Taking The Joke (Harshly?)

If there is anything I love more than watching bad covers of Taylor Swift songs on YouTube, it’s comedy; and even more than comedy, offensive comedy. From risky sketches on SNL to edgy stand-up, my entire life revolves around racist, sexist, and downright immature humor. However, recently, some of my favorite comedians are being criticized for their lack of political correctness. In July, Amy Schumer was accused of being insensitive because she claimed to understand discrimination, and used stereotypical impressions to describe her black friends, which a Washington Post writer described as “dehumanizing” and said she contributed to our ever-growing “ecosystem of racial fear and violence.”

As a Schumer fan, I was reasonably shocked. When a celebrity is called racist, the media blows up. Persecution of the said celebrity is expected, and even encouraged by all media, and by most outraged fans. Still, I had to ask myself, is my beloved Amy really racist? Is Sarah Silverman a bad comedian because she made a rape joke? Is Bo Burnham wrong to use the C word so often?  Should Louis CK apologize for his Israel-Palestine conflict jokes? And what does it say about me when I laugh at this kind of humor? What does it say about our society when we examine all comedy before being able to enjoy it?

The current generation of liberal arts students have taken a stance against all things offensive, something Jerry Seinfeld is openly furious about. He has said on numerous occasions, along side Chris Rock, that political correctness is “ruining comedy,” and on some level, I agree with him. For decades, comedians have taken risks in order to get a point across, and it isn’t until now that we’ve gotten so offended by it. Yes, there is a fine line between what’s funny and what’s disrespectful and discriminating, but when it comes to comedy, the line becomes thicker. We have a choice whether or not to listen to certain comedy if we don’t support it, just like we can choose whether or not to support certain companies who stand for things we don’t support. Comedians profit off of laughter, and if the laughter keeps coming, they aren’t going to stop making those jokes. Still, though, there is a certain limit. Classically “blue” comedians have earned the right to that title. Wayne Brady, in an NPR radio interview, said that the younger generation of comedians needs to be careful when using offensive humor. He says that in order to “earn” the right to use that kind of humor, you have to be smart enough to make people laugh while still being politically correct.  Sarah Silverman didn’t start out edgy, she was intelligent and quick enough to crack people up without rape and race jokes.

We also need to recognize that not all comedians say what they mean. When Schumer generalized her black friends, she didn’t really think that they all have crazy names and accents. She was using a tactic that she knew would get people to laugh. Her jokes about race have been blamed for inspiring the Charleston shooter, Dylann Roof, when in reality, Schumer is incredibly outspoken about preventing gun violence. She recently teamed up with her cousin and United States Senator from NY, Chuck Schumer, to make a statement about gun control.

Bo Burnham, in his musical comedy special, What, explains to his audience that the cocky and arrogant person he is on stage isn’t the person he is in real life. In his act, he, and many other comedians, put on a persona, a mask, while performing, something that is easy for audiences to forget. We often ignore the fact that the comedians we watch are not the same person in their every day life that they are on stage. When we watch a movie, and a character does something that offends us, do we blame the actor?

Comedians should get the same slack we give to actors, allowing them to express raw, real comedic freedom. The freedom to say something on stage, as a persona, and walk off unscathed is a right we’ve refused to grant to comedians. Successful comics are trained to know their audiences, and have been telling jokes long enough to know what will make certain audiences laugh. On top of that, each comedian has his/her own audience that is a fan of their certain type of comedy. Where would Kathy Griffin be without her gays? Every feminist woman loves the Tina Fey/Amy Poehler type humor. Tyler Perry’s humor is directed at other black people. Does this make them bad people for knowing how to make people laugh, even when it means offending others? I don’t think so. I think that of all the things that occur in our society, all of the issues we face, offensive comedy is the least of our worries. So lighten up, try to look past offensiveness to appreciate irony and humor, and learn how to take the joke.