04-22-2009, 02:11 PM | #31 | |
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BACKGROUND: What prompted this thread is some disgruntled "critics" who find my sense of humor (in some cases and on some subjects) to be offensive. I started posting a series of IMAGINARY film and book titles and creating a brief synopsis for them. Before that, my perception of the CHAT area was that it was as barren as a new baby's butt. There was very little activity. Now some people are reading it because they like it, and some are reading it because they find it offensive. I was called names or the naming was hinted at: I was a misogynist because I beat my mother (who was reincarnated as a carpet, for example. Ridiculous! Read it in the CHAT, as it's a lot funnier.) I was a torturer, because I put itty bitty kitty cats in small places and did away with them, with extreme prejudice. I do indeed have a weird sense of humor, and THANK GOD for that, because some people have NO sense of humor, or else they want MY sense of humor to correspond to THEIR sense of humor. NOW: So now I post these IMAGINARY books and films that simply do not exist, but people really do have difficulty separating fact from fancy. WARNING: Do not read the following sentence, as it may be offensive to some. "Nub: The Magazine of Amputee Humor" Seriously, to get to your question. On my CHAT contributions (with all sincerity in my words; I'm not trying to be "smart"), you might want to glance over until you see "Dr. Drib" and then avoid reading my contribution. On threads, you will NEVER see me post an intentionally silly and/or stupid comment on MobileRead again; silly and stupid comments will only appear in the CHAT. All my future contributions (from about 3 weeks ago), are now ONLY serious. Pursuing your honest question further, for other individuals whose comments or contributions you (or others) may find in "bad" taste, I don't have a ready answer for how you can be warned. But again, how can one know what you consider to be in "bad" taste? I just don't have an answer. Don |
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04-22-2009, 03:02 PM | #32 |
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04-22-2009, 03:06 PM | #33 | |
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I think intent is the most important thing - two people can tell the same joke and the effect can be totally different. I don't like reading about the half-dead wildlife that people's cats bring home - but the posters aren't writing about it with malicious intent afaik, so I don't think it's objectionable (even though it's about real rather than imaginary suffering). The same with your Chat contributions - no malicious intent. |
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04-22-2009, 04:05 PM | #34 | |
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I had seen a couple people request you to not post such jokes there as it offended them. While I understand your perspective from a viewpoint of freedom of speech I would like to point out to you that you happened to chose the most visible area of the forum to post to. (Barring frontpage/announcements which aren't postable by the regular user) This means that anyone using the chat box is forced, at least in part, to read those jokes. It isn't like a thread in a forum, which one can bypass. In fact, many of the users on this forum, for obvious reasons, are efficient readers and will read an entire line as quickly as they would identify that that line was posted by Dr. Drib so wouldn't even self-censor themselves when they realize who the author was. If you were to post a thread, then the user can make a conscious choice before opening the thread and reading the jokes. To give an example, recently a user posted graphic pictures of an excised organ from a surgery she had. She put this in a thread warning the users of the nature of the post so that they could avoid it if it would bother them. Think if this was just posted directly at the bottom of the forums page. I don't think that it should be mandated or written as law. It was a courtesy of her to post it in that fashion. If I were you, and others had mentioned these issues, I'd have moved it to a thread. I don't think you are trying to be rude, just exercising your freedom to post, but I think perhaps you might not have realized that where you are posting these jokes to makes a huge difference. As you were one that felt that even when posts are properly tagged they still are a flood in the Lounge area, I think maybe you can see where others would have an issue here when you have no means to avoid it 'cept by avoiding the chat altogether. I'm not even certain if a user put you on (or anyone) ignore if it would matter in the chat box. Which would further exacerbate the issue. I don't personally have anyone on ignore, perhaps you or another mod could answer that. Again, I really don't care one way or the other, I just thought I'd play devil's advocate here... As for the 3 weeks, and others, etc. I'm in the dark so I won't comment... As for what I consider bad taste? I don't know, I can joke about anything... -MJ |
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04-22-2009, 04:41 PM | #35 |
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Hi, mj:
I appreciate your thoughts and your comments. Where your comments differ - and some individuals on this site might study your words - is that you do not attempt to mandate what you think is correct or incorrect. Your words are well-mannered and courteous. I do NOT see your words as an attack. Rather, I see them as thoughtful and well-intentioned. I find your comments well-meaning and with an honest attempt at communication. They certainly give me something to think about. Thank you for your post. Don |
04-22-2009, 04:49 PM | #36 |
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Everything Lenny Bruce did was in bad taste.
