Speaking my comic mind in the age of outrage
“Sticks and stones may break my bones but names are far worse because my bones will heal, but microaggressions will damage my self-esteem, invalidate my feelings, and forever trigger me, compelling me to seek safe spaces and leave me feeling oppressed and unable to participate in an adult world.” — Rhyme recently overheard at a schoolyard near you.
We live amongst an army of weaklings who have learned to make money by whining. The same spirit — or more appropriately lack of spirit — has lead us to accepting “I’m offended” as an argument. It’s not. It’s an unsolicited complaint that doesn’t merit a counter argument. Note to those who get by this way: if I want to know if you’re offended, I’ll ask you.
The comedy stage is the last oasis of free speech. We need to protect it, as we should any other dying national resource. Every comedian encountering would-be Thought Police uttering “I’m offended” should emergently answer, “Good.” The notion that offensive comedy should be quashed for that reason belies ignorance. Standup comedy is art, and if it’s not offending anyone, then it isn’t challenging any conventional ideas and isn’t provoking thought.
The comedian throws life’s absurdities back at the audience. It is folly to make a list of sacred cows that cannot be discussed if only because today’s truths may become tomorrow’s absurdities, and it’s the comedians who will alert of the change.
To the modern day court jesters I say, the more society regulates general discourse through statute and a neo-Victorian code of social conduct, the more special the comedy stage becomes. Comedians must be on guard and at the ready to defend our soapbox, always wary of the foes of free speech. And remember, you have nothing to fear, but fear itself.
(Okay, that last sentence was a hack. Tell me you’ve never done it!)
Penny is the creator and hostess of Capitol Hillarity at Blush and Blu. She also does Penny’s Two Cents, a monthly review of the news every first Saturday at Bits and Pieces.
