3 ms·
On the flip side, making a big deal out of an attempt at comedy shows the world that these words bother you, which gives malicious people more ammunition to att
by freehunter 11y ago
On the flip side, making a big deal out of an attempt at comedy shows the world that these words bother you, which gives malicious people more ammunition to attack you with.
Did you know the word idiot used to refer to someone with a mental handicap? They stopped using it because it was being used as an insult and was no longer politically correct. The new politically correct term was "retard", which of course became an insult as well, so the term had to be changed again. And these days, no one would cover their child's ears if someone said the word "idiot" on television.
Either everything can be made fun of or nothing can. Where do we draw the line? Family Guy makes jokes about Catholics vs Protestants, but South Park gets censored when talking about Muhammed. Chris Rock can say "nigger" in his comedy, but no one else can? Gabriel Iglesias is "fluffy". Can I, a city-dweller, make jokes about rednecks like Jeff Foxworthy?
No one watches Top Gear and says "oh hey it must be okay to commit violent acts against people who are different than me". At worst, it's a tasteless joke that some might find funny and others might roll their eyes at. Or maybe people like Clarkson are removing the power of the word much in the same way words like "idiot" or "lame" are no longer pejoratives against the handicapped.