dagblog - Comments for "‘SNL’ comic Leslie Jones blasts PC culture on ‘The View’: ‘Stop walking around so offended … you’re miserable!’"

I did agree with that point

ocean-kat — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 04:55:59 +0000

In reply to W/o watching her appearance,

I did agree with that point in my first post but she said much more that I disagreed with. Also I'm addressing the issue she discussed more broadly and not limiting it to just what she said.

W/o watching her appearance,

PeraclesPlease — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 04:33:01 +0000

In reply to Sorry for making the change.

W/o watching her appearance, I think her complaint was *what you said or did or looked like 30 years ago*. At this point a comedian has to consider what will be the PC change or fashion in 2 or 20 years or end up a pariah.

Sorry for making the change.

ocean-kat — Sat, 04 Aug 2018 00:48:03 +0000

In reply to So mostly I'm comfortable

Sorry for making the change. I originally said "Culture has become more complex and sophisticated" but that's not true across the board for all forms of culture.. Music culture has gotten much less complex though lyrics sometimes have more depth than in pre-50's music. So I made the comment more specific to just Comedy culture since that's really all that my comment addressed. As someone who cares deeply about music that sloppy error of generalization kept gnawing at me. I couldn't let it stand even though no one probably would notice it.

Perhaps it's important to clarify what I mean by PC limitations. There are really no limitations on free speech. There's simply a discussion about what is said and push back among those who disagree. That applies to everyone. It's easy to be a racist, sexist etc. in your head or with your friends if they're all racists too. It can get a bit harder to be an outspoken racist at work or in public. If you're speaking to an audience of hundreds or thousands in public forums and you want to get paid for what you say you need to say something that appeals to those masses. Whether you pander, teach, enlighten, or degrade and scapegoat outsiders those jokes and the message behind them need to appeal in some way if you want to get paid. Everyone and comedians can ignore the conversation and the push back but it's getting harder and harder for comedians to be simple or hateful and appeal to enough people to get paid.

I and probably no one is denying that humor can help us to deal with painful things with laughter. I agree with Jones that laughter can be the best medicine. My point was that it can also be the worst poison. I don't think PC culture demands that comedians not talk about painful things or issues that are sensitive. Comedians like Cameron Esposito and Hannah Gadsby joke about rape and many other sensitive topics all the time and are admired for it. In fact todays comedy culture nearly demands that comedians address painful and sensitive issues. It's not the topic that constitutes PC but who or what is the butt of the joke? What is the message?

It's a tough time to be a comic. It used to be comedians could just beat each other up, fall down, or insult someone to make people laugh. Slapstick used to be the vast majority of comedy. Now slapstick plays a minor role and the audience expects comedians to be satirists. And they have to be meaningful, insightful, and sensitive satirists. Get used to it comedians. Comedians need to stop complaining about PC culture or at least say something meaningful about it. The reality today is if comedians want to get paid to pontificate on stage they need to do more than fall down or insult someone. The people are demanding that they raise their game. If they want to blame someone for that they should blame Lenny Bruce and George Carlin. Or Hannah Gadsby for recently substantially raising the standard that the public expects from comedians.

So mostly I'm comfortable

barefooted — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 22:44:59 +0000

In reply to I don't know this comedian's

So mostly I'm comfortable with PC limitations on comedians. *Culture has become more complex and sophisticated. Most people aren't going to laugh at the simple jokes of pre-50's culture.

It seems that your second sentence defies your first, and that perhaps your third does, as well, though I'm not sure. Do you think PC limitations should apply everywhere, or just for comedians?

Like you, I'm sure, I remember the difficulty late night comedians had with confronting the aftermath of 9/11. How do you joke about the horrific? What words can you string together to make a suffering country laugh? Should you even try? Yet they did, somehow, and they comforted millions of us ... often by not joking, but crying with us in the first excruciating minutes. Then they were able to make us laugh when we didn't think we were allowed to, much less felt like it. It's being allowed to laugh in the face of what shouldn't be funny at all that makes a good comedian an outstanding one.

*You changed it to "comedy culture" before my comment posted.

I don't know this comedian's

ocean-kat — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 22:25:48 +0000

In reply to ‘SNL’ comic Leslie Jones blasts PC culture on ‘The View’: ‘Stop walking around so offended … you’re miserable!’

I don't know this comedian's work so I can't comment on her. While I can agree that one shouldn't be pilloried for every small infraction from decades ago I mostly disagree with the things she said during this interview. Laughter can come from and foster hatred. It can demean and deride. It can make the world more miserable. I don't like the level of the discussion of comedy that I've been seeing in most of the articles I read, or in this interview. It matters who or what is the "butt" of the joke. Are we laughing at the women who got raped or is the laughter an acknowledgement and release from empathy over her suffering? Are we laughing at black people or again release out of empathy over the injustice? What is the message the comedian is sending? Because you can't communicate, not even with a joke, without sending some message.

Maybe some are worried about PC limitations on comedians. I'm not. Because I mostly don't find that type of comedy funny. I can be shocked by someone by Andrew Dice Clay but it doesn't make me laugh. Sometimes it seems to me people laugh along to get along, like we all just smile at one another to signal at least acceptance. I don't laugh along to get along, I don't even smile that much. I mostly don't want to laugh at jokes that aren't PC and they don't cause my laughter to erupt spontaneously. So mostly I'm comfortable with PC limitations on comedians. Comedy culture has become more complex and sophisticated. Most people aren't going to laugh at the simple jokes of pre-50's culture. Comedians have come to grips with this new increasingly complex reality and find ways to make us laugh if they want to get paid.

She's so irreverently awesome

barefooted — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 20:46:32 +0000

In reply to ‘SNL’ comic Leslie Jones blasts PC culture on ‘The View’: ‘Stop walking around so offended … you’re miserable!’

She's so irreverently awesome. I'm not at all sure how she can get away with stuff that no one else seemingly can, but more power to her!