When Whitney Houston died, many jokes were made about her and her death. I found just about every one of them in very poor taste. I lost a lot of respect for those who did it. Death..is never funny. Death of a mother of a young daughter could not possibly be funny. And...it wasn't. All these people proved is they are hacks with weak comedic talent.
In reality, this is not an isolated incident, and goes on every day. Not just with death. With rape, with animal abuse, child abuse, bullying, and just about every act which is just not funny. But, funny is not the issue. Class and respect is. Funny is not funny if it is classless. Andrew Dice Clay found that out when his short lived fame died off. He isn't the only one and he wont be the last. The shelf life for tasteless, classless humor is very short at best.
I am the first to admit that I mock. But I know what not to mock. And when I mock, I do take some care to be respectful of others. I am not perfect and I make mistakes in that manner, just like everyone else, but at least I try and I pretty much know when I am over the line. If you can't edit yourself on some level, then you are already in big trouble. It takes skill to do that. Sadly, many these days lack skill.
The other day I saw a news article posted by a friend on Facebook. It was shocking to say the least. I was busy doing other things, so I didn't really do my homework and just read the body of the article, verbatim.
I mentioned that even for Mitt Romney, it was an idiotic and offensive thing to say. I will post what it directly quoted him as saying at the end of the blog.
Now, as I commented, until I actually saw tape of him saying it, I didn't believe he would have said it. I did a quick search at that time, and didn't find anything.
I know The Onion is a joke news site. I get that. In this case, I didn't notice that the article came from there. If I had, obviously I would have known it was fake.
In any case, that doesn't really change anything. Where is the line on what you can say, in a satirical and joking manner? Sadly, I see a lot these days that points to the fact that most comedians don't know and/or respect that line.
Why has this happened? I say the freedom of the internet has made just about all of them think they can say and do whatever they want. The truth is, they pretty much can, in terms of the law.
I know one thing for sure. If I was Mitt Romney and I saw that article/story, I would demand an immediate apology and retraction at the least and I would likely sue them for slander and damages.
It is never okay to make light of the subject matter they did. My friend who posted it was very hurt, as were others. And finally, it simply isn't funny. That is the litmus test that all satire and comedy must pass.
In this case, The Onion horribly failed that test. I hope they are called on the carpet for that. Maybe it will make others think twice before they do it. Likely, sadly, it won't.
Class is in very short supply these days. It all boils down to that.
I have lots of friends who have family members who have suffered great pain and death from the effects of war. To make light of that, in any way, proves you just don't get it.
People who fought and died in wars so you could have that freedom probably wish they hadn't when they see what passes for comedy and class these days.
http://www.theonion.com/articles/romney-we-should-never-apologize-for-american-valu,29547/
Direct from the article.
“As Americans, we should never feel the need to question who we are or
what we stand for, whether it’s our strong commitment to family or
whether we’re rounding up a group of innocent people, separating them
from their friends and loved ones, and putting them into what are
essentially overcrowded prisons because they happen to be of Japanese
descent,” Romney told the assembled press corps,
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