CSA "humor" (possible triggers?)
melliferal
Registrant
I'm going to assume I'm not alone when I mention the fact that jokes involving children who get raped or molested really disgust me - and lately, I have no problem saying so. Of course, when I walk away the people I castigate probably make fun of me, but I don't care.
I'm learning, however, that my disgust seems to be very defined and particular. I have no problem with jokes that make fun of pedophiles in and of themselves. I was watching an old movie the other day called "Airplane!", a slapstick comedy. In one scene, a young boy is taken up to the cockpit to see all the cool stuff up there. The pilot, in the middle of explaining things, says "So, Jimmy, ever seen a grown man naked?" as the flight stewardess starts leading the kid away - "I think we'd better go back to our seat now..." For some reason, I found that sequence very amusing. I chuckled over it for a while. If you want to make fun of pedophiles - hey, I say go for it. They deserve it.
Jokes that have to do with molestation itself, however, I have trouble stomaching. I was watching an HBO special (or something, I forget its name) about a man who was molested by a priest when he was younger. He found out suddenly that the abuser was living - just a short way down the street from him. The documentary details how he and some others abused by the same man struggled to get some kind of relief or even acknowledgement from the Church. One time, while they were all driving in a car together, he tells about this horrible joke he heard, where somebody "standing in" for the priest at a confessional, unsure about the appropriate "punishment", wonders aloud "what the Father gives for oral sex"; his comment is answered by a passing altar boy. The joke drew a collective groan from the group of abuse survivors. Pedophiles deserve to be made fun of - abused kids do not, even if merely acting as proxies by which the pedophile is the one "really" being made fun of. I will always think that way.
Another joke of this sort I can't stand is called "The Aristocrats". The joke is personalized by the person who's telling it. It starts out the same: with a family visiting a talent agent to describe a great "family act" they've got, which they intend to demonstrate. The comedian then endeavors to describe the most outlandish, outrageous, and disgusting acts his imagination can summon, often including things like incest and bestiality. The nonsensical punchline comes after the "act", when the talent agent asks what said act is called; the answer is "The Aristocrats". I've never heard a single version of this joke that strikes me as funny - not one. That sort of humor just doesn't "speak to me".
I haven't yet really lost respect for anybody simply for telling a joke that I find distasteful. But I'm sure one of these days somebody will lose respect for me for not laughing at what they think is a "funny" joke. I'll deal.
I'm learning, however, that my disgust seems to be very defined and particular. I have no problem with jokes that make fun of pedophiles in and of themselves. I was watching an old movie the other day called "Airplane!", a slapstick comedy. In one scene, a young boy is taken up to the cockpit to see all the cool stuff up there. The pilot, in the middle of explaining things, says "So, Jimmy, ever seen a grown man naked?" as the flight stewardess starts leading the kid away - "I think we'd better go back to our seat now..." For some reason, I found that sequence very amusing. I chuckled over it for a while. If you want to make fun of pedophiles - hey, I say go for it. They deserve it.
Jokes that have to do with molestation itself, however, I have trouble stomaching. I was watching an HBO special (or something, I forget its name) about a man who was molested by a priest when he was younger. He found out suddenly that the abuser was living - just a short way down the street from him. The documentary details how he and some others abused by the same man struggled to get some kind of relief or even acknowledgement from the Church. One time, while they were all driving in a car together, he tells about this horrible joke he heard, where somebody "standing in" for the priest at a confessional, unsure about the appropriate "punishment", wonders aloud "what the Father gives for oral sex"; his comment is answered by a passing altar boy. The joke drew a collective groan from the group of abuse survivors. Pedophiles deserve to be made fun of - abused kids do not, even if merely acting as proxies by which the pedophile is the one "really" being made fun of. I will always think that way.
Another joke of this sort I can't stand is called "The Aristocrats". The joke is personalized by the person who's telling it. It starts out the same: with a family visiting a talent agent to describe a great "family act" they've got, which they intend to demonstrate. The comedian then endeavors to describe the most outlandish, outrageous, and disgusting acts his imagination can summon, often including things like incest and bestiality. The nonsensical punchline comes after the "act", when the talent agent asks what said act is called; the answer is "The Aristocrats". I've never heard a single version of this joke that strikes me as funny - not one. That sort of humor just doesn't "speak to me".
I haven't yet really lost respect for anybody simply for telling a joke that I find distasteful. But I'm sure one of these days somebody will lose respect for me for not laughing at what they think is a "funny" joke. I'll deal.