Beyond Imus: What's Next? (Adult Content) genre: Tongue-In-Cheek & Video-Philes
No doubt that the words spoken by Don Imus were inappropriate and insulting and led to his demise. Since the situation began, there has been ample discussion about rap music and the lyrics found in much of today's music and society. Some suggest that it is simply an evolving culture; some suggest that it is moral decay.
There has also been debate about where comedy ends and racism or sexism begins and just what is appropriate and how and where should the lines be drawn. Let me be clear, I'm not suggesting that Imus is a comic and should be given a pass...I simply don't know enough about him to comment beyond knowing that his actions crossed the line.
Nonetheless, I've heard suggestions that Bill Maher, Borat, Sarah Silverman, and others of that ilk ought to be targeted and shut down. The problem is how to determine when comedy crosses the line and who should make that determination. Generally speaking, I think the public has a good sense of the lines...and Imus crossed them by attacking a specific and identifiable group...the Rutgers team. Comedy in the abstract seems to be accepted...but when it is applied to identifiable innocents, it becomes something else.
I found the following video at Bitch Ph.D. via Apostropher at Unfogged. It looks to be a spoof on country music and the war in Iraq and numerous other aspects of our society. I thought it was funny but I can certainly see how some might find it very offensive. While I'm gay, I wasn't offended by her remarks about gays...but I imagine others might be. So again, where should we draw the lines?
I would love to hear your comments.
Daniel DiRito | April 15, 2007 | 12:17 PM
Comments
1 On April 18, 2007 at 8:25 AM, Dr X wrote —
I found it funny, but when we speak of crossing the line we're talking about something that isn't static or universal. The line is intersubjective. What will seem highly offensive to one person might be mildly disturbing to another and funny to yet another.
Humor can be a mechanism for sadistic infliction of pain, managing aggression productively, mitigating internal and external conflict and exposing the subtle everyday folly that we are all constantly drawn into. This last function is one that many people might struggle with because of brittle defenses and emotional rigidity. Human beings are generally very uncomfortable with seeing themselves through new, less flattering eyes, but some are more tolerant of the experience than others.
I am every bit as wary of the motives of those who would purge humor of the challenges it presents as I am of those who use humor to humiliate others.
2 On April 23, 2007 at 3:07 PM, Daniel wrote —
Dr X,
I completely agree. Since humor is often the result of what is actually happening in our society, I doubt putting an end to some portion of it will change the underlying dynamics that create it. The same is true of music and lyrics. Both seem to be more symptomatic than causal factors in our culture.
Civility and decency, in my opinion, aren't learned from humor or music. An Individual either has or hasn't a grasp of both at an early age. If not, there are countless influences that can lead one astray and those influences aren't limited to humor and music.
Again, our society tends to address the obvious and ignore the important. Perhaps that's a big part of the problem?
Thanks for your comments.
Regards,
Daniel
3 On April 25, 2007 at 12:24 AM, thepoetryman wrote —
My take on the video is that, while it is very well done from a video standpoint and its intended (irony) target is, or should be, obvious, the tone might easily offend some because of the "truth" within its message. I don't think it's funny at all. I think it is bitter-sweet. As I watched it I didn't laugh, I shuddered at its audacity and its simplistic truth.
What Imus did had no context, therefore I shuddered at his audacity and blatant bigotry which has nothing to do with him being a "comedian" and everything to do with him being a weak person.
When a group jumps on the bandwagon in an attempt to lay the blame of a tragedy (Columbine, crime, Virginia Tech) on music or ethnicity or video games what they are failing to realize is that they are likely one of the causes of such acts.
"Hubris is a serial killer."
We all are, in a sense, responsible. As Kahlil Gibran puts it, ...even as the holy and the righteous cannot rise beyond the highest which is in each one of you,
So the wicked and weak cannot fall lower that the lowest which is in you also.
And a single leaf turns not yellow but with the silent knowledge of the whole tree, so the wrong doer cannot do wrong without the hidden will of you all.
DX and daniel,
I enjoyed your comments and agree
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