Poll: Daniel Tosh threatens Woman with Gang Rape

[Yopaz]

Well, rape jokes can be funny, I actually thought this one was kinda good, not good enough to make me laugh, but I liked it. However joking about the concept of rape itself seems rather disrespectful.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

I just think it would be funny if Daniel Tosh went back stage and found 5 big burly men waiting for him who would then proceed to spitroast him till the wee small hours and then dump him bleeding and crying into the back alley.

I'm sure he'd just laugh it off.

See that wasn't funny, let me edit it for you.

I just think it would be funny if Daniel Tosh went back stage and found 5 big burly men waiting for him who would then proceed to spitroast like the squealing little pig that he is till the wee small hours and then dump him weeping with joy and crying for more into the back alley where he would proceed to have his car stolen by the black folks.

That is a rape joke. And a racist one. I gave you a twofer. You owe me.

How the fuck was it racist?

Car stolen by the black fo... ah, I see. You're a funny man you are!
Also your later comment shows you're more competent at this than I thought, which raises the question, are you actually pissed at Tosh or are you just making a funny.

 

[Revnak_v1legacy]

I just think it would be funny if Daniel Tosh went back stage and found 5 big burly men waiting for him who would then proceed to spitroast him till the wee small hours and then dump him bleeding and crying into the back alley.

I'm sure he'd just laugh it off.

See that wasn't funny, let me edit it for you.

I just think it would be funny if Daniel Tosh went back stage and found 5 big burly men waiting for him who would then proceed to spitroast like the squealing little pig that he is till the wee small hours and then dump him weeping with joy and crying for more into the back alley where he would proceed to have his car stolen by the black folks.

That is a rape joke. And a racist one. I gave you a twofer. You owe me.

How the fuck was it racist?

Because you insinuated the black folks were rapists and/or thieves.

Racist.

Hey, I did that! I'm the racist, not him!

 

[Fappy]

I just think it would be funny if Daniel Tosh went back stage and found 5 big burly men waiting for him who would then proceed to spitroast him till the wee small hours and then dump him bleeding and crying into the back alley.

I'm sure he'd just laugh it off.

If this were a hypothetical situation that had good delivery he probably would laugh.

Does his rapists giving him a reach around count as good delivery?

I actually laughed at that! See, rape jokes can be funny!

 

[TheDrunkNinja]

snip

That wasn't a threat.

If you truly felt your conviction of this event was in the right place, you shouldn't have used such a blatant misleading journalism tactic like that.

As for the topic, no subject matter is off-limits in comedic sense, but it does require the good sense and discernment to know when and how to use it so that it isn't at least in bad taste. This was in bad taste. Tosh did, however, pretty much react the way I would expect him to, he tends to push the bill on what is considered "taboo" in society, so I'm not really surprised that was his immediate reaction.

Not gonna condone, but I don't damn him either.

Captcha: let it be

 

[spartan231490]

See, the reason why this issue, whether it pops up because of this or because of that Tomb Raider scene or whatever, disturbs me quite a bit.

I said this elsewhere: when The Escapist posted the testimony of a rape victim in response to the Tomb Raider discussion that crossed a line. It was exploitative, demeaning and counterproductive. It gave wings to the idiots that claim that raising a flag when sexism becomes a problem in gaming or comedy or just real life is an expression of extremist feminism and overall diminishes the point that is being made, I believe genuinely.

A war veteran could say that about all the dramatic scenes in Call of Duty. The relative of a murder victim could find Batman a rather unsettling stereotype. Don't get me started with the victims of 9/11 and all that terrorism humour we've had to deal with for over a decade.

If we can't offend people we can't speak. Rape is about the most heinous thing a person can do to another and Tosh is a proper idiot. Still, he serves a purpose. He jokes about rape. Offensive as he may be, he reminds us that he is perfectly willing, able and entitled to be offensive without anybody having the ability to make him shut up.

I like that.

Oh, sure, he's crass and not quite as clever as you need to be to make that joke in good taste. Others are better than him at it. Colbert can pull off torture jokes. Louis C.K. jokes about faggots and niggers and points out how much better it is to be white than black. Those guys are clever enough to make those jokes expose an issue and undermine it, rather than reinforce it, which Tosh clumsily will do every time.

