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terrikoTrigger warning for... well, mostly for just being gross, but this is an analogy for an argument regarding rape "humour."
A number of commenters on my last GF post seem to believe that "It's funny" is a defense for doing anything you like in a public space, so I'm working on an analogy for why it isn't:
You may be familiar with the over-the-top gross-out humour of Team America: World Police. For many people, this is an incredibly funny movie. For the friend I was sitting next to, one of the best scenes seemed to be one where one of the characters starts throwing up copiously. After heaving many times his own body weight worth of fluid, the scene ends with him lying in a pool of vomit in an alley.
Let's suppose you've gone to a job interview, and it turns out one of the guys interviewing you is a big Team America fan, and he decides to re-enact said scene while showing you around the office. You turn to ask him a question, and he starts vomiting in your face. Maybe after a few minutes of vomiting, you realise that he's re-enacting a scene. Does that make it funny? Or are you busy wondering how much it's going to cost to clean vomit out of your suit and hoping that you haven't just contracted a very serious disease? Sure, he and his like minded co-workers might get a huge laugh over the look on your face, but you're probably not going to think it's funny. And neither is the CEO who hand you're supposed to shake next on the tour. Maybe you'll find it a funny story to tell later, but not right now.
Funny is very context-dependent. "It's funny" does not imply "it's appropriate." In fact, sometimes quite the opposite.
Edit for feed readers who are missing the first comment/punchline:
However, if you really want to keep making this argument, we can find someone incredibly ill to vomit on you. Because that would be funny.
A number of commenters on my last GF post seem to believe that "It's funny" is a defense for doing anything you like in a public space, so I'm working on an analogy for why it isn't:
You may be familiar with the over-the-top gross-out humour of Team America: World Police. For many people, this is an incredibly funny movie. For the friend I was sitting next to, one of the best scenes seemed to be one where one of the characters starts throwing up copiously. After heaving many times his own body weight worth of fluid, the scene ends with him lying in a pool of vomit in an alley.
Let's suppose you've gone to a job interview, and it turns out one of the guys interviewing you is a big Team America fan, and he decides to re-enact said scene while showing you around the office. You turn to ask him a question, and he starts vomiting in your face. Maybe after a few minutes of vomiting, you realise that he's re-enacting a scene. Does that make it funny? Or are you busy wondering how much it's going to cost to clean vomit out of your suit and hoping that you haven't just contracted a very serious disease? Sure, he and his like minded co-workers might get a huge laugh over the look on your face, but you're probably not going to think it's funny. And neither is the CEO who hand you're supposed to shake next on the tour. Maybe you'll find it a funny story to tell later, but not right now.
Funny is very context-dependent. "It's funny" does not imply "it's appropriate." In fact, sometimes quite the opposite.
Edit for feed readers who are missing the first comment/punchline:
However, if you really want to keep making this argument, we can find someone incredibly ill to vomit on you. Because that would be funny.
no subject
Date: February 3rd, 2011 04:42 am (UTC)