Funny things tend to make people happy. A good laugh is one of the best ways to get rid of stress, even if it's just for a few seconds. But how far should we go to get a laugh?
Just last week, beloved President Barack Obama compared his bowling skills to the Special Olympics on the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno." Obama called the organization the next day and apologized, but he'll never be able to take back his words.
Offensive humor such as Obama's has become the norm in our culture. Words like "faggot" and "retard" don't refer to homosexuals or persons with disabilities, but they are derogatory terms thrown around to degrade average people.
Movies, television and even music have all begun capitalizing on this derogatory humor.
"Family Guy" is infamous for its dehumanization of gays, blacks and women in general. In season one, the show's main character, Peter, made a distasteful reference to the Holocaust.
"Family Guy's" Stewie, a toddler in the Griffin household, speaks in the same offensive way that the rest of the cast does, despite his young age. This is reminiscent of "South Park," one of the most popular shows on television, and also one of the most offensive.
"South Park" is quoted all the time. Eric Cartman is referred to more as "fat-ass" than "Cartman." "Mr. Hanky the Christmas Poo" is infamous for his Christmastime do-gooding, and Kyle will never forget that he's Jewish because his friends make fun of him for it everyday.
In 1999, "South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut," was released in theaters. Hollywood.com reports that "South Park's target audience, the one that's too young for its R-rating, will probably get into the film." They also suggested that, had the movie been under an independent label instead of the monstrous force of Paramount, the film would have been hit with a much harsher NC-17 rating.
Interestingly enough, Disney, the pinnacle of good and age-appropriate entertainment, has been pegged for integrating dry sexual humor into its animated movies, such as "Aladdin," "The Little Mermaid" and "The Rescuers."
In "The Rescuers," there are two points in the original movie where a picture of a topless woman is shown. The movie was recalled and rereleased as soon as the inappropriate image was noticed.
What's the point of that? It's not even funny.
Stand-up comics are just as bad. Bob Saget, America's one-time family-friendly comic, is now one of the raunchiest comics out there. But he has a huge following and is widely popular.
And as sad as it is, it's impossible to claim that he's not funny. He's hilarious. But he's vulgar as well. There is a line to be drawn between what is appropriately funny and what is inappropriately funny.
Overall, humor is such an important thing in daily life. There is no way that any kind of humor should be completely abandoned. It all has its purpose. But why has offensive humor become so mainstream?
Blacks should not have to hear the "n-word" thrown around for the purpose of a joke, nor should Jewish people have to hear anti-Semitic mutterings because someone somewhere thinks it's funny.
Stacie Foster is a freshman magazine journalism major and the pop culture columnist. Her columns appear every Monday and Friday. She can be reached at snfoster@syr.edu.
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