Yuck!
| April 21st, 2008A long while back I joined a joke list to which D subscribed because it was, for the most part, funny, and unlike other such lists, not prone to repetition. I was able to look past the occasional right-leaning joke because there were just as many that veered left, and a good majority that sailed safely in non-political waters. Today, however, I unsubscribed myself from the list over a joke titled “So you THINK you know what a nightmare is?” submitted to the list by one Lou P. The disclaimer on the forwarded joke, “EVEN A DEMOCRAT LIKE ME THINKS THIS IS FUNNNNNNNNNNNY,” came either from Mr. P or from the historically significant Internet figure to whom the list belongs, but either way it is a sad statement about anyone who finds the joke “FUNNNNNNNNNNNY” no matter what political group’s card they carry. A joke is only funny when there is a shared understanding among the members of its audience about the joke’s subject matter and its underlying truth(s). I hope, therefore, that there is only one “DEMOCRAT LIKE [YOU]“, sir, because in order to find this joke funny, you would have to believe that it is intrinsically horrible to be:
- “negro”
- circumcised (and therefore Jewish)
- “disabled”
- gay (alternately: “a fairy”, “queer”)
- in an inter-racial relationship with a mexican
- a “drug addict”
- bald
- an orphan
- unemployed
- an amputee
- destitute and living in a slum
- reliant on a pacemaker
- worst of all (and therefore key to the hilarious punchline), a Democrat
Isn’t that just a kicker! All that bigotry in one joke to define how horrible it is to be a Democrat! Wow, it must be hellish, then! I mean, who wants to be queer? or disabled? or black? or Jewish??? How amazingly rip-snorting!
I was going to post the joke after a jump, but those who would agree with my take on it wouldn’t want or need to read the whole thing, and those who would disagree would use it as a source of disgusting, bigoted laughter. It makes me sad that two adults in decent standing could, in this day and age, not see the manure they were spreading with this one. The final line about Democrats isn’t funny, not because I, as a Democrat am insulted, but because I, as a human, am incensed at the bullsh*t that came before. I have a sense of humor, and it does extend to myself and my various memberships and beliefs, but not to the presumptive labeling or valuation of other people’s circumstances. Good riddance to bad list rubbish.
WAY TO GO!!! That joke wasn’t a JOKE–it SUCKED! I’m glad to see someone taking a stand. Thanks for sharing.
I read that joke in a forwarded email, but the punchline was a Republican.
Didn’t think it was funny either. But at least that way it had some irony.
Donna:
I think either way would be ghastly, as, at least for me, the problem is with the assumption that the introductory list of “horrors” are just that - horrors - rather than the political alignment of the person who is having the dream. Personally, I can see this coming out of the mouth of an extreme right-wing Xtian (not Christian, which I define as someone who emulates Christ in their living, but Xtian) rather than a more liberal person, but I can’t get past the crap to enjoy even a drop of irony either way.
Also, the more I think about it, the joke as it was sent was poorly written, to the point where you would think that the writer had no more than a 3rd-grade education. I really am stumped as to how the thing made it on to the Yucks list.
I can’t find the joke. Your page is the only one that includes the subject in it’s entirety. I wanted to read it to see how juvenile it was, but I trust you in that it was sufficiently pee-pee poo-poo.
Humor in any form involves pain and suffering; Nothing is funny unless it hurts someone. The funniest jokes are the one’s that ride the line… and this one went over the line for you.
I’m thinking of lots of jokes in my head that are on this borderline that I find deliciously dark and evil, but make me snicker. I have no doubt that many people would find them un-funny, even you.
As for why the joke in question made it past moderation: I suspect that Spaf is a believer in free speech and that he found that the joke was funny enough to let it through, pushing the wave of humor out just slightly further; Humans crave novelty. Or he was slacking on his moderation.
You could have said something to Spaf, but he makes it clear on the Yucks page that “This list is not for the humor-impaired or for those who believe speech should be free, but only for themselves.” and “the decision of our judges is final.” I think it was worth a try before unsubscribing.
John - You are quite right. I probably should say something to Spaf. I don’t know him, however, and am incredibly afraid of being told that I am humorless or uptight or in some other way lacking. This is my hang-up. Perhaps I’ll give it a try if I stop being a scaredy-cat.
I also laugh at a lot of things that other people don’t find funny. I can’t imagine thinking that this one is funny to anyone but bigots, however. Tell me what you think.
Well, the basic element of humor is surprise. It is not that we find we agree with it, or that it is really all that amusing, it’s just does it surprise you or not. That’s why I said the irony is there in the “Republican” version - one would expect that a person who suffers through all those things would be a Democrat, so it’s surprising when the punchline is “Republican”. When you switch the joke to “Democrat”, it’s not funny any more.
A common problem indeed with right wing humor, I find. It really isn’t funny, and they seemt o have little sense of what makes a joke funny. It’s why the Daily Show succeeds where the right-wing “comedy” shows fail miserably.
I have the original joke as I received it if you want it John - drop me an email at donna at woodka dot com.
Pain and Surprise. Our main weapons are Pain and Surprise. Oh, and Fear.
Donna: Kris sent me the joke and it’s just dumb. A real zinger would have been, “then i woke up and realized that i sent that joke to Yucks”