- This topic has 71 replies, 20 voices, and was last updated 16 years, 4 months ago by
.
- Posts
When I got a life threatening injury my 1st impulse was to still carry out my duties–When it hit me-I could pass
I still hate to use the D word—I was scared-Why??
This upset meWhen I became sick the combination left me real disabled
I was angry as Hell–Then I remember the murder of little ones–Tsunamis ETC
Then I STOPPED thinking abut myself and my anger went awayI have no way to prove or disprove God
If there is I am sure He could care less about my opine.I say do the good you know to do-
don’t get caught in petty debate-Live Well
I wouldn’t like a forum where we couldn’t make jokes that others don’t agree with "morally."
One man’s morals is another man’s couldn’t give a sh*t.
I think there is a lot of common sense in the way this board is run, freedom of speech appearing to be one of the main tenets. I don’t think we need to start worrying about our family audience – how many 10 year olds are reading this?!
Perhaps I find it morally offensive that forumites talk about their Gods, or how they feel one war, and thus loss of life, is justified over another.
However, I’d rather have those views expressed so I know what I’m up against.
Humour is def used to deal with situations difficult to handle or comprehend. Just because a person makes a bad-taste joke, it does not mean they are without compassion for the situation and would not help out with a financial donation or otherwise.
How many peeps in UK have shared a joke about the Haiti disaster on one hand and yet on the other, said it is terrible and made a donation to the cause?
More than a few I’d proffer.
Zip
Ps,
There was Princess Di, a Scotsman and an Islamic terrorist in the pub….* Bud your fine post came up
just as I was to submit mine.
Maybe my post is part pettiness
but is that not the distraction we
need to avoid the full impact
of the train hurtling towards the cliffGraysons you put a very strong argument
I have to side with you.
I support your thinkingCormack you are in a tight corner here.
You have had a tough old week.
Those two clones have done you in.
I think you are trying to lighten
up here, to counterbalance your previous
possibly rash actions, but in the wrong thread.
I also think being chief admin
you are swayed to appease certain posters,
which shows how hard it can be,
to juxtapose the two roles,
and the extra pressures presented
posting as admin and being yourselfMaybe my psychology is wrong
I do read you
and happy for you to shoot me downp.s. Happy,just read your post.
The freedoms we have in this house
include the killing of the dead
unhappy joke(edit) sorry, getzippy not Happy
You’re right Gamble – painted myself into a corner here I think.
I think the problem is that I have sympathies with both sides of the argument. I know Paul and Jeremy to be men of integrity and being perceived as going against them on this makes me uneasy. On the other hand GetZippy has articulated the other side of the coin very well in my opinion, much better than my blundering attempts.
But you are right, difficult thread to moderate this one, that volatile mix of highly emotive subject matter and strong opinions. Too late now to ‘pull’ Lolly’s jokes, as perhaps, with hindsight, would have been the correct course. The hare is off though. No stopping it now until it reaches the box, otherwise the hounds will have it.
Jeremy – where would you stand on, say, the humour which proliferated the mobile phone network in the aftermath of Michael Jackson’s death?
Can confirm I didn’t derive any pleasure from those either, Corm.
I missed the thread which arose on the Lounge at the time of Mr Jackson’s passing originally, but on reading it this morning it appeared to inspire the same spectrum of responses as this one (including at least one I find questionable at best);
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
Corm
I am no prude and, believe me, I am quite capable of telling "sick jokes" as well as the next man.
However there is a time and place for such jokes but some situations so sad and serious that joking is not appropriate at all and certainly not in a public forum.
You mention the Michael Jackson phone jokes – yes there were plenty of them and, indeed, one or two were funny – although I accept not to everyones taste.
However there are, in my view, two fundamental differences in the Jackson example you cite.
Firstly Jackson was a "public figure" by choice as a result he was, for want of a better expression "fair game".
Secondly the messages sent on mobile phones were in effect private messages sent between friends or acquaintances – they were not sent in the public domain.
Anyway I am not saying my view is right and being opposed to censorship I would not want to see comments being deleted. So I do have a paradox here whilst having to accept "free speech" I also cannot sit and say nothing, hence my comment.
What I don’t really want to do is get involved in a protracted discussion on the matter.
As far as I am concerned I have said what I feel on the matter. Some may agree with me – others will disagree, with them I will agree to differ.
If it had been posted a couple of weeks after the disaster would it have caused so much offence?
Just for the record, as you are the second person to imply as much, I was not offended by the "joke" I merely questioned if it was appropriate – there is a difference.
There is actually very little that "offends" me although one thing guarenteed to offend me is people incorrectly presuming they do know what offends me.
- Total Posts 17716
Happy does ask a valid question and the answer as far as I’m concerned would have to be "No it wouldn’t" at least not to most people.
The day Diana died I was in Glasgow and a Taxi driver told me what you would term as a sick joke about her.
I found that totally inappropriate and quite offensive.
I must have told the joke 10 times or more myself since and no one gets offended.
We tell and listen to jokes daily about some of the most horrific acts ever carried out on the planet and virtually no one cares.
However when something is NOW! I can’t see the funny side of it whether it’s in England Afghanistan or on the moon.
It’s like a mourning period I suppose and it’s just not the done thing to be cracking jokes at this time.
There is actually very little that "offends" me although one thing guarenteed to offend me is people incorrectly presuming they do know what offends me.
PAUL
My post was a general reply to the topic. My question was posed to anyone. Just because it followed your post it does not imply that it was aimed at you.
OK – I will take my "Mr Touchy" hat off in that case
I think it’s probably a good idea if the ‘jokers’ asks themselves "why am I telling this joke?"
