What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?
More and more each day, it seems.
I’m not saying it’s wrong to be politically correct. I’m not necessarily saying it’s right, either. It’s just funny how you can look back at movies or TV shows that were made 20, even 10 years ago and they’ll crack a joke that, if it were made today, there’s no way they’d get away with it. I don’t have any specific examples. And if I did, I wouldn’t mention them here. Because I’d probably get in trouble.
Think about some of the language that people would use in dialogue that just doesn’t get used now. Because it’s offensive to someone somewhere. Do I believe that we, as a society, are too easily offended? Yes, I do.
What about someone like the late Don Rickles? This guy built a career on being an insult comic. If Don Rickles were in his 20s or 30s today, do you think he’d have been able to get away with some of the routines he performed back when his career was starting out? Probably not. He’d have a YouTube channel, and then he’d say something to insult the wrong person, that video would go viral, and then a year later we’d all be like, “Don who?”
What do you think? Are things too serious to be joked about? Or are we just too sensitive in 2018?
*The Question of the Week can be found in The Book of Questions by Gregory Stock, Ph.D.
The Confusing Middle 
It’s funny you mention this, because I was thinking of Don Rickles the other day with his insults about his wife (who, assuming he was married for real and I’m too lazy to google it right now, he loved and respected). I know they were jokes and everyone thought they were hysterical. He would be labeled a misogynist now.
Interesting question.
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I remember seeing occasional interviews with where he spoke with utmost love and respect for his wife. The insults were just a part of his act, definitely not the reality. But you’re right, he’d definitely carry the label of misogynist now.
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