Should comedians be allowed to make fun of personal issues?
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In a society which promotes freedom of speech, comedians have a right, and often, an expectation to be controversial. Audiences are as entitled to be offended by a joke as they are to find it funny. The offense, when taken from a joke's lack of sensitivity, is perfectly understandable. However, one person being offended may not necessarily mean someone else will be offended too. This is the subjective nature of comedy, and debating on whether it should be censored is a debate which will rage on in a continuous storm of competing ideologies. But tragic events since the start of the year have made the debate on comedy’s relationship with societal norms debateable.
Joking at the expense of something is disempowering, at all levels of society, and is more likely to cause offense. Even the most clever, well-written jokes will be interpreted differently. If you are offended by something which you are not willing to try and understand from a different perspective then perhaps the best reaction is to ignore it and change the channel. But comedy exists within a bubble, with the freedom to say things on a public platform which politicians, journalists, and other public figures cannot. That is something worth celebrating, not censoring.
Thoughtful comedy on any subject can be a powerful tool, with a purpose to educate as well as entertain. However, comedians should be cautious, on where to draw the line.
- Vedanth Bharpilania
1 BBA B
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A few months ago, a video was put up on YouTube by comedian Nicole Arbour that caused a massive outcry on social media. The video, which was highly offensive talked about how she does not believe that "fat shaming" is even a "thing" anymore. The video caused such an outcry that YouTube was forced to ban it. The repercussions were so bad that she even lost a few movie roles. This whole controversy raised an even bigger question of where to draw the line in rules pertaining to comedy.
The conversation about offensive comedy has been having been brought up by many comedians. In today's world where everything has to be politically correct one has to wonder about what can be talked about and what can't be. This, however, doesn't make what Nicole Arbour said acceptable. What Arbour talked about in her video was mean and cruel to a group of people who already face societal pressure. There is a massive stigma against people who are overweight and to make a video that denies this truth is in very poor taste. Even if she is joking, the way she delivered her video was just downright mean.
The thing about comedy is that it give a few people the right to poke fun at our society. To find humor in the most trivial things in our society. I do not believe that comedy should be censored so heavily because we do live in a country where freedom of speech is one of our God given rights, but we have to remember that there is a line for what is acceptable to joke about and what is not.
As our country grows more politically correct and censorship finds its way into more light-hearted issues, you have to wonder where the line will be drawn.
Pranav Kinger
I BBA B
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