lewro wrote:
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I would never be so bold as to tell someone how to process humor. It's as subjective as taste in fashion or food. Based on a complex web of experiences and worldviews, some people are left in stitches, while others are left with a shrug. But in the case of DeGeneres and in so many other examples, the outrage that follows these jokes seems to be more a reflexive hunt for things to take offense at rather than thoughtful critique.
The real problem, however, isn't the wasted energy of the political correctness patrollers or the hurt careers of comics. The danger of this outrage phenomenon is that, in the process of policing every sensitive subject, we lose comedy itself — one of the only tools we have to grapple with our testiest issues. Humor is an entryway unlike any other for talking out things we're too afraid, too uncomfortable or too pained to broach head on. If we can't joke about issues such as ethnicity, sexuality, class, politics, pain and death, we may never get through them or find ways to heal.
The real problem, however, isn't the wasted energy of the political correctness patrollers or the hurt careers of comics. The danger of this outrage phenomenon is that, in the process of policing every sensitive subject, we lose comedy itself — one of the only tools we have to grapple with our testiest issues. Humor is an entryway unlike any other for talking out things we're too afraid, too uncomfortable or too pained to broach head on. If we can't joke about issues such as ethnicity, sexuality, class, politics, pain and death, we may never get through them or find ways to heal.
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