This is a comment by Nick, mostly on the post “Daniel Tosh Apologizes for Rape Jokes“.
“It’s strange to me that so many people are unaware of the traditional role of comedy as social commentary. Comics have always spoken ‘truth to power,’ which is as true today as it was in the days of court jesters and Greek plays. Comedy is a tool we use to talk about subjects that make us uncomfortable; in many cases it’s the only acceptable outlet. And so jokes about racism, sexism, rape, murder, corruption—all of these have their place because they are all important or taboo subjects. Louis CK’s bit was less about rape as much as it was about female agency and communication (although using the word ‘rape’ certainly highlights the absurdity). Some comics take it a bit far – Sarah Silverman pushed the line too far for some in her classic rendition of The Aristocrats.
“That’s not to suggest that this is what Tosh was doing. I suspect two things were going on here. First, given my limited knowledge of his comedy, I imagine he was trying to be edgy. Second, in this day of YouTube clips as promotional material, I wouldn’t be surprised if he was trying to ‘take down’ or ‘destroy’ the heckler. Heckling is rude and disruptive. If I go to a concert to hear someone sing, I don’t want the person three seats over from me belting out the tunes. Likewise, I go to a comedy club to hear the comedian, not someone in the audience. Some comedians are quite skillful at silencing hecklers – others (Michael Richards, anyone?) not so much.”
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Tosh went way beyond “social commentary” and being edgy when he filmed a segment where he had Ron Jeremy, who was completely naked, knock a girl down in a stairwell. Is that sexual assault? Did Tosh collaborate in a sexual assault? I think it was very close to a sexual assault and Tosh has been able to get away with plenty of misogyny under the guise of humor. It is a good thing that somebody has called him out on his behavior.
Precisely. After about season 2 of Tosh.0, every other joke was about how women’s genitals are ugly, how all women are crazy, him getting laid, and boobs. The humor really dried up after the novelty of viral video commentary wore off.
Where is the truth, and against what power, in “Your being gang-raped right now would be EFFING AWESOME”?
I’ll wait.
Did you miss this?
That’s not to suggest that this is what Tosh was doing.
Perhaps that was a rhetorical question and not actually related to my comment? Or you just needed a direction in which to focus your outrage, and my comment seemed as good a choice as any?