HIGH RECOMMEND! Chris Rock, Selective Outrage by (us!) robert & sandra
was a small part of a larger, longer conversation with my BMF's, catherine & carla.. and we watched it as a result of the recommendation, so "Thank You!" thought provoking, sacred poking humor..
and as i shared with my BMF's.. i feel very protective of our comedians -very protective of their free speech writes, and really believe they should be set apart as having even greater free speech writes than the public at large..
let them share what your parents, teachers, pastors, employers, editors (etc.) have silenced, through values/maturity; silenced due to respect; silenced via taboos; silenced via threats, (physical threats, employability threats, etc.) -give comedians carte blanche
the best of them are equal opportunity offenders.. and their skill/talent, when it reaches master level, allows them to help us realize what it is that we hold sacred.. explore why it is we hold it sacred..
allows us to see, in which ways society has evolved and in which areas society is stuck.. or headed backwards
comedians take our collective temperature; their instrument reveals what we find funny, vs. what we think we should find funny vs. what we feel guilty about finding funny.. on and on,
and their instrument, at the master level, helps release enormous amounts of individual and communal pressure through the best possible source there is: laughter.
ideally.
ideally, that is what is happening: laughter; pressure release; healing -everyone has permission to laugh at the mean, the ugly, the familiar painful truths.. the unspeakable is spoken..
what has incrementally shifted over a relatively short amount of time, is that, laughter has been replaced by offense
-now everyone has permission to be offended.
i remember here -when laughter was permitted, being at a stand-up show (and i have attended several throughout my life), and i got to witness this:
jokes which made the entire audience laugh
jokes which only made the men laugh.. jokes which got the women giggling; but not the men..
jokes which made the older people laugh but not the younger people and vice versa
jokes which made the parents super uncomfortable.. but kids were in hysterics; and vice versa
when a comedian is great, the comedian can and will, control, who laughs when and at what; and everyone will get a turn
when a comedian is great, everyone in the audience will at some point be uncomfortable -in the hot seat- so to speak, and everyone will have an opportunity to laugh hard at themselves and/or others.
please make this ok again! please give everyone a chance to laugh again vs. everyone being so easily offended.
on their way to the master level, as is true, for any artist.. mistakes will be made. but great comedians are going to be, by nature, self-correcting. they will repeat material that works, edit out what didn't, fine tune what got a giggle so it gets a bigger laugh..
let our comedians self-correct
the best material is born from a certain fearlessness.. but if/when a comedian fears saying something that might offend, which will cost them their position; which will terminate their livelihood..
the fear factor is aborting our comedians craft and best work before it has a chance to grow, mature, evolve.. and ultimately help us all.
i almost think what we need to do, [for just a short time] is have audience members sign agreements in advance, so the comedian feels free to let it fly..
disclaimers: this act will include jokes about: women, men, gays, [any race/religions..], autistism.. abortion.. politics.. it may include the crude, the raw, the painfully funny..
and then you, you can agree to attend or not attend; you can agree to watch or not watch; you can agree to read or not read..
-perhaps we have the analogy of a roast.. it is agreed upon in advance; it is the entire point, actually, to verbally/comedically attack.. a write of passage.. to handle having mean things said; to have sensitive areas ruffed up.. the sacred and secret made secular and public... but the underlying motivation is to strengthen by laughing at.. being laughed at. and the jokes are among friends, for friends, by friends, not enemies with mean-spirited, malicious or harmful intent. high level of craft to design and time brutal jokes for a roast... -justin bieber roast one of my personal favorites- and you do usually have to have some inside personal information; be up on pop culture to fully appreciate the accomplishment.
- it does break my heart to see society muzzle our comedians and choose offense over laughter.
i'll tell you, on a personal level, i can love/laugh at an episode of south park, but there are scenes i can't take; i just fast-forward, turn the tv off, or change the channel.. [i laugh crazy hard at the future telling device episode, but can't finish it]
i would defend their write to exist though, even when it is not a match for my taste/value/beliefs..
on the whole, i believe societies are better off when individual citizens decide what they will and will not listen to vs. when authorities dictate what we can and cannot say.
-when individual citizens decide what they will and will not watch vs. when authorities dictate what can and cannot be televised
-when individual citizens decide what they will and will not read vs. when authorities dictate what can and cannot be published
-when parents decide on behalf of their children vs. authorities dictating to parents..
and all that said,
should also be noted.. you don't have to drop f-bombs, or be risque to be funny. -what a wonderful population of Christian comedians we have to choose from!
type Christian comedians in the search bar of youtube..
laugh and lighten up
proverbs 31:25
hallelujah & amen
posted by SANDRA HARRISON KAY @ 12:57 PM
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