[Is it these days though? I rather thought we'd moved on from that and comedy generally had a more 'intelligent' and original feel to it now.
As for 'we shouldn't censor'. Are racist jokes OK then? As I said, I doubt Ch. 4 would be defending his right to come out with racist crap, so why is this seen as OK?
Because who decides what is right and what is not? He didn't tell a racist joke hence C4 defending him.[/QUOTE]
I didn't call you ignorant. I mentioned having to deal with ignorant people in general and then went on to elaborate by saying how my friend doesn't even feel she can take her son out due to the comments made by them. Unless you are one of the people making those comments, I don't see how I am calling you ignorant?
As for him not telling a racist joke. No, he didn't. However, you are saying he shouldn't be censored/who should decide what gets censored etc and for that reason he should be able to tell whatever jokes about whatever subject he likes. Surely logic therefore denotes that if he (or anyone else) wanted to tell racist jokes then that would also be OK as we shouldn't censor people? Only, no one with any sense thinks racist jokes are OK do they, so why are disablist ones?
[I am sorry about your Mum. There is a fundamental difference though between making jokes about cancer and and making jokes about/belittling those with disabilities. People in general don't think cancer sufferers are stupid or shouldn't be a part of society, yet people do think that about disabled people and people with Downs Syndrome. A lot of that is because of the sterotypes.
However, I don;t know why I am suprised people find it acceptable. I don't really let what ignorant people think bother me, but a friend of mine is rather more fragile and rarely takes her disabled son out because she cannot deal witht he spiteful and nasty comments made by people every single time she goes out. If there are enough people in society to make spiteful comments about someones disabld child in front of them, why wouldn't there be enough to laugh at Frankie Boyle's jokes....
Why is there a fundamental difference? The joke was not about disabled people not being part of society. In fact the joke doesn't mention disability. It's other people who are picking up on the disability connotation. And believe me, people do stop and stare when they see a woman with no hair walking through Tesco. People do point and make comments. I'm sorry - I do not see the difference, and cannot see why making a cancer joke is "okay" in your view, but a joke about Harvey is not. What gives people more right to be offended by that joke than by a cancer joke. It doesn't make sense.
If you are talking about avoiding all controversial subjects, then maybe we should just have "knock knock" and "doctor doctor" jokes. In my view, as I have said, that particular joke was not funny. But if FB wants to tell it, then so be it. I am not going to get offended on someone else's behalf.[/QUOTE]
I have pointed out the fundamental difference. People do not thinkt hat cancer sufferers should be locked away and not be part of society. They don't complain about them being in their child's class at school, they don't make nasty comments when they see them. Yes, people may make comments, but are they comments like 'you should have just had a abortion instead of having a f*ckwit like that for a child'? (One of the many nasty comments made to my friend. (incidentally, the same friend lost her ten year old son to leukemia after he had battled it since a toddler. He had no hair for a long time, but she never felt unable to go out in public with him as the general feeling once one of sympathy, not contempt).
As for him not mentioning Harveys disability. He has made plenty fo jokes about disability in the past, including a particularly vile one (several in fact) about people with Downs Syndrome.
There are loads of very popular and current comedians who do not use offensive material. Instead, they think outside the box and are, IMO, funnier as a result. As I said before, there's nothing clever about Frankie Boyle. For a start he's trawling out the same old material and again, as I said before, he is just like a young boy who trawls out 'wee, poo, bum, farts' when he realises it gets a reaction from his parents/adults.