IMO |
04-22-2009, 04:58 PM | #37 |
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Lenny Bruce was a genius and he introduced this word: "Fxcvucker." (Keep in mind that a Zombie said that.)
Don Last edited by Dr. Drib; 04-22-2009 at 05:50 PM. Reason: Added the Smiley Face for clarification. |
04-22-2009, 05:08 PM | #38 | |
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I had a "Diversity Awareness" instructor tell me that you shouldn't tell a joke that was derogatory to anyone. That left no jokes to tell. Even a joke on oneself is derogatory to yourself so couldn't be told under that requirement. A friend asked me once what made a joke good. After thinking about it I decided there were three things required;
This pretty much dictates that audiences be culturally very similar to each other. Other threads have alteady shown the MR community to be culturally diverse. Just my opinion (but I agree with the Blue Lady on the Simpsons - it's too taboo [i.e. course] for me.) |
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04-22-2009, 05:23 PM | #39 |
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I suspect that everything is offensive, unfortunately. And what is offensive can change both as society changes and as personal experiences sensitive people.
I remember the film The Great Dictator by Charlie Chaplin. Was the way it made fun of Hilter and what he did offensive? He didn't think so when he made it; I didn't when I saw it (in fact I thought being able to laugh at him was probably essential for some people). As I remember it, Chaplin later said if he'd know what was happening, and that Hitler liked it, he would never have made it. In a similar vein are jokes about cancer offensive? It depends. For some people, a joke about something that is killing them or a loved one is offensive. For others, it is the easiest way to cope with what they are going through. So when is humour in bad taste? When the person hearing/listening thinks so. But is bad taste bad? It can be an important way to challenge and change society. Certainly it can backfire, but it can also work. At the time, I found Harry Enfield's "Loadsamoney" offensive, and I still do, but I think in both challenging and caricaturing such people I respect what it was trying to do. I believe the same is true of several other people and jokes. |
04-22-2009, 05:44 PM | #40 | |
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I am of the opinion that we are missing much in the name of "political correctness". When did we become so fragile that we can’t tolerate being offended. |
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04-22-2009, 05:45 PM | #41 | |
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I like the moderation in your language. I haven't commented on The Simpsons, but I'm one of those people who just LOVE the sense of humor on that series. What I find interesting about this (among other things), is the diversity of a community's sense of humor, precisely tagged by you - because of our diversity. This is all very interesting to me. Interestingly, because of my humorous CHAT contributions, I've been called a supporter of domestic violence, which I find immensely humorous - the accusation, I mean. I once taught a Stephen King seminar and one of the books I used was Rose Madder. We discussed the idea of domestic violence - a horrible horrible thing in this book, but one used for artistic expression, storyline, and character development. My point here, in this paragraph, is to dismiss the accusation (which was given to me sarcastically, by the way). I certainly don't support domestic violence; I think reasonable people understand this - especially reasonable people who know me. It's interesting how we all express puzzlement, anger, and other emotions on the web when we encounter something we dislike having been written or expressed. Don |
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04-22-2009, 06:19 PM | #42 | |
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Ok, back on topic: Sometimes when someone is telling me a joke i feel that the joke is "bad taste" but nevertheless the joke amuses me. I feel the same when i watch an episode of "Southpark". So i guess something can be humor and bad taste at the same time and for the same audience. Something like "humorously bad taste"... |
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04-22-2009, 06:34 PM | #43 |
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04-23-2009, 05:45 AM | #44 |
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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? |
04-23-2009, 06:15 AM | #45 |
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