Is it to relieve my own or other people’s sadness? Any comedian will say it’s important to know your audience insofar as what is and isn’t acceptable. If in doubt, say now’t.
Is it to be seen to be funny? In which case this could so easily backfire and instead of being thought of as highly amusing you run the risk of people changing their perception of you, in a negative way. You may or may not get the chance to redeem yourself. That’s the risk you run.
The medical profession is renowned for the telling of ‘sick’ jokes in times of crisis. Sometimes, laughter eases the inner sadness and the chemical changes in the body that laughter creates are certainly beneficial.
If something makes you, personally, laugh then I would recommend you to continue regardless yet, at the same time, appreciate that your humour may very well be adding to someone else’s unhappiness. The choice is yours.
KJokes on topical subjects are part and parcel of British humour.
…and where that manifests itself as well-observed satire, rather than something altogether more base, heaven forfend that it should ever be discouraged.
If it had been posted a couple of weeks after the disaster would it have caused so much offence?
Maybe the passage of time renders certain events as more gag-worthy to some people than in their immediate aftermath. That I’m yet to hear a joke on, for example, Auschwitz, which is either especially funny or fit to be repeated, would lead me to suggest that theory will never hold true in all cases.
gc
Jeremy Grayson. Son of immigrant. Adoptive father of two. Metadata librarian. Freelance point-to-point / horse racing writer, analyst and commentator wonk. Loves music, buses, cats, the BBC Micro, ale. Advocate of CBT, PACE and therapeutic parenting. Aspergers.
I am veering slightly
and am now sandwiched
between Mac the balancing knife
and the two quakers
Otsermeyer and GraysonsLolly’s remark about fallout
did not exactly offend me, although
I was surprised he had written it,
but it has offended others
and I can understand their views.
I would not excuse his timing
but slightly in his defence
the butt of the joke was
directed at his own actions
and presumably his over indulgence
took place in Harrow or environs,
and removed from the disaster area.The indirectness of it
does reduce its harm,
although not enough to
excuse it.I believe the joke should have
stood and not have been removed,
and he should have stood
next to it to take the flak.My sympathies go to your mate, Lolly
I wish him a hopeful recovery.
The window I am currently writing
at was the scene of a fatal accident
some time ago – two brothers in a cage.
Both fell to their death.Happy below, it is appreciated
I did know the post still stood but worded it badly.
I was intending to watch death on the nile,
but came back with death in the lounge,
and the mistake must have put me off my sentences[/color:23otnnz7]- Total Posts 17716
Jokes on topical subjects are part and parcel of British humour.
…and where that manifests itself as well-observed satire, rather than something altogether more base, heaven forfend that it should ever be discouraged.
If it had been posted a couple of weeks after the disaster would it have caused so much offence?
Maybe the passage of time renders certain events as more gag-worthy to some people than in their immediate aftermath. That I’m yet to hear a joke on, for example, Auschwitz, which is either especially funny or fit to be repeated, would lead me to suggest that theory will never hold true in all cases.
gc
The very thought of Auschwitz makes any joke unfunny in most peoples minds but people still tell them because the passage of time renders everything fair game.
You and I and the woman next door may not want to even hear the jokes but most people couldn’t care less because as sad as Auschwitz was, it didn’t affect them directly.Example: Chris Moyles was pulled up by the BBC about a year ago for cracking some joke about Auschwitz and on the same show was taking the mickey out of some gay singer. The BBC quickly apologised to listeners for his remarks on Auschwitz.
They did so even although they receive no complaints at the time about the Auschwitz jokes but got 5 listeners kicking up hell about the gay joke.
Well.
I never mean to offend. I know how it feels to be offended and I dont like it.
To the ones I offended. I am sorry!
To the ones that I made smile, laugh or chuckle, I am pleased that I bought a nice emotion into your day.I do however find it hard to get so upset by something that I have no personal awareness or experience in.I have enough stuff to worry about of my own, than to worry about something that is thousands of miles away and that I can have possibly nothing to do with.
You may call it harsh, but thats me!
The friend I mentioned has a wife and two young daughters. He is a lorry driver. He is not in the construction industry) and was doing a bit of diy on his own house and fell of his extension roof hitting his head three times on his way down.
Now I care about him and his family, more than those in Haiti.
If thats wrong, then you can shoot me down.
I saw him yesterday. I took him the obligatory grapes plus a video of the "Fall guy".
Humour again! It made him smile. It made my day seeing him smile.
I love a joke, I love to laugh.
Lollys mate. X
…seemingly at the expense of others.
Yours are not jokes but simply crass comments and how anyone can find them funny beggars belief, and I do get amazed really at the lack of protest, whilst accepting that some forums get rather clicky with much patting on the back, but nonetheless some vigorous posters are surprisingly quiet.
Perhaps tolerance is stupidity in this case…?
They are jokes.
Like all jokes, some people with little sence of humour dont find them funny. Thats up to them. But if you look back, some do find them funny.
I bought a smile to some faces. That makes me happy.Happier than you anyway!!!
It cannot be easy moderating any forum, but personally, I think the responses to this debate show that it is generally a job well done.
Thing is…if we really want to know how offensive something is and whether it should be removed from the site…surely it would have to be put to the vote for every member? I suppose some peeps may abstain, but at least they would have had the chance to express their view.
There is a time element with humour…and more pertinently, a personal stance as to what is acceptable.
At least we can discuss how we feel openly, maturely, intelligently, and with humour & irony.
It has made me question how I would have approached this subject on TV or radio….would I be so bold in defense of the right to make these jokes under the freedom of speech banner. Not sure…I hope I would be. Thankfully for us all, I have not had the call from David Dimbleby….yet
I will be donating to Haiti fund, whether that appears hypocritical or not.
Zip
- You must be logged in to reply to this topic.