Doesn't matter, I'm not the style police. I won't make him not joke about rape just because he sucks at it. If he happened to be confronted by a rape victim I hope for his sake that he'd feel like shit, as a normal human being would, but regardless, he's an artist, albeit a bad one, and if he's chosen a boundary to push let it be pushed. In a way I actually find it brave that he sucks so bad, just to prove that there's no threshold in place.

Oh, don't get me wrong, free speech doesn't mean that you get to say whatever you want whenever you want with no consequences. Tosh gets to be at the receiving end of a shitstorm (even if the South Park guys have made plenty of rape jokes and gotten away with it for some reason) for doing this. That's fine. He also gets to stick to his damn guns and keep joking about whatever he sees fit, though.

And, as a completely independent thought, please stop freaking out everybody mentions rape. The Tomb Raider thing was nothing to get riled up about, this is rude at best. It is a terrible crime, but it is not taboo or anathema. It's awful, it's criminal and I will personally volunteer to squash the nuts of anybody that even thinks about it with a rock, but we're not in a place to hush it out and avoid talking about it. Quite the opposite, it's way more of a silent crime than it should be.

Thank you
Really, thank you.

It is unrelentingly infuriating to me how few people get this. Not only that, you said it better than I could have. So thank you.

 

[ProtoChimp]

Well Daniel Tosh's main category of comedy is dark humor. Sometimes it delves into incredibly dark areas. Being offended at what he does is like being offended at Lisa Lampanelli for calling any man that looks even slightly effeminate a ******.

Its just what they do.

Yeah, but that doesn't mean people should stand for this kinda bullshit if he said it to a woman's face who clearly wasn't finding it funny and was uncomfortable. When someone pays you money to be entertained you don't then single out that person just because you think its funny, you move on and continue the comedy routine.

Lisa Lampanelli does it. For christ sakes she uses the N word more times than Republicans say trickle down economics.

Hardly worth singling out Tosh, who is meant to make the rest of the room laugh AT OTHER PEOPLE'S EXPENSE. That's what Dark Humor is.

The woman was an idiot for not only disrupting the show for everyone else, but not researching who she is listening to. Comedy is not all uniform. It mas many flavors, and many of them are not nice. You research before you throw down money on ANYTHING.

Dark humor is one of the more off beet flavors that doesn't happen to be anti-humor. Its very Niche, its not for everyone.

Okay you know what fine, your right. She was disruptive, you're right in all but one thing. His response wasn't funny or witty, it was fucked. Taking the piss out of her is all well and good. Fuck, now that I think about it I condone him for responding by taking the piss out of her. But saying it would be funny if this woman in this room right here was raped is fucked up. You just don't do that. And I dont know who Lisa Lampanelli is but did she ever single out an individual black person in a room?

yes she does. Constantly.

She singled out two men in the audience who were effeminate and calls them faggots.

She does the same to blacks, and everyone else.

Her fans pay for her to do that. Its her persona. Its what she does. Its the same thing Tosh does.

Okay. I get it. But I still think his response was just fucked up, and uncalled for EVEN THOUGH his best work is dark humour, it wasn't funny. And I'm not hating because I didn't think it was funny, but because he could have came up with so many better things to put her in her place. I myself am not witty enough to come up with one, but even if it was just something like "why did you come here and give me money then" before proceeding with his routine and ignoring her like a good comedian, or even if he did single her out for comedy, surely he could have come up with something intelligent rather than something downright hateful. Even though he probably isn't that's what it sounded like at least to a lot of people, something he didn't think through.

 

[Fappy]

See, the reason why this issue, whether it pops up because of this or because of that Tomb Raider scene or whatever, disturbs me quite a bit.

I said this elsewhere: when The Escapist posted the testimony of a rape victim in response to the Tomb Raider discussion that crossed a line. It was exploitative, demeaning and counterproductive. It gave wings to the idiots that claim that raising a flag when sexism becomes a problem in gaming or comedy or just real life is an expression of extremist feminism and overall diminishes the point that is being made, I believe genuinely.

A war veteran could say that about all the dramatic scenes in Call of Duty. The relative of a murder victim could find Batman a rather unsettling stereotype. Don't get me started with the victims of 9/11 and all that terrorism humour we've had to deal with for over a decade.

If we can't offend people we can't speak. Rape is about the most heinous thing a person can do to another and Tosh is a proper idiot. Still, he serves a purpose. He jokes about rape. Offensive as he may be, he reminds us that he is perfectly willing, able and entitled to be offensive without anybody having the ability to make him shut up.

