I think that happens when you insult and dehumanize people who are marginalized. Having said that I think it is perfectly fine to even use slurs (for example) as long as you are using those words to help in making fun of the people who hate on those marginalized groups. It's also fine to joke about tragedies and don't believe in "too soon"... just don't insult the famlies of the people involved...
You're right But some people do not understand when they go too far. For example: some ppl do make jokes bout suicide. That's not appropriate!
I agree as well, some people take it too far, and I think it just shows their lack of creativity that they need to take the joke too far to try and make it funny
If it's about suicide or wishing the death of our family, then it goes too far. It's alright to make fun of one's family and culture. In fact, I do that all the time.
If it's making fun of someone and they don't find it funny then it's time to apologise and tell them you were just joking. To continue making fun of them is taken it too far and it's just become abusive.
Well see if a joke goes too far OR they're just really being an asshole I just cuss them out and say something terrible about them that's make them feel bad about themselves.
A joke goes too far when it isn't being told to help us gain a deeper understanding of a way of thinking and its social impacts, rather it reinforces that way of thinking or ignores it all together and just states the tragedy as a punch line. Such as: A rape joke. Rape joke scenario 1: A man slips a roofie into a woman's drink. He takes her home and has sex with her, and then leaves her in an alleyway. Rape joke scenario 2: A man slips a roofie into a woman's drink. Noticing this, the bartender replaces all of the man's tic-tacs with roofies and takes the woman back to her home. The roofie man wakes up in jail. Rape joke scenario 3: A man slips a roofie into a woman's drink by disguising them as mints. She takes them and he takes her home and has sex with her. When she wakes up horrified, the man simply claims "now your breath isn't minty fresh". Granted, none of these jokes are funny, as I just made them up. But I'm assuming that joke 2 was the only one that didn't deeply offend anyone. That's because of the context. In this case, the person who suffers (the root of comedy is suffering) is the evil jerk. It was bringing out the horrors of rape by showing what the mainstream audience would want happen to a rapist and brings rape down as a societal norm. The other two the punch line always had the cruel part of the joke fullfilled, thus souring the punchline. And also, "too soon" jokes because the key to comedy is timing. If you tell a joke about a tragedy right after it happened and we haven't had a chance to explore the impacts of it then it's never going to be funny. Dark humor is hard as shit. People need to stop using it as an "easy route".
Rape jokes are usually not funny and I can't even think of one off the top of my head. Sometimes I like jokes that break a social taboo of what is ok to joke about. For example *just crossing that line.* My problem with that is when is it ok to joke about something, who decides that? Different people will have a different sense of when the "too soon ban" has been lifted.
My dad jokes about incest, murder, necrophilia, pedophilia, rape, and plenty more I'm forgetting. He's done it since I was a child. It's fun to play along. Although I've felt offended sometimes I try to take in my stride. He was abused so I give him more leeway. I've educated him to the best of my ability. No, not all abused people make cruel jokes. I soon learned you have to be careful when you tell such jokes. My mom hates it. Then again she said all men are bastards. Thanks! A lighter example; once he walked into a room and proclaimed "It's as dark as the Black Hole of Calcutta in here!" That sparked an interesting discussion that involved me researching the aforementioned event. I joke with my friends about having an exciting prospect for them in my basement. If I know where the people really stand on an issue... I am free to make the most merciless jokes. A joke goes too far when you have ill intent. I wouldn't joke about suicide if I know a person has issues with it. I can't filter everything I say or read minds (you don't know EVERYTHING about your friends) so I apologise when it is justified. I can think of a lot of rape jokes right now but I don't think this is the place to share them. I can watch Jimmy Carr and laugh. I dunno. It's really dependent on context.
Really, context is the biggest key here. Because the context is what sets up the timing, logic, or anything else related. If the audience is consenting enough, then technically nothing is too far. Context is the reason I'm a huge fan of South Park but I tend to dislike Family Guy. A lot of the smaller elements of the humor style are easier to tolerate. It's the way the universe and characters are set up that makes all the difference. Neither is technically better than the other nor is one any more offensive. It's just the little details that makes a joke acceptable or not acceptable. This mostly comes into play with timing because a good joke knows when to be told, what style, and what subjects could be approached. For example, telling a joke about a school shooting, when is it too soon? Well it depends on what the subject is. You could make fun of the people's reactions days after the event because they weren't personally affected. But you couldn't make fun of the victims without backlash due to the lack of emotional resolution. Going back to things like rape jokes or anything of that nature, they rarely work smoothly because there isn't really a "closure" that the victims end on. The emotional distress is constant, and although the same could be said for addiction which is pretty widely joked about that just entails more of the smaller contextual details. Audience also plays a role. Most people can get away with way more when they're joking around with their friends or family because it's an intimate setting and because the people you are joking with already know the background. But if a joke is being marketed to millions of people, the odds of someone getting offended are exponentially increased. Daniel Tosh's fans aren't offended because they already know what to expect. But once you go outside of your audience you are simply open to more criticism. Basically, a joke can only go too far if you don't know your audience well enough.
That's eloquent! Only experience I got with South Park is a video game I played as a kid and I guess the humour was lost on me. I dunno what Family Guy is beyond seeing a few pictures on the internet. I like weird YouTube video parodies, comedians, and of course dark humour in the right situations. I feel safer joking about bad events after justice has been serviced for example. It's all good fun making jokes as long as remember to talk about serious issues and take action when possible. It'd be tantamount to social suicide if I joked about recent tragedies on national TV. You are correct in that it is tough to know a huge audience. Some things do unintentionally spread bad feelings among the ignorant which causes harm. Shame, really. In other words I don't think we should tell rape jokes just for the sake of it, if that makes sense.
Some comedians think anything goes in the name of humour. I don't. If people get hurt by a joke, then it's gone too far.
It's gone too far when you start insulting people personally. @Abbra If rape jokes are "too soon" material, what about murder, thievery, and other crimes like that? I'm just curious. I'd be surprised if someone actually made a rape joke, though. I mean, that's more than a little bit audacious, considering that rape is a topic that most people dislike (it's a pretty depressing subject and it's a hot-button topic).
