Note: This article has been cross-posted to KP Writes.
In the wake of the controversy surrounding Seth MacFarlane's performance of his original song "I Saw Your Boobs" at the Oscars, and after reading articles concerning it on
Jezebel and in the
Atlantic, a few thoughts that have been percolating in my head have finally brewed into brain-coffee.
Now, I'm not going to write about the "I Saw Your Boobs" incident in particular, as I have nothing original to say on that score. What I've been thinking about is what constitutes humor in general. What makes something funny? And more to the point, when is it okay to mock something?
Comedians have argued for years that either everything is funny, or nothing is. Every topic under the sun must be subject to mockery, else we fall onto a slippery slope of putting more and more things out of bounds until we have hamstrung our artists and defeated the right to free speech, if not legally, then as a social construct of acceptance. Now, as a writer, I see the point. As a legal scholar, I see the point. It is very dangerous to declare something 'out of bounds' in terms of expression. That's how tyranny comes about. That's how people stop thinking. That's what leads to things like The Hunger Games. And if we are going to limit what comedians are allowed to mock, how soon before we are limiting what topics any artist may address? How long before there is a blacklist of books and authors are being disappeared into black bags, a la V for Vendetta? Currently in the United States, we only prohibit speech that is misleading (slander, fraud, false advertising) and designed to incite harm or frighten (hate speech, threats). My inner legal scholar wishes you to know this is a very general summary of the law.
So why then should we be sensitive about mocking women's lib, rape and so on?
I will admit that I consider myself to be a Seth MacFarlane fan. But I have long being growing uncomfortable with the increasing frequency of rape jokes on Family Guy. Not uncomfortable enough, however, to stop watching. Or maybe I've just gotten fatigued, as Lindy West says in her article on Jezebel. At least MacFarlane seems to be an equal opportunity rape jokester, as men are the literal victims of the jokes as often as women are.
But then I thought to myself: Why do these jokes make me uncomfortable, but not jokes about say, murder? Is it just because issues of women's rights and the controversy surrounding rape in this country are very important to me?
And I realized, no, that isn't it at all. Jokes about other issues that are important to me don't offend me as a matter of course. Some of them are even tasteful and funny, and make salient political points.
So what is it about the rape jokes?
It's because we, as a society, are still debating what rape is, how it is defined, whose fault it is, and whether it is a Bad Thing. It is because so many rapes and sexual assaults go unreported each year, so many reported rapes and sexual assaults are not taken seriously, so many victims are blamed for the crimes committed against them, and so many politicians seem frighteningly unconcerned by it.
Murder jokes are funny because, outside a satirical context, we all agree that Murder is a Bad Idea. Even the rightest of the right wing ascribe to "Thou Shalt Not Kill" most of the time. We know it's a serious thing. We take it seriously, we punish to the fullest extent of the law, we put people to death for it because that's not a mixed message at all, and we know that if we kill Inigo Montoya's father, he's going to become the world's best swordsman and come after us.
But rape? We're not sure if it's her fault because she was wearing a low cut blouse, we don't know if it's "legitimate" or "emergency," we think the female body might have ways to shut that whole thing down, and it just might be a gift from God. If you still haven't got it, see this handy Republican Rape Advisory Chart.
So I propose a new rule of thumb. Nothing to be codified into law, but perhaps adopted and implemented through societal pressure. It's really very simple:
If something horrific, negative, and other similar adjectives, is almost universally recognized by society to be a Bad Thing: mock away. If, however, said horrific, negative thing is still viewed positively or with little concern by the public at large, and your joke/creation/art sends a pro-horrific thing message, then: It's. Just. Not. Funny.
Edit: Apologies to Brainwrap, the actual creator of the Rape Advisory Chart. The link has been corrected!