"Is comedy meant to push boundaries? If so, what boundaries aren’t meant to be pushed? When does that line become skewed?" --Lola Christ, 8th grade
The now very infamous incident at the Oscars between Will Smith and Chris Rock has already become a staple in comedic history. People have taken both sides of the perpetrator and victim but instead, this discussion is mostly focused on the joke itself. Over the years, many comedians have crossed what some consider “lines in the sand” for the purpose of humor. Recently, Dave Chappell, in his Netflix comedy special The Closer, made numerous offensive jokes regarding the trans community. The incident caused him to receive harsh backlash, which again brought up the topic of whether or not comedians should be exempt from receiving backlash.
Many prolific comedians like Amy Schumer, John Cleese, Jerry Seinfeld, and many more argue that “cancel culture” and sensitive audiences is the actual thing ruining comedy. Ironically, Chris Rock was also an avid defender of the idea you should be allowed to cross the line every now and then, as he put it in an article with Vulture. “But if you think you don’t have room to make mistakes,” he said, “it’s going to lead to safer, gooier stand-up. You can’t think the thoughts you want to think if you think you’re being watched.” This argument that being somewhat offensive is necessary in comedy has become widely agreed upon by many comedians.
Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey all used black face but after apologies they faced little to no backlash. Amy Schumer once said in a set, “I used to date Hispanic guys, but now I prefer consensual.” And despite the backlash she DID receive, she responded with what is seeming to become a pattern when speaking about crossing lines with humor. Essentially: “I will joke about things you like, and I will joke about things you aren’t comfortable with. And that’s ok.” This is probably a familiar response, because it’s saying exactly what all of the comedians I’ve spoken about have. That comedy SHOULDN’T be restricted by political correctness.
In reality, the problem stems from the idea that if there are restrictions to how you can try to make people laugh, how are you supposed to be funny? That nothing should be off limits when the goal is to make others laugh. The counter argument, however, is when making someone the butt of the joke, you're not only going for a cheap laugh—you're creating a platform for people to be laughed at. It can open up the door for people who dislike a minority demographic to feel safe in your jokes because they discriminate against them. It validates and perpetuates discrimination and hate. This was a very serious argument used against Chappell’s jokes, because they opened the door for hate and discrimination towards the already vulnerable communities in question. Even if these jokes were from a place of indifference or irony, you're allowing those who find them funny to use them to further their negative opinions and hateful stigmatization.
Yet comedians still manage to not only make these jokes, but avoid career damage in the process. When you're able to make jokes that aren’t at the expense of others, especially those who predominantly suffer from structural discrimination, then you're doing it correctly. To be funny, you shouldn’t have to make jokes about being “tricked” into calling trans women beautiful as Chappell did in his aforementioned comedy special.
The worst part is the idea that this restriction of inappropriate material is destroying comedy, because it isn't. No matter how many offensive jokes comedians make, they still manage to retain their careers. Schumer’s tickets to her tour just went live, Chappell received an award for his comedy special Sticks & Stones, which had similarly line-crossing material as his later special. Tina Fey wrote a Netflix original TV show called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmit, Trevor Noah is still the host of the Daily Show despite past sexist jokes of his being uncovered, and others continue to thrive despite backlash.
The real question most of this poses is: if your opinions are so out of the box that you feel the need to defend politically-incorrect humor, are you really a good comedian? If you can’t make people laugh without putting other groups down, are you fun at all?
Many prolific comedians like Amy Schumer, John Cleese, Jerry Seinfeld, and many more argue that “cancel culture” and sensitive audiences is the actual thing ruining comedy. Ironically, Chris Rock was also an avid defender of the idea you should be allowed to cross the line every now and then, as he put it in an article with Vulture. “But if you think you don’t have room to make mistakes,” he said, “it’s going to lead to safer, gooier stand-up. You can’t think the thoughts you want to think if you think you’re being watched.” This argument that being somewhat offensive is necessary in comedy has become widely agreed upon by many comedians.
Jimmy Kimmel, Jimmy Fallon, and Tina Fey all used black face but after apologies they faced little to no backlash. Amy Schumer once said in a set, “I used to date Hispanic guys, but now I prefer consensual.” And despite the backlash she DID receive, she responded with what is seeming to become a pattern when speaking about crossing lines with humor. Essentially: “I will joke about things you like, and I will joke about things you aren’t comfortable with. And that’s ok.” This is probably a familiar response, because it’s saying exactly what all of the comedians I’ve spoken about have. That comedy SHOULDN’T be restricted by political correctness.
In reality, the problem stems from the idea that if there are restrictions to how you can try to make people laugh, how are you supposed to be funny? That nothing should be off limits when the goal is to make others laugh. The counter argument, however, is when making someone the butt of the joke, you're not only going for a cheap laugh—you're creating a platform for people to be laughed at. It can open up the door for people who dislike a minority demographic to feel safe in your jokes because they discriminate against them. It validates and perpetuates discrimination and hate. This was a very serious argument used against Chappell’s jokes, because they opened the door for hate and discrimination towards the already vulnerable communities in question. Even if these jokes were from a place of indifference or irony, you're allowing those who find them funny to use them to further their negative opinions and hateful stigmatization.
Yet comedians still manage to not only make these jokes, but avoid career damage in the process. When you're able to make jokes that aren’t at the expense of others, especially those who predominantly suffer from structural discrimination, then you're doing it correctly. To be funny, you shouldn’t have to make jokes about being “tricked” into calling trans women beautiful as Chappell did in his aforementioned comedy special.
The worst part is the idea that this restriction of inappropriate material is destroying comedy, because it isn't. No matter how many offensive jokes comedians make, they still manage to retain their careers. Schumer’s tickets to her tour just went live, Chappell received an award for his comedy special Sticks & Stones, which had similarly line-crossing material as his later special. Tina Fey wrote a Netflix original TV show called Unbreakable Kimmy Schmit, Trevor Noah is still the host of the Daily Show despite past sexist jokes of his being uncovered, and others continue to thrive despite backlash.
The real question most of this poses is: if your opinions are so out of the box that you feel the need to defend politically-incorrect humor, are you really a good comedian? If you can’t make people laugh without putting other groups down, are you fun at all?
