Fun Stuff > CHATTER
Regarding humor
Johnny C:
Right, I'm finding my original quote so that we can put this fucker to rest once and for all.
Here's the conversation that sparked this Goddamn mess, with a breakdown so everyone will understand where the hell this came from, know where the line is and then we won't have this conversation again, at least for a very long time.
--- Quote from: C Patrick Carolan on 03 Feb 2008, 00:36 ---Maybe that's why I never get laid without the aid of roofies and duct tape.
--- End quote ---
Okay. Rookie mistake here! He makes a joke, but the joke is basically an implication that he is a rapist or possibly a serial rapist. It's one thing to make a joke like that comic up there, but it's another thing to say "I've raped before and God dammit I'll do it again."
--- Quote from: Johnny C on 03 Feb 2008, 01:00 ---It is not okay to suggest you have raped a woman.
--- End quote ---
I have excised a quote, the gist of which is that context, audience and intent are crucial to a joke, and so is humour - there has to be something to a joke beyond shock value. What I've quoted, however, should be a line that folks know not to cross. Jokes are jokes, and at a certain point they stop being jokes.
--- Quote from: C Patrick Carolan on 03 Feb 2008, 01:02 ---Who said anything about a woman?
--- End quote ---
That's a joke. Unfortunately the timing is not great. This is a situation where the best thing to do is maybe apologize or just make a mental note not to go to that particular place that particular way again.
--- Quote from: Johnny C on 03 Feb 2008, 01:04 ---It is not okay to suggest you have raped anyone.
--- End quote ---
Really, it's not.
Folks, and I shouldn't have to remind you about this, this is the Internet. It's not necessarily Serious Business but the fact is that you're not talking to us, you're typing to us. Something is bound to get lost in the translation, and sometimes it's humour or intent. I genuinely doubt CPC was intending to make light of rape victims or to offend anyone, and outside of those two posts he's a pretty good forumite. I feel a need to stress this, since this probably feels like a personal attack or something blown way, way out of proportion to him, and he doesn't deserve it. (To be honest, it should have been taken to a PM in the first place; at best, being in a thread simply leaves it visible as a reminder that it's important to consider that there are people typing out their responses to what you write.)
It was a joke. In the right context, maybe it would have worked. However, it came significantly out of left field, it wasn't phrased great and the intention behind it seemed misguided at best and outright malicious at worst.
Everyone makes mistakes. The best thing we can do is learn from them, not draw attention to them and turn them into gigantic forum-renders. (And yes, I'm aware I've done that here and it might make me come across like a huge hypocrite but, once again, context is important. For anyone scratching their heads at this thread's proceedings I'm guessing that's doubly true.)
Even though this isn't my thread, I'd like the mods to have their say and then maybe to close this sucker up. Be excellent to one another. That's the important part.
I clicked the "edit" button here to clear things up now that it's twelve hours later and a reasonable time of day without bumping this thread up again. First, it's not relevant whether or not it's easier to just let comments like that slide. The relative ease of a course of action is at best one merit out of many. Letting it slide means this thread doesn't get made, there's no big production over its seriousness - definite pro. It also means that stuff like that is acceptable to say on this forum, which is generally founded on civility - even crude jokes generally have an understanding of the implications behind them, which is largely what makes them funny - and, although Amok's right in that nobody reading probably thought he was actually a rapist, it basically Weekend Webs the forum, taking what is at its core a pretty great community and sleazing it up a bit (once again, unintentionally). So those are a couple of cons.
Nobody's suggesting setting up a ruleset. Harry has kindly asked people to refrain from relying on violence towards your fellow man being used as a cheap joke. I'm suggesting that folks be wary of the context of their jokes and understand the implicit meaning behind their own words. TL;DR version: read what you type before posting it and make sure those are the words you want to say to a group of people. You have the opportunity to do so on a web forum, and that's one of its perks.
--- Quote from: Calenlass ---Shut up! For the love of god, can someone please lock this thread already? I am so sick of everyone repeating themselves over and over and over. Everyone has made excellent points! People have acknowledged them and made their own excellent arguments! The first people then repeat themselves and then we are just going around in circles!
--- End quote ---
I don't see this happening. In fact, neither amok nor myself have posted in this thread actually discussing the topic at hand.
amok:
Or, since the chances of any post which if taken literally could be read to advocate rape being serious are utterly insignificantly low, we can probably be mature about it and take any posts about rape with a pinch of salt and just scroll past them if we personally find the topic too offensive to ever be funny, instead of preaching and writing essays about it. Because while your summary of that post is thorough and rational, it's probably a lot easier to just let it slide rather than subject every off-colour sarcastic remark to in-depth analysis.
Basically,
--- Quote ---Okay. Rookie mistake here! He makes a joke, but the joke is basically an implication that he is a rapist or possibly a serial rapist. It's one thing to make a joke like that comic up there, but it's another thing to say "I've raped before and God dammit I'll do it again."
--- End quote ---
No, it really isn't another thing. Because no one reading that is actually thinking that he's a rapist or possibly a serial rapist or he's raped before and God dammit he'll do it again. The only difference between this and an 'acceptable' joke is that you don't find it funny. There are lots of things that everyone doesn't find funny, and if we set up a ruleset forbidding any of these things being joked about ever we'd pretty much just be discussing Neutral Milk Hotel and the weather 24/7.
As you say, if the mods want to put their foot down and say 'we don't find rape funny therefore shut up' that's different because uh, they have stars under their names and shit. But while it's still being debated, this basically makes no sense whatsoever (the thread in general, not just your post JC).
calenlass:
Shut up! For the love of god, can someone please lock this thread already? I am so sick of everyone repeating themselves over and over and over. Everyone has made excellent points! People have acknowledged them and made their own excellent arguments! The first people then repeat themselves and then we are just going around in circles!
ITT: People's minds cannot be changed about what they think is funny and what is not!
tl;dr: HGLAUBHAUGHBLAHBLAUH
öde:
Moral of the thread: read Bear & Kitten!
Patrick:
--- Quote from: calenlass on 09 Feb 2008, 06:03 ---For the love of god, can someone please lock this thread already?
--- End quote ---
WHERE IS YOUR MOD NOW?!!
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