Bonus: Response to Kathleen's Post by Bailey West

I do agree with Kathleen's post and I think she brings some good points to the discussion. Humor and the concept of offensive jokes are a hot topic- especially as we begin to evaluate being politically correct and how far to go with it. I honestly think it's a sticky subject and I don't have a firm opinion on it. I think there is some weight to the side that we use humor as a coping mechanism and in the environment of humor you know not to take things seriously. However, as Kathleen mentioned, different audiences will be impacted differently by the joke. I think her point about people of different generations would be impacted differently by certain humor. I hadn't thought of this point but I think it's very relevant to the discussion. I think it's important to recognize how humor would have different impacts on different generations. Usually people that are older and had first hand experiences with injustices would react differently. For example, an older person that knew people killed in the Holocaust definitely wouldn't find those jokes funny. Or people that lived through the Civil Rights Movement and had to deal with segregation probably wouldn't find racist jokes funny. These people are closer to the injustices that we sometimes joke about. However, generations like mine are a bit more removed. We know it's still "bad" to joke about these, but it happens and is funnier to some people because it's so shocking to joke about.

I honestly don't have a firm opinion on whether or not this humor is wrong. I think that it has to be very carefully placed in order to be considered funny. That includes thinking about who the audience is- their age, race, class. People have different humor and it's sometimes hard to judge what will appeal to them- or how they'll react to controversial jokes. I think as long as it's done with no ill intention, it's usually OK but it just depends. There will always be people that find it funny and some people that don't. I do like that Kathleen played in the middle of this, too. Personally once I look at some of the jokes deeper I also see how it's offensive and could be more offensive if said by someone else. I agree with that part of Kathleen's argument. I also think, though, that humor is hard to restrict. Many people argue that it's not meant to be taken seriously, but at the same time I see how it's a reflection of our culture and values. I like that Kathleen took a deeper look into the situation that wasn't just one-sided. I like that she looked to the viewpoints of others, especially people from different generations, because that can be eye-opening to how humor impacts people differently. Overall it was a good post that went to a deeper level to examine whether or not these controversial jokes should be considered funny. I think that we should be sensitive to the topic because really no side is right or wrong.