Jan 2, 2019 Is punching down in comedy, whether it be stand-up or whatever, acceptable? I’m asking this after the recent Louis C.K. controversy where he made jokes about the parkland shooting survivors & trans people. Personally, I hate the idea of censoring art. Everyone is obligated to their opinion if they believe a joke is funny or not but I don’t think anything should be necessarily “off limits.” Comedy is all about taking serious topics & being able to make light of the situation. Sometimes that involves being able to laugh at yourself or the situation you’re in. That’s just me personally though *shrug* thoughts?
Jan 2, 2019 If you don't want to hear cruel jokes, just don't watch it. You choose to watch it yourself. So I agree, comedians/tvshows whatever should be able to say or do whatever they want in their shows (to an extent... when its actual dangerous stuff..)
Jan 2, 2019 Anyone who is familiar with CK's comedy knows he's done said worst or equal s--- in the past in his routine, it's nothing new ( Chinese babies, punching 4-year-olds, r---, incest, gays, mentally challenged people, and the list goes on) Of course, this was all before you have to watch what you say in fear of "offending" 99.9% of the world's population the age of this bs SJW crap is ridiculous
Jan 2, 2019 I don't think he was punching down. These kids are now famous, almost household names, and have everyone's attention, yet they've accomplished nothing. They haven't earned s---. Punch away.
Jan 2, 2019 Making fun of kids who watched their friends/teachers get gunned downed is definitely punching down lol. A lot of them have gone on to score various internships in Washington & work with activist groups. A good chunk of them, or at least the one’s on tv, have been accepted to prestigious colleges, I wouldn’t say they’ve done nothing.
Jan 2, 2019 Agreed. The backlash seems less about the jokes not really being funny but more so about how bad of a person Louis C.K. is for making such jokes. I mean, Louis C.K. is a s-----y person but that’s a different discussion & it’s definitely not because he engages in dark humor.
Jan 2, 2019 I don’t agree with censoring comedy, make jokes about whatever you want. But it has to actually be a joke. “Haha gay people” is not a joke, jokes have punchlines, that’s low hanging fruit.
Jan 2, 2019 there should never be censorship in comedy, but with that said, forced "shock value" is corny. You can say whatever you want, but if it isn't funny, it isn't funny
Jan 2, 2019 If it's funny, it's funny. If I think somebody is actually a racist or transphobic, of course that taints any humor I might find in the material. Does that mean somebody can't craft a funny a--- joke using bigoted sentiments? I think you can point to a slew of comics that prove that wrong. But yes, of course, the message is on the end of the receiver and everybody is entitled to their interpretation/reception. That doesn't mean everybody has a defensible position though. I do think Frankie Boyle has a good point about the subject of the joke being different from the target of the joke. As in, you can invoke very problematic concepts that cut the opposite way. Satire is a dangerous game when you can incidentally come to stand for the things you were trying to criticize though. See: Paul Verhoeven's adaptation of Starship Troopers. Even Roger Ebert was convinced that film was pro-fascism.
Jan 2, 2019 Louis hasn't been funny since people used to say Dane Cook stole his jokes. We're going on about almost a full decade since that was a thing. He wrote, produced, and directed "Pootie Tang" with Chris Rock, which will forever be a guilty pleasure of mine. But that's where it ends. Dude truly does "punch down" often. His whole stand-up comedy routine shtick/motif is to cling to shock value like flies on s---. s--- has grown stale.
Jan 3, 2019 Is this a real topic.. ohh yeah that’s right it is. Government and the media now controls what we (me not included) say too. Freedom of SPEECH. Censor NOBODY. p-----s
Jan 3, 2019 There is no punching down. If something works, it works. Generally, imo, it's better to make yourself the joke instead of having the POV where you're morally superior. That said, jokes should be allowed to be workshopped. The only way to do that in comedy is to say them in front of an audience. They're jokes - nothing more. If they don't work, whatever. The fact this was recorded and released without CK's consent is the true outrage here, imho.
Jan 3, 2019 The difference is his older material was actually funny. I watched a 2 min clip of the leaked set and it was terrible/extremely lowest common denominator.
Jan 3, 2019 I agree that the jokes in question weren't funny (there were plenty of funny moments during the entire set though), but this idea that certain topics in comedy should be off limits, or that Louis hasn't made jokes about very serious topics before is ridiculous. You have people calling him a right wing comic now. We shouldn't treat jokes as the comic's true feelings about a certain issue.
Jan 3, 2019 Oh the subjects are def not off limits, I shoulda made that clear my b. I was responding to the notion that he’s said worse things and that those jokes are nothing new...which is true but his older material is much more inventive/had something to say about the subjects instead of just “haha, trans people, am i right????” But I’ll wait to judge his new stuff until he comes out with a completed special, cuz @Papa Alpha Andy does raise a valid point that he’s testing new stuff and should be allowed to do so...but still id think a comic of his stature wouldn’t be making such lowest common denominator jokes.
Jan 3, 2019 i hope you realize that some groups are forced to laugh at themselves more than others. that aside, you obviously can't tell anyone not to do something, but if you're a comedian, the very nature of jokes require some sort of pandering so that they're well received by your audience. if you go around making offensive jokes to the wrong audience, you can't complain that everyone's too sensitive nowadays, it's you who failed your job.