Justin Cascio doesn’t think Conan O’Brien’s rapist joke about a woman who lifts heavy is funny.
I predict 350 lb. weight lifter Holley Mangold will bring home the gold and 4 guys against their will.
— Conan O’Brien (@ConanOBrien) July 28, 2012
@ConanOBrien How far do we have to go before it’s never okay to call someone a rapist, even as a joke?
— The Good Life (@GMPGoodLife) July 30, 2012
Actually, this joke is very funny. I know because I laughed.
Look, laughing at rape jokes is perfectly fine. Comedians joke about a lot of things that aren’t funny—genocide, slavery, murder…all of these things are either on par or far worse than rape. But no one ever says that joking about genocide or murder means you are condoning or normalizing it—because we know that’s bullshit.
Laughter does not equal approval and it’s time for people (like the author of this post) who traffic in that kind of grade-school false equivalence to either grow up or shut the hell up.
There is a huge difference between rape jokes and joking about genocide, slavery, or murder. Rape is still not given any where near the seriousness that the other forms of violence, hate, and power-over that the other crimes listed are. Very few men even know what acts do and do not constitute rape. (See the educational material for campus men at the Men Can Stop Rape web site for a detailed breakdown.) Rape is still treated like a total joke. Raped women are still routinely “raped” again by the law enforcement and legal systems, including on college campuses. Even look… Read more »
I laughed. I laughed because it’s a ridiculous image to pop into my head and he’s clearly not seriously suggesting that rape is ok.
I do think there’s issues when a culture of violence against men is created by depicting anti-male violence as more acceptable (or jokeworthy) than anti female violence. But that doesn’t mean that we can’t ever make jokes about violence in the right context, like, say, a comedy show.
No, it’s funny.
Two points:
First, is the thought-policing of rape jokes ever going to stop? Why don’t we stop attacking each others’ senses of humor?
Second, is Mr. Cascio similarly outraged by Erin Gloria Ryan’s character assassination of Ryan Lochte (see: http://jezebel.com/5931055/10-reasons-ryan-lochte-is-americas-sexiest-douchebag ), or is it only a problem when people “hilariously” mock female athletes?
Mike, I’m not attacking O’Brien’s sense of humor or thought policing. I’m criticizing a joke. One.
Ryan will just have to wait her turn.
Justin,
You seem to be targeting a lot more than a single joke when you say “it’s never okay to…”
Ryan’s piece is entirely about Lochte’s behavior, not his looks.
Monkey, Most of the piece criticizes his choice in clothing. Clothing usually has more to do with “looks” than with “behavior.” Indeed, the piece is entirely devoid of specific references to the way he relates to other people, choosing instead to label him a “douche” based on his fashion sense, the way a teammate parodied his fashion sense, his contribution to the team “Call Me Maybe” video, his tendency to say “Jeah” instead on “Yeah,” and his tendency to throw sideways peace signs. None of this has anything to do with how he actually treats other people, which is usually… Read more »
Is it? He’s apparently a douchebag because: 10. He has a catchphrase and hand sign. 9. He’s fratty because of what he drives and the music he listens to. Oh and having a tattoo that represents your college is dumb. (A FEW points for ragging on how he apparently brags about being passed dating college aged folks because doing so when there is more than a 8 year gap means you have a stunned personality.) 8. His art isn’t worthy of being a museum piece. 7. He blew a kiss in a fucking parody video. Like, OMG right? 6. He… Read more »
It’s slightly problematic, but nowhere near as bad. Most of the comments still point to behavior rather than his physique. And calling someone a douche is nowhere near as bad as calling them a rapist.
Slightly? At best that list could have been cut from 10 items to about 3 maybe 5. But neither 3 nor 5 are as dramatic as 10 (there’s a reason Letterman has a nightly Top 10 not Top 5). So called “Call Out Culture” at work. When legit reasons run out feel free to just throw anything in there to stretch it out.
And calling someone a douche is nowhere near as bad as calling them a rapist.
Now that I can dig which is why didn’t try to touch that.
Not only that but does Conan O’Brien–supposedly a professional comedian–really have to stoop to schoolyard, weight/sized based insults for cheap laughs against a world class athlete who regularly out-lifts her NFL lineman brother? Sad, sad, sad.
That’s what I was thinking. O’Brien is a proven comedy genius that has been active since writing for Saturday Night Live since the late 80s. Sure he could have come up with a better way to say that.
I’ll repeat what I said already, “I predict that Holley Mangold will have no problem picking up guys after she wins the gold.” See what I did there?
A simple way to make a joke that gives nod to her strength without making her out to be an unattractive rapist.