George Carlin, who I think is still widely regarded as one of the greats, had a “rape can be funny” bit that I doubt would fly today because a whole lot of us have a better understanding of how rape jokes harm victims. Doing harm to such a group is, or at least should, never the goal of a quality comedian. That’s why they’re not generally made by comedians except the “you just can’t take a joke” type.
You can absolutely criticize without doing harm to open wounds. There’s space between not being allowed to criticize and not being allowed to joke.
Maybe you need something like the more power a group has the more they need to be able to bear being the target of joking. That’s why a white, Christian, American man is a far cleaner target.
This lacks a lot of nuance that is needed.
George Carlin, who I think is still widely regarded as one of the greats, had a “rape can be funny” bit that I doubt would fly today because a whole lot of us have a better understanding of how rape jokes harm victims. Doing harm to such a group is, or at least should, never the goal of a quality comedian. That’s why they’re not generally made by comedians except the “you just can’t take a joke” type.
You can absolutely criticize without doing harm to open wounds. There’s space between not being allowed to criticize and not being allowed to joke.
Maybe you need something like the more power a group has the more they need to be able to bear being the target of joking. That’s why a white, Christian, American man is a far cleaner target.