The Line
I started to write a comment in T's blog about a post where she wrote about an inappropriate T-Shirt she saw and as I started to write I realized that this deserved a post rather than be relegated as a comment.
As my comment started in her blog, I can't say that I thought it was completely wrong. Yes, it was inappropriate, but that doesn't necessarily mean it did not make me laugh. Do I agree that "Shooting the Bitch" is the cure for PMS? No, but I am guilty of a little giggle after I read that. Why? Because my name is Duncan.
Group replies, "Hi Duncan"
I sheepishly shuffle my feet, "and I have enjoyed inappropriate humour for 12 years."
The group gazes back, "Don't worry Duncan, we are here to help you."
Well, what is inappropriate humour? Well let's break it down.
Dictionary Definition:
Inappropriate: 1: not suitable for a particular occasion etc; "noise seems inappropriate at a time of sadness"; "inappropriate shoes for a walk on the beach"; "put inappropriate pressure on them." 2: not conforming with accepted standards of propriety or taste; undesirable; "incorrect behavior"; "she was seen in all the wrong places"; "He thought it was wrong for her to go out to work." 3: not in keeping with what is correct or proper; "completely inappropriate behavior."
Humour: 1. message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter. 2. a normal functioning bodily semifluid or fluid (as the blood or lymph) b : a secretion (as a hormone) that is an excitant of activity
Ok, so definition #2 for humour doesn't seem to help, so you can choose to ignore that one. So what are we looking at then? Inappropriate Humour is looking like it is defined as "something that has the power to evoke laughter but is not suitable for a particular occasion." or loosely defined as, "I know I shouldn't laugh at that, but man, that shit is funny." It is just something about humour that may offend that is dangerous and exciting and gets my blood flowing, like adrenaline, or a brisk walk. Do I feel bad if I offend people by mistake? Of course!
So that brings us to the "line". That imaginary line in the ground that is drawn to give everybody reference to what is appropriate or not. In my home, or actually, any social situation with friends, the line can be non-existent. The warning I put out to the reading public is, "The line can be very different from environment to environment." For example, something that is funny to your potty mouth friends, may not be appropriate for Grandma's house (but probably is OK for my Grandma. She loves dirty jokes). I may think "Jesus" jokes are funny, but the Church crowd doesn't always appreciate them. Sometimes blonde jokes are funny, but around blondes they can be confusing. So as you can see, just be careful.
In closing I will say again "laugh at everything you can but watch your feet as not to trip on the line." Hey, that reminds me of a few inappropriate jokes:
How does a man load the dishwasher?
He gets his wife drunk.
What do you say to a kid with two black eyes?
Nothing. You have already told him twice.
How do you kill a fox?
Cut off his leg and make him run across Canada.
and one of the most inappropriate T-Shirts I have ever seen.
Now laugh, and then be appalled.
As my comment started in her blog, I can't say that I thought it was completely wrong. Yes, it was inappropriate, but that doesn't necessarily mean it did not make me laugh. Do I agree that "Shooting the Bitch" is the cure for PMS? No, but I am guilty of a little giggle after I read that. Why? Because my name is Duncan.
Group replies, "Hi Duncan"
I sheepishly shuffle my feet, "and I have enjoyed inappropriate humour for 12 years."
The group gazes back, "Don't worry Duncan, we are here to help you."
Well, what is inappropriate humour? Well let's break it down.
Dictionary Definition:
Inappropriate: 1: not suitable for a particular occasion etc; "noise seems inappropriate at a time of sadness"; "inappropriate shoes for a walk on the beach"; "put inappropriate pressure on them." 2: not conforming with accepted standards of propriety or taste; undesirable; "incorrect behavior"; "she was seen in all the wrong places"; "He thought it was wrong for her to go out to work." 3: not in keeping with what is correct or proper; "completely inappropriate behavior."
