Politically correct, or PC, culture has been a highly debated, influential topic for a while, not only among those who study media and communications but among consumers as well. That basically includes every member of American society, as every viewer’s personal experience and emotional profile plays a part in determining what is acceptable and what is off limits for themselves in terms of humor.
This past semester, I took a journalism class in which we briefly discussed questionable, politically incorrect content in the news and media, and the class came to the consensus that 99 percent of sources should stay away from relying on insensitively charged commentary, except for content such as South Park, which was specifically mentioned by multiple students as being “the only source that is actually allowed to make such comments.”
Why can this show get away with what most would call hateful commentary? This is a question I quite honestly ponder on a regular basis, as politically incorrect comedy comprises about 80 percent of the entertainment I consume, and I interact with said content on a daily basis as a television enthusiast.
The thing about South Park which I stress quite often is that the show is what I like to call “equal opportunity offensive,” never leaving any subject off limits. I also believe that since Trey Parker and Matt Stone have been fighting every person who has been offended by their content for the past 19 years, most of the American public has kind of just given up and accepted the show’s infamous legacy in the entertainment industry.
The universe a television show such as SP takes place in obviously does not equivocate with ours, yet the reality of viewers of these shows can potentially be affected with viewing. Children growing up today live in a world which is partially virtual, where they themselves exist as a person both physically in their daily life and virtually as a presence on social media. Therefore, it comes as no surprise that an impressionable mind may not be able to make clear the blurry line which separates real life from the worlds which they come across through entertainment. In a perfect world, the American public could separate offensive jokes in programming from the way they should be treating others in daily life. Unfortunately, this is not always the case.
I, myself, know I can laugh at a joke about a deadly disease and then donate my efforts and money to find a cure the next day. I support and even fight for equality, but can chortle at a misogynistic character on television. Plenty of people interact with this content and it has not affected the way they view the world and others, but it’s not that simple for everyone.
Perhaps it is important to realize that these characters who make these jokes are just assholes, and that’s what makes them so damn funny. Our laughter then comes from a superiority complex – it’s funny, because we realize we are so much better than them.
Communications theorist Richard Dyer argues that stereotypes potentially contribute to culture by introducing narrow-minded American audiences to people who are different, who exist in a different social sphere than themselves. Stereotyping allows for organization of society, which must exist to provide societal codification. The perpetuation of stereotypes in comedy, however, leads to the impossibility of expanding one’s horizons.
A line in terms of what’s right and wrong of course does exist in comedy, and Carol Burnett possibly explained it best when she established the formula Comedy = Tragedy + Time. Because I relate practically everything in my life back to TV episodes, this idea also makes me recall the South Park episode in which they celebrate the fact that 22.3 years had passed, apparently making AIDS officially all of a sudden able to be joked about. I talk about South Park a lot, especially when it comes to the topic of political correctness in comedy; I do apologize.
It is also important to realize that a joke’s tie to a specific situation can also determine its offensiveness. Specifically, referencing a real life situation that has tortured a member of the American public offends more than a general joke about one of your everyday tragedies that are a natural part of life. Bryce Rudow of The Daily Banter editorialized this dilemma well when he explained that a dead baby joke can be funny if you have the intelligence to “get over the emotional hurdle that it’s wrong to joke about a dead baby because there are people who know babies who know babies who have died in something.” Yet a joke specifically referencing a situation which people still grieve about does not go over quite so well. This is perhaps due to the way the particular situation can be defined and represented by a specific person, allowing for the audience to make a personal albeit strictly representational connection to another human being.
There is also, of course, an intelligent way to go about offensive comedy. Those who wield their words in this way have practiced the art and understand the way rhetoric works. They know that even the cruelest satire, when practiced correctly, makes social commentary to the contrary of the literal meaning of the words uttered.
And that, my friends, is how sarcasm works.
Terrible things happen. Terrible things will always happen, as humanity is constantly plagued by terrible people. If history has taught us anything, it’s that human nature does not and will not ever allow for all six billion of us to be thoughtful, considerate beings. There will always be a few bad apples in the bunch, as time wears us down and experience rots us to our naturally flawed cores. We will all deal with terrible things in our lives – it’s depressing as all hell, but we have to find a way to get through them and make us stronger. The world is an awful place. How can we realize that without pointing it out?
To me, laughter is a beautiful thing. Though we speak different languages, every person who lives can laugh. I use laughter as a defense mechanism when I feel uncomfortable, and it allows me to ignore the little things in life which I believe should not matter. It has simultaneously saved me a lot of stress and brought me closer to the people in my life whom I love. It’s also important to laugh at ourselves, for letting go of insecurities allows for us to grow as people.
When we do not allow ourselves to laugh at that which we fear in the world – disaster, bigotry, et cetera – it is to let our fears control us.
Next time you hear a joke which marginalizes others, think about whether or not the joker was mean with the intention of making constructive commentary, or just for the sake of being mean. I promise, it’s not that hard to tell.
