Seriously thoughtful When is HUMOR in "Bad" taste?

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by JSWolf

I would have thought that you would have been touting Family Guy as more your style.

I DO like that one, too. It's kind of disgusting to me, but in an amusing way. I haven't watched it, however, in over a year.


Don

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Can somebody explain what bathroom humour is?

I generally aren't offended by any humour, as long as the intent was to tell a joke. You can generally notice when the intent was to hurt or to humour.

But sometimes people just want to be offended (or so it seems). Whatever you say, they will think it is about them and you are making fun of them...

For example:

One day, in spring, my brother and mother were working in the garden. They were living next to each other and wanted to make a nice garden together. The sun was shining and it was hot, without shade. My sister-in-law, who was highly pregnant, was sitting and watching it.

My mother made the remark, something wasn't right, as my sister-in-law was sitting while they were working, she had even given my sister-in-law a slave bracelet! My sister-in-law laughed and took a sip of her drink

Is this offensive? I think most people would say no.
And what if I add the missing fact that my sister-in-law is black?

Bathroom Humor (and it's kind of disgusting to even write about it), is off-color humor that often deals with bodily functions.

I like bathroom humor, personally, but not while I'm eating.

On your question about the joke: I don't think it would be off-color, as long as there is this deep love and affection between both parties, and that the two individuals know that it's only a joke. The two must really know each other and trust each other, and to me this translates into a love and appreciation for that other person. It might be perceived as highly offensive, however, if the two people are less than what I described at the beginning of this paragraph. Telling a joke like this can be "dangerous" if the person is not well known.

(Parenthetically, I think the reason two or three people here have verbally castrated me is not because they dislike me personally, but that they don't know me. My humor makes them feel uncomfortable, possibly due to some trauma early - or later - in their lives. It's impossible to tell, though. And I've been mostly silent, posting stupid silly comments where that's most expected. But I wanted to change that, to open people's eyes and veins, and get them to think outside their comfortable reality. However, it's also simply the working of my mind and what I find humorous. I've lost some "friends" over my convictions, over my idea of what I think is funny. Also, an individual's perception of humor is such a nebulous thing [I feel], and people are very, very sensitive about what they think to be funny.)


Don

[PieOPah]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

A newspaper cartoon on Stephen Hawking's illness asked 'Have they tried switching him off and on again?"

That's a bad taste joke in my book because it is about an actual person who is suffering.
Happily Stephen Hawking is expected to make a full recovery.

I was reading through the thread (still haven't got to the end). All the while through I was thinking of this joke and was planning on posting about it.

When I saw it I was instantly in 2 minds. Yes it was in Bad Taste due to his being ill, but I also found it funny...

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by PieOPah

I was reading through the thread (still haven't got to the end). All the while through I was thinking of this joke and was planning on posting about it.

When I saw it I was instantly in 2 minds. Yes it was in Bad Taste due to his being ill, but I also found it funny...

I think that is one that that is walking the edge. I know that Stephen Hawking never wanted to be pitied. And he might be the first one laughing over it (I have no idea how his sense of humour is, btw!).

I personally love black humour, sarcastic humour and subtle humour. And I would put that cartoon under the "black humour" header...

[astra]

Originally Posted by Lady Blue

All I needed was to see clips of that movie on TV to judge (in my opinion) that it was awful, not funny and stupid.

But that's just me.

I believe you and JSWolf are the first people who didn't like it (after me and my wife). You deserve a bit of rep for it.
Awful, stupid, idiotic movie.

[astra]

Originally Posted by Over

Or like that joke about a black guy who cut off a finger. They only had a white finger for transplant, so they did it. The black guy died in two days: the finger rejected the body.

Bad taste, offensive but funny.

I guess what defines a joke, is its context.

I don't like this type of jokes. I don't get it because I firmly belive that: in every joke there is a small part of a tru...joke.
So, they may clap you on a shoulder and say, hey I am kidding ....but I believe there is a lot more behind it otherwise they would find it offensive.

