I don't get some humor.
Last night (Tuesday, August 27), on America's Got Talent, a stand-up comedian was running through an act that he said was supposed to be 'kid-friendly'.
I guess that was part of the joke. It wasn't. He simply told risque jokes by analogy, couching them in terms that had the veneer of innocence.
I'd repeat some of them here, but I have better taste than that. If you saw the guy, found him funny, and think I'm impugning your taste...uh, well...I am.
Making adult jokes (as in adult movies, in at least one case) sound like kids' jokes removes something from our culture. It removes a boundary that is intended to protect and preserve innocence, and it removes the boundary for a cheap laugh..and, ultimately, as a road to make money.
I'm sorry, but I won't stand with that, and I won't stand for it in my house.
Wait one...why did I say I;m sorry? I'm not sorry.
And there's another thing. You take a moral stance, and somehow you are made to feel that you've got to apologize to the people you're standing up against. They can call me a pigheaded reactionary who should be publicly pilloried, and mot everyone will nod knowingly.
I have to apologize. Not any more.
I do have a sense of humor. Recently I was welding, and my nose started itching. So I went to scratch it with the molten-hot end of the welding rod.
Well, it cured the itch!
I didn't see the show, but I can relate to the sentiment you're sharing. I am always leery of comedians who claim to have a "family-" or "kid-friendly" routine. I've heard too many who are. And I resent having to explain concepts my kids aren't quite ready to hear yet.
ReplyDeleteI appreciate your stance on not apologizing for having standards. I'm learning I don't have to apologize for what I believe in. And though it's not always comfortable, it is freeing.
Thanks, Jeanne. It's nice to have company on this side of the cultural fence.!I think we have to err on the side of protecting kids, and if that means the sort of censorship and media standards we grew up with...I'm for it.
ReplyDeleteApologizing for standards is a cousin to apologizing for being a Christian. I was an academic for awhile, and Christianity is the kiss of death at a public university. I got tired of Christianity-in-the-closet and started wearing a really big crucifix...not just a cross.
And I am now a welder/writer/dog handler. Guess I can't contaminate the educational system anymore.