A good laugh is sometimes all we need. From our friends trying to cheer us up when we are down to simply listening to dad joke after dad joke at the dinner table, comedy is everywhere. From stand-up comedy to TV shows like The Office and New Girl, there is a wide variety of comedic entertainment surrounding us. However, what happens when jokes go too far? Do we ignore them because funny is funny and funny can’t be wrong, or can it be unwarranted? When you’re watching a comedian, you can always choose to not see them again if you don’t like their jokes. Similarly, when watching a comedy TV show at home, you can always turn it off. But is ignoring offensive comedy just helping comedians get away with it?
“Where the boundaries lie, I think that’s dictated by the public who is receiving the joke. And I think America, as a whole, is at a spot now where the entire country is changing and evolving,” said comedian and actor Roy Wood Jr. in a discussion on the news podcast All Things Considered. “So some people are going, hey, that’s not cool. I don’t like that. Now, you’re a performer. You want to keep saying that? Cool. But just know that some people aren’t going to have you on. Some people aren’t going to rebook you.”
Like any form of expression, comedy can go too far when crossing lines of ethics and morals. The balance between freedom of expression and moral responsibility is a fine line, but what happens when that line is crossed?
For those who watched the 2022 Oscars or at least heard about the appalling slap in the aftermath, it’s hard to forget the smack that shocked comedian and actor Chris Rock. After Rock made an offensive joke about Jada Pinkett Smith, who lives with the skin condition alopecia, her husband Will Smith slapped Rock on live television.
According to People Magazine writer Jason Sheeler, Jada wrote in her book Worthy, “When Chris came out to present an award, made some jokes, got lots of laughs, and, like comics do, decided to milk his time onstage, he saw me and my bald head and ad-libbed: ‘Jada, I love ya, G.I. Jane Two, can’t wait to see it.’ Just like I’d thought, he wasn’t able to help himself, and I rolled my eyes. It was not because of the jab at my alopecia but, honestly, about the people I had met whose condition was far worse than mine.”
As seen here, comedy can go too far when targeting vulnerable populations. Mocking these populations can spread misinformation about the severity of conditions and discourage targeted individuals from feeling a part of society.
According to author and writer for Time Magazine Mikki Kendall, “People get fed up, they run out of patience, they see a moment of deep hurt on a loved one’s face, and they react. At base, celebrities are people, as vulnerable to their emotions as anyone else. Will Smith should not have slapped Chris Rock. But he also shouldn’t have had to watch his wife’s illness be used to make her the butt of an ableist joke.”
While people will continue to choose sides on whether Rock’s joke was worth a slap, there are different ways that audience members can react to a joke they may not have liked.
In the same discussion on All Things Considered, comedian and comedy writer Jenny Hagel added, “I don’t see any of that as limiting me ‘cause there are some times where somebody will educate me and say, hey, you worded this this way, using these pronouns, but a more inclusive way to say that would be this. And I am happy to learn that. That costs me nothing to word things correctly the next time or in a way that’s more inclusive.”
People can choose how to react to a joke, but it may be hard to tell when to stand up for yourself. When you go to a place for comedic entertainment, you and everyone else in that audience are looking for a good laugh, but are you thinking about the possibility of the person you’re paying to see saying something that deeply offends you? The answer is most likely not. Nonetheless, it’s a comedian’s job to make you laugh, and some comedians think that running the risk of their humor offending someone in the crowd should not be too big of an issue.
“It shouldn’t be this scary to talk about anything,” said comedian and actor Dave Chappelle on All Things Considered. “It’s made my job incredibly difficult. And to be honest with you, I’m getting sick of talking to a crowd like this.”
Laughing is positive, but offensive comedy can go too far when it trivializes sensitive topics or targets vulnerable populations. Where the line is drawn between offensive jokes or distasteful commentary is up to you.