Humour: 1. message whose ingenuity or verbal skill or incongruity has the power to evoke laughter. 2. a normal functioning bodily semifluid or fluid (as the blood or lymph) b : a secretion (as a hormone) that is an excitant of activity
Ok, so definition #2 for humour doesn't seem to help, so you can choose to ignore that one. So what are we looking at then? Inappropriate Humour is looking like it is defined as "something that has the power to evoke laughter but is not suitable for a particular occasion." or loosely defined as, "I know I shouldn't laugh at that, but man, that shit is funny." It is just something about humour that may offend that is dangerous and exciting and gets my blood flowing, like adrenaline, or a brisk walk. Do I feel bad if I offend people by mistake? Of course!
So that brings us to the "line". That imaginary line in the ground that is drawn to give everybody reference to what is appropriate or not. In my home, or actually, any social situation with friends, the line can be non-existent. The warning I put out to the reading public is, "The line can be very different from environment to environment." For example, something that is funny to your potty mouth friends, may not be appropriate for Grandma's house (but probably is OK for my Grandma. She loves dirty jokes). I may think "Jesus" jokes are funny, but the Church crowd doesn't always appreciate them. Sometimes blonde jokes are funny, but around blondes they can be confusing. So as you can see, just be careful.
In closing I will say again "laugh at everything you can but watch your feet as not to trip on the line." Hey, that reminds me of a few inappropriate jokes:
How does a man load the dishwasher?
He gets his wife drunk.
What do you say to a kid with two black eyes?
Nothing. You have already told him twice.
How do you kill a fox?
Cut off his leg and make him run across Canada.
and one of the most inappropriate T-Shirts I have ever seen.
Now laugh, and then be appalled.
posted by Duncan McAllister at 2:23 p.m.
4 Comments:
duncan, duncan, duncan!!! awful jokes :(
i entirely agree that there is a line when it comes to jokes, and what is funny to one person can be extremely offensive to another. i also think you can be just as funny without be offensive, and that is the best kind of humour for me. lola...look at ellen degenerous(sp?) she is hilarious becuase she is so silly and fun, and laughing with someone like that is more uplifting than having to be appalled with yourself after the fact.
anyway, this is coming off as a rant session on my part. closing remark, duncan i think you are a great person so if you laugh at something that is a little inappropriate i can forgive you...on the other hand, there are a lot of people who are not very nice and when they laugh at something inappropriate or offensive they don't feel appalled by themselves, and that is scary.
laughter is great...but as duncan said, you do have to keep an eye out for that line.
You make a very good point T. There are people out there that actually think these types of jokes or slogans or whatever are perfectly acceptable in all situations and find nothing wrong with the joke. Then there are people like us who, yes, we will laugh, but we know that it is inappropriate and more often than not, mean-spirited and a lie.
If I don't know you, don't come up to me and tell me a racist joke. I'm going to immediately peg you as a racist and treat you as such. However, if I know you well, and I know the type of person you are, and you tell an inappropriate joke, I will find it funny as I know we're both laughing at the same thing and in the same context.
that shirt is fricken funny.
If something is funny: laugh.
If something is innapropriatly funny: laugh quietly :D
This was a really interesting post Duncan - I laughed at every joke (although I must echo what Tanya said - it was almost guilty laughter, not "feel good" laughter.) Anyway, it got me thinking about over the line humour.
Let's take a look at the "I {airplane} NY" t-shirt. The only purpose of that shirt is to be over-the-top offensive. It's not ironic, it's not even political; somebody just thought of the most offensive thing they could, and put it on a t-shirt - the fact that it's offensive is what makes it funny. Even though my initial reaction to it was to laugh, I don't really think it makes this level of humour ok. (Is a tsunami t-shirt far off? - I'm sure the right design could elicit a giggle...) I think there are certain lines that one shouldn't cross to get a laugh.
Maybe it's the way humour is evolving, you see this kind of humour everywhere online - especially message boards, where anonymity allows people to say and do things they would never do in the "real world" - I know "attractivetb" (my screen name) has said some pretty over the line things to other pro wrestling fans at pwtorch.com.
Anyway, I can see I'm not really coming to any sort of point here, so I'll wrap it up. I agree with T about the bad feeling I get for laughing at some of the jokes...but I know I will continue to giggle when I see this type of joke at places like fark.com
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