moments of my career sat at the bedside of a terminally ill cancer patient as she told me how she wanted her funeral conducted - from everyone wearing drag and carrying gladioli ( she was a Dame Edna fan ) to her pall bearers being 6' hunks in firemen's uniforms! She died 6 hours after we were giggling away at that image!
That could be seen by some as disrespectful - me sat at her side laughing til I cried. For me, it was a beautiful time spent in the company of a wonderful and very brave lady and I was glad her last memories were good ones ( the saucy old mare :giggle: )
SOME of the MJ jokes I heard today did raise a snigger but any with reference to his involvement with kids, I treated with the contempt they deserved.
There's black humour and there's just plain sick. You just have to be able to tell the difference
That could be seen by some as disrespectful - me sat at her side laughing til I cried. For me, it was a beautiful time spent in the company of a wonderful and very brave lady and I was glad her last memories were good ones ( the saucy old mare :giggle: )
SOME of the MJ jokes I heard today did raise a snigger but any with reference to his involvement with kids, I treated with the contempt they deserved.
There's black humour and there's just plain sick. You just have to be able to tell the difference
I've discovered a lot of people will find something funny in private that they won't admit to in public. Various types of jokes such as dead baby jokes or racist jokes make a LOT of people laugh, but very few will admit to it.
Celebrity death jokes have been around for ages. I remember the princess Di ones that started a few days after her death. Humour is one of the normal grief coping mechanisms.
What I find disgusting is all the people who heap praise on him even though they couldn't give a crap otherwise.
Celebrity death jokes have been around for ages. I remember the princess Di ones that started a few days after her death. Humour is one of the normal grief coping mechanisms.
What I find disgusting is all the people who heap praise on him even though they couldn't give a crap otherwise.
Sex God
Quote by bigDewi69
I've discovered a lot of people will find something funny in private that they won't admit to in public. Various types of jokes such as dead baby jokes or racist jokes make a LOT of people laugh, but very few will admit to it.
Celebrity death jokes have been around for ages. I remember the princess Di ones that started a few days after her death. Humour is one of the normal grief coping mechanisms.
What I find disgusting is all the people who heap praise on him even though they couldn't give a crap otherwise.
I kind of disagree with your first point. I think it is easier for people to "laugh" at these jokes because that is a much easier response than "Shut up you racist bigot" or "I don't find that funny." Which is likely to cause confrontation.
There will always be people who laugh at the likes of Chubby Brown & Jim Davidson who gain a lot of their laughs from victimisation, stereotyping, swearing and unsubtle racist or sexist nonsense. I find such people have an inordinate amount of tattoo's, an IQ half the size of their shoe size, a seeming inability to laugh without a fag or pint in their hand and a dangerous dog at home.
Lazy stereotyping is very, very easy to do.
I do agree that humour is an excellent way to deal with grief. Sometimes, it can be the only way to stay on an even keel for many.
Sex God
There are no subjects or situations that are beyond a joke,just look around and tell me God wasn't a comedian
Sex God
Not that I believe in God or anything but you get the point
Sex God
I am an ordained minister though.....honest
Sex God
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One can't be too careful
One can't be too careful