[slayda]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

A newspaper cartoon on Stephen Hawking's illness asked 'Have they tried switching him off and on again?"

That's a bad taste joke in my book because it is about an actual person who is suffering.
Happily Stephen Hawking is expected to make a full recovery.

But this is not really a sick person joke. It's a computer joke. Non-computer people wouldn't understand it and would probably be offended.

Several years ago when my father died, I had to be very careful about what I said. I tend to deal with adversity by using humor. I only had one friend with whom I could talk about his death freely (i.e. making jokes). About a year later his father died & I was the only one he could talk to freely without offending someone.

Another time I told my daughter a sacreligious joke. She's religious but I'm not. She burst out laughing but the next day she asked me to not tell her such jokes. She thought it was very funny but felt she shouldn't have laughed at it. Interesting.

[wodin]

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

But sometimes people just want to be offended (or so it seems). Whatever you say, they will think it is about them and you are making fun of them...

I call them professional victims, and they beg to be insulted. I am often inclined to oblige them.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by wodin

I call them professional victims, and they beg to be insulted. I am often inclined to oblige them.

Me too

slayda, that's the way how I react as well. In my opinion, it's better to laugh than to cry. So, if I feel sucked down into a pit, I'll try to joke my way out of it. And yes, a lot of people won't understand (how can you laugh at that!), but it will keep me "sane"...

[Alphapheemail]

The real problem is that people's tolerance's cannot be gauged by plain sight. Some people would picket in front of your house if you insinuate some type of sex/race/religious biasness. Others would try to one up your joke.
So everytime you try to make a simple joke to a stranger/aquaintance you never know what level of D-baggery you're gonna get!

for record I love bathroom humor. Its so childish. Plus every one goes so why not laugh about it than pretend it never happens!

Quick show of hands:
Does anyone know of the degenerate's dictionary?

[pshrynk]

You are at a party and there is grand staircase at one end of the room where people enter the party. A man of of some great importance and haughty bearing appeares at the top of the stairs. He is well revered, yet feared by many. He steps forward to enter the room and trips, falling down the stairs. He continues to tumble. He is really taking a pratfall, severely injuring his dignity. People are laughing nervously at the site. He continues to fall and now people are laughing uproariously at this arrogant man's literal and figurative fall. He comes to rest at the bottom of the stairs. He is dead.

If you know when the scene went from funny to tragic, then you understand comedy.

[The Skwerl]

When is HUMOR in "Bad" taste? This is a loaded question. My answer to this is simple and sweet ..it is in ones sense of humor and nothing more. I personally find the world as one huge joke..I have to because of all the terrible things going on in it, if not I would want to die.

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

You are at a party and there is grand staircase at one end of the room where people enter the party. A man of of some great importance and haughty bearing appeares at the top of the stairs. He is well revered, yet feared by many. He steps forward to enter the room and trips, falling down the stairs. He continues to tumble. He is really taking a pratfall, severely injuring his dignity. People are laughing nervously at the site. He continues to fall and now people are laughing uproariously at this arrogant man's literal and figurative fall. He comes to rest at the bottom of the stairs. He is dead.

If you know when the scene went from funny to tragic, then you understand comedy.

That is a good one... But isn't that point different for every person?

(for me, the moment he keeps falling, it turns from funny to tragic...)

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by wodin

I call them professional victims, and they beg to be insulted. I am often inclined to oblige them.

Don't you think that is rather the situation with the recent "Miss USA", thing, where a woman was asked her personal opinion about the rights of gay marriage? She said that she personally had been brought up to think that it was wrong, and yet people were offended by it. For goodness sake - I hold the opposite view myself, but the woman is entitled to hold a contrary viewpoint, and nobody should have been "offended" by that.

[Sparrow]

The 'Aristocrats' joke is a bad taste joke - that's the whole point of it.