audience gasp
audience laughter
Berry berry good.
I’m not sure I understand the link to Greek mythology here.
I think it’s fine to offend and make people feel uncomfortable with comedy. The comedian can often point out hypocrisy and irony in situations that we may not recognize. This often causes us to think in new ways about situations and come to new conclusions. But when it comes to terrible things like child abduction, child rape, child killings, etc., those things shouldn’t be made light of. I’m sure some parents in the viewing audience had their child kidnapped and killed by someone who lured the child into their car. That was probably a soul destroying event in their lives. I see no need to remind them of that just for the sake of comedy.
And it’s not reasonable to assume that everyone watching is familiar with LCK’s work. It’s reasonable to expect raunchy humor on SNL regardless of the host since that’s what the show is about, so the audience can’t be too upset if a host is a little raw. But it’s unexpected that the host is going to make light of child molestation. I don’t think a comedian performing in front a wide audience should go there, just like they shouldn’t try to find humor in the Sandy Hook child killings.
And for the record, I did find the bit funny–inappropriate, but funny. However, if my kid was kidnapped I know that I would be reliving those emotions at that time.
This. Excellent post.
They invite CK (or Rock, Clay, years ago Kinison) and either fret all week over what they might say, or later fret over what they said. None of these guys just popped up. They’ve been around a while and we know their stuff.
If what they might say or said is so bad, don’t invite them. Let them stick to clubs and HBO.
It was good but certainly not shocking. The first part of the monologue about racism was tame and rather bland. I thought he engineered the least possible offensive examples he could come up with to draw out that theme and the result was clever but a very watered down version of things that others have done much better and/or much more offensively before (even Eddie Murphy and Dave Chapelle did it better years to decades ago). The only things that even started push the envelope was at the end and that is only because of the context of being on nationally televised TV.
I listen to Comedy Central standup on SiriusXM radio every day. Louis CK is a very good comedian but he isn’t especially edgy. The only time he ever caught me by surprise is a bit where he makes fun of his very young daughter and calls her a ‘cunt’ for being a know it all about something stupid. He really does have young daughters as do I so that one hit really close to home but I still thought it was funny.
For my money, the edgiest comedians these days aren’t even white males. Amy Schumer does some bits that are hilariously offensive to just about everyone as does Natasha Leggero. Both of them follow in the Sarah Silverman tradition in which nothing is sacred and the world is a better place because of all of them.
Yes, everyone might not be familiar with his work, but I don’t want my comedy or entertainment censored based on the lowest common denominator.
I don’t think there is anything wrong in trying to find humor in the Sandy Hook Child Killings - I just don’t see how you could do it - and that’s the challenge and is what makes him and those like him great.
He isn’t really making light of child molesting - he is pointing out how fucked up these people must be in order to do it. The joke is targeted at the Child Molesters - not the children themselves. I mean he makes a valid point - the point really isn’t “molesting children must feel great” it’s really “Why do they do this when there are so many risks involved”. It isn’t funny if he talks about the issue from a serious standpoint - but it brings up issues like “should virtual child porn be illegal if it stops someone from molesting a real child”. I’m not saying that’s his intent - but stuff like that can make you think.
I don’t see it as much different than something like:
“Racism must feel AMAZING - you make your self look like an idiot to blah, blah, blah”
Vs something like
“You know what I don’t like about black people…”
It was pretty shocking, but only within the wildly anachronistic, bubble-wrapped terrarium that is network television.
I laughed.
I didn’t see the bit live last night, but heard some of ‘oh my god’ reaction in the media today. I found the full clip online and watched it. Okay.
Then I came here to see if there was a thread, and was remembered why I like the Dope. Not the edgiest comedy bit by far, but it was a little out there for network television, but still, nothing wrong with his material at all.
That you fellow dopers for not getting your painties wadded up like so many in these days.
You are arguing that people should avoid certain topics of humor because they might trigger bad memories. That is the same argument that people are using against certain topics in education or in fiction or in public conversations, because they might trigger bad memories for people who have suffered in trauma.
This is dead wrong. Terrible things are exactly what we need humor to pierce through and understand and cope as a society.
I reject “just for the sake of comedy.” Good comedy is very important to human society as a whole, far more important than making sure that someone doesn’t suffer a bad night.
We don’t need to protect people from good comedy. So what if they’re not familiar? So what if it’s unexpected? Comedy should challenge people. Comedy should be upsetting, disturbing, life-altering.
Wrong. The Sandy Hook incident should not be sacrosanct. Nothing should be sacrosanct from good comedy.
It’s worth pointing out that Louis CK’s set was performed on a show that begins at 11:30pm, and that has for four decades been known for irreverent humor. He was speaking on a show intended for adults. SNL has never made any promises that even remotely could be construed as a promise to offend no one.
I can certainly understand any person’s wish and hope to get through their days without emotional pain.
But I’m not so sure that a culture that valued avoiding all mention of anything that could cause pain, would actually be a healthy culture. I suspect that traumatized people are not, in fact, better off in a world in which all mention of their bad experience is forbidden.
In any case–whether the censorship is good for the traumatized or bad for them-- I can’t support the aggression of the censor. It doesn’t matter whether the cry for censorship is well-intended or not. “This is a trigger and cannot be discussed” is the mark of the bully.
filmore writes:
> I’m sure some parents in the viewing audience had their child kidnapped and killed
> by someone who lured the child into their car.
I don’t want to address the greater issues here. I just want to talk about one point here that it’s possible to put a number on. No, it is not certain that some parent in the viewing audience had their child kidnapped and killed by someone who lured the child into their car. Most Americans vastly overestimate the number of children who are kidnapped or killed each year by a stranger. In fact, it’s much more likely that a child would be killed or kidnapped by someone they know than by a stranger. Even though several million people watched that episode, it’s quite possible that none of them had a child killed or kidnapped by someone who lured the child into a car.
IMHO, comedians who are the edgiest generally aren’t that funny. They often just seem to go over the edge and just get shock laughs. For my money, CK is as close to the edge as I need. Fearless but still concerned with making an actual joke.
To all the people claiming child molestation and mass shootings make good comedy, question: have you ever suffered such a tragedy?
Anything can be the subject of good comedy or bad comedy. It’s not the subject that makes it good or bad. It’s the execution.
And we don’t judge the quality of good execution based on a handful of people who are acutely sensitive to a topic. Using that standards, you can eliminate any subject as an “appropriate” one for comedy.
So what you are saying is you find other peoples suffering to be humorous?
Well, you know what they say. “Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die.”
Maybe if I had I wouldn’t have found his monologue funny. But I didn’t so I did. A joke doesn’t necessarily make light of a subject, you know. Opt out if the comedy is too uncomfortable for you but those of us who enjoyed it weren’t laughing about how hilarious child molestation is.
then what were you laughing at?
The jokes? Are you suggesting that everyone who laughed thinks child molestation is no big deal and generally amusing?
well if you’re laughing you must find it amusing. i dont laugh at things that i dont find amusing.