As many of you may or may not have heard, comedian Daniel Tosh made some rather unfunny
comments about a female audience member at one of his shows. For those of you
who may not have heard of this incident, I’ll give you a quick summary: Tosh
made a rape joke, a woman in the audience “heckled” that “rape jokes are never
funny” or something similar, and Tosh responded with a comment saying “wouldn’t
it be funny if she got raped by like five guys right now…like right now?” or
something of that nature. The woman and her friend left the comedy club shortly
thereafter.
People
either bashed Tosh or defended him, usually based on whether they are a fan of
him or not. People familiar with Tosh and have heard his jokes before know that
he makes some of the most insensitive jokes out there. He’s a comedian after
all, and no subject matter is really safe
when it comes to him. So because he is known to make inappropriate jokes, he is
being defended. Yeah, yeah, it was a joke, but his response to that woman was
NOT funny. Most jokes that involve some type of injustice usually “attack” the oppressor and not the
oppressed. Ultimately, Tosh definitely crossed the line.
This
incident leads to many questions concerning comedy, what is funny, and what is
just cruel and crossing the line. Rape is a very sensitive subject, and
personally, I don’t see it as something to joke about. It can happen to anyone,
but more often than not, women are the victims. It is unlike most other crimes
in that it leaves its victims emotionally and physically scarred for the rest
of their lives. It’s not one of those things that you can just “get over” and
laugh about later. Even as someone who has not experienced this myself, I have
loved ones who have either been sexually assaulted or raped, and I don’t take
it lightly when people make jokes about these situations, these crimes against
humanity. So I commend that brave woman in the audience for speaking up that
night in a comedy club that was most likely full of more males than females. I
hope that this incident will encourage more people, women AND men alike, to
stand up for victims and stop society from becoming so desensitized to such
crimes.
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