Hey! I’m Ripudaman and I’m that
kind of person who doesn’t get offended much. But I find it quite interesting
to learn about why people get offended easily and also the things that offend them.
I live in India, so pretty much everything about me is Indian.
It was interesting to find
out why I don't get offended while most of the people around me do. So, let's
look into it.
What Does Dark Humor Mean?
So
as per the urban dictionary, dark humor is often defined as the form of humor
involving some kind of turning and twisting to make the statement or the
sentence offensive towards the end of the joke. This offense is usually
directed upon the whole society than on a particular section of the society.
But most of the people in
India seem to think that it is directed towards them, which I can assure no
comedian tries to do. One can say that dark humor is subjective. Well, I can't
agree more on that, but are those jokes that bad that you have to abuse people
online?
Yes, you guessed it right.
I am talking about the Agrima Joshua case. Well, many people took offense on her
speech due to her lack of judgment when she was just joking on a religious
figure.
But, guess what she did
not know by any chance was that, the clip would be taken out of context after
two years and that she would be abused after two whole years. I was offended by
the fact that how unfunny she was (but that is a different topic).
As I told you earlier that
dark humor is subjective, so you might argue about the fact that offense is
also subjective. Yes it is. But, a joke is often done in a light-hearted
placing and in most of the settings it is established that viewer's discretion
is advised, which means the viewer should take other points into consideration
rather than a statement.
In the above-mentioned
case, there is an argument where the abuser thought that it would be apt to
abuse the girl and name it as dark humor, which I think is a valid point, but I
will say that I disagree with this.Here the question arises as to where should
we draw the line in dark comedy?
Let's Start by Studying a
Few Jokes
So I think you all know
about fish pedicures.In fish pedicure, there is a tank which has fishes that
eat dead skin cells.You just put your feet or hands in that tank for the fishes
to eat off the dead skin cells.
The other day I took my
grandmother for fish pedicure. That was quite a fun day, also guess what, it's
so much easier than cremation.
Understanding the Joke
If you look at the joke mentioned
above,mainly, it would be considered offensive by the masses because deaths are
a kind of taboo in society. But wordsin the end, are twisted in such a way that
it will seem funny.
Well this may also offend
someone else, but the fact that I am talking about my grandmother and not
theirs can come handy in that scenario.
Where to Draw a Line in
Comedy?
I don't think that you
should draw a line in comedy because if you draw a line, then a person cannot
explore the areas beyond it. Also, a thing that is funny in a state or a
country need not be funny anywhere else.
But here the argument
arises about the fact that whether is it okay to be stupid and abuse someone in
the name of comedy, just like many cases of comedians being abused online.
If you have a well-defined
structure and a proper joke setting, even the comedian will praise your efforts.
But abusing them by forming opinions is something that I disagree.
But I Don't Agree With the
Opinion of the Comedian. What Should I Do?
One cannot deny that
morbid dark humor helps in a crisis. Now, the argument that arises here is that,
the dark humor can become inappropriate and there is a fine line a comedian
needs to play on.
In such cases, the
audience may need not agree with the person making the joke,but at the same
time, the audience can appreciate the writing and beauty of the joke even if
the said thing is portrayed in the negative shadow.
Also, in some cases, the
kind of humor that is considered funny in India, is considered misogynistic in
other countries.
For example, most
successful Indian comedians might only joke and show women in a negative light,
such humor is not considered dark here, but the same humor is considered mostly
dark everywhere else in the world (well most of the places).
But I Don't Agree With You
Comedy is a subjective art
form. You can either agree with the statements or disagree with the statements.
But you have to understand that even if you disagree with the statements, you
can still enjoy the art.
Your opinions might not match
with the comedian, but you can still like him or her or at least refrain from
forming demeaning opinions and abusing them online, as in the classic case of
Agrima Joshua.
Written by – Ripudaman
Edited by – Adrija Saha
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