manifold
Diamond Member
- Banned
- #1
In the few years that I've been doing this messageboarding thing, there are several views that I came in with that I've allowed to be changed and/or softened by the articulate, well-reasoned wisdom of others. One such notion that I've begrudgingly accepted is the idea that you cannot tell others what they are allowed to find offensive. It certainly seems reasonable. Everyone has their own personal experiences and sensitive issues that others, who've never walked in their shoes, are incapable of understanding. I say that I've begrudgingly accepted this because there has always been something about it that still bothered me, but I just couldn't put my finger on it. However, I couldn't refute the notion in any intellectually honest and reasoned manner so I accepted it.
Thanks to the unwitting influence of many members of this board, I believe I finally understand what bothers me about it, and indeed it represents a philosophical quandary. For the exact same reasons why I cannot tell anyone else what they are allowed to find offensive, they cannot tell me what I am allowed to find funny. Humor is just as much an emotional response as is offense. And nobody has walked in my shoes and understands the things I've seen and endured in my life which has given me the ability to see humor (whether a blessing or a curse) in events and comments that many others find not funny at all.
So what happens when I find something funny, and that in and of itself is offensive to someone else? I can't help finding it funny any more than they can help being offended, however, in our hyper-sensitive, politically correct culture, there is no compromise. I'm expected to supress my emotions. Period. End of discussion. And that kinda sucks, IMO.
Thanks to the unwitting influence of many members of this board, I believe I finally understand what bothers me about it, and indeed it represents a philosophical quandary. For the exact same reasons why I cannot tell anyone else what they are allowed to find offensive, they cannot tell me what I am allowed to find funny. Humor is just as much an emotional response as is offense. And nobody has walked in my shoes and understands the things I've seen and endured in my life which has given me the ability to see humor (whether a blessing or a curse) in events and comments that many others find not funny at all.
So what happens when I find something funny, and that in and of itself is offensive to someone else? I can't help finding it funny any more than they can help being offended, however, in our hyper-sensitive, politically correct culture, there is no compromise. I'm expected to supress my emotions. Period. End of discussion. And that kinda sucks, IMO.