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Moral relativism aside, there’s a taboo against “punching down” in humor and comedy. It’s obviously a fuzzy heuristic but in general, people from Western imperi
by civilitty 3y ago
Moral relativism aside, there’s a taboo against “punching down” in humor and comedy. It’s obviously a fuzzy heuristic but in general, people from Western imperial powers making fun of the people they’ve exploited is pretty far in the unacceptable column.
A caricature of a French, British, or German person in American media, for example, is much more acceptable than a caricature of a Chinese person.
- OfSanguineFire 3y agoEven that taboo against punching down is a peculiarity of (some parts of) modern Western culture. The blind, deaf, crippled, and mentally retarded are a favourite butt of jokes all over the world.
- amanaplanacanal 3y agoKindness and compassion seem to be lacking in that kind of behavior. Are those only western values? I don’t think so.
- bluefirebrand 3y agoMore and more, I find that sugar coating everything and coddling everyone is not kind or compassionate. I'm not saying that we should be going out of our way to make fun of everyone every chance we get, but this idea that "oh, those people are different so they are off limits for jokes or criticism" is a good way to make sure those people never develop any level of resilience.
- amanaplanacanal 3y ago“No really, us making fun of you is actually for your benefit.”