I like that.

Oh, sure, he's crass and not quite as clever as you need to be to make that joke in good taste. Others are better than him at it. Colbert can pull off torture jokes. Louis C.K. jokes about faggots and niggers and points out how much better it is to be white than black. Those guys are clever enough to make those jokes expose an issue and undermine it, rather than reinforce it, which Tosh clumsily will do every time.

Doesn't matter, I'm not the style police. I won't make him not joke about rape just because he sucks at it. If he happened to be confronted by a rape victim I hope for his sake that he'd feel like shit, as a normal human being would, but regardless, he's an artist, albeit a bad one, and if he's chosen a boundary to push let it be pushed. In a way I actually find it brave that he sucks so bad, just to prove that there's no threshold in place.

Oh, don't get me wrong, free speech doesn't mean that you get to say whatever you want whenever you want with no consequences. Tosh gets to be at the receiving end of a shitstorm (even if the South Park guys have made plenty of rape jokes and gotten away with it for some reason) for doing this. That's fine. He also gets to stick to his damn guns and keep joking about whatever he sees fit, though.

And, as a completely independent thought, please stop freaking out everybody mentions rape. The Tomb Raider thing was nothing to get riled up about, this is rude at best. It is a terrible crime, but it is not taboo or anathema. It's awful, it's criminal and I will personally volunteer to squash the nuts of anybody that even thinks about it with a rock, but we're not in a place to hush it out and avoid talking about it. Quite the opposite, it's way more of a silent crime than it should be.

Thank you
Really, thank you.

It is unrelentingly infuriating to me how few people get this. Not only that, you said it better than I could have. So thank you.

The sad part is that this post will probably get buried pretty fast.

 

[DugMachine]

Wow fair poll you got there. Rape in itself is not funny but given the right comedian can be hilarious.

 

[godofslack]

The reason why people laugh at black comedy, and enjoy it because the subject matter isn't funny at all. Take Death at a Funeral (the british version) it's about finding out your dad was cheating on your mom, with another man, who has pictures showing it, and having him black mail you. That's not funny, that would be absolutely terrible to happen to you. All of the story would be terrible. But, people laugh because they know we shouldn't. Same idea of the Darwin Awards.

It's not that the act itself is funny, it's the way it's written.

 

[Darkmantle]

This is a ridiculous thread. How can you even talk about infringing on free speech? What kinds of jokes are unacceptable? Who is the authority on determining what is and is not appropriate? Honestly I am surprised at how few are defending their own right to free speech, and recognizing this as the first steps towards censorship.

This post is ridiculous. How can you seriously not understand that a mere social reaction doesn't infringe on free speech? How can you miss the complete lack of calls for laws against it?

how about the people trying to get him banned from the comedy network forever, does THAT infringe on free speech?

 

[Darkmantle]

This is a ridiculous thread. How can you even talk about infringing on free speech? What kinds of jokes are unacceptable? Who is the authority on determining what is and is not appropriate? Honestly I am surprised at how few are defending their own right to free speech, and recognizing this as the first steps towards censorship.

This post is ridiculous. How can you seriously not understand that a mere social reaction doesn't infringe on free speech? How can you miss the complete lack of calls for laws against it?

how about the people trying to get him banned from the comedy network forever, does THAT infringe on free speech?

Well let's see... does it infringe on my free speech that I don't get to be on there? No? Then it doesn't infringe on his to be denied a platform to speak either.

Right, I disagree with you so let me start a petition to have you forever banned from the escapist.

 

[DudeistBelieve]

This is a ridiculous thread. How can you even talk about infringing on free speech? What kinds of jokes are unacceptable? Who is the authority on determining what is and is not appropriate? Honestly I am surprised at how few are defending their own right to free speech, and recognizing this as the first steps towards censorship.

This post is ridiculous. How can you seriously not understand that a mere social reaction doesn't infringe on free speech? How can you miss the complete lack of calls for laws against it?

how about the people trying to get him banned from the comedy network forever, does THAT infringe on free speech?

Well let's see... does it infringe on my free speech that I don't get to be on there? No? Then it doesn't infringe on his to be denied a platform to speak either.

It's not merely a platform to speak, it's also his lively hood.

It's a dick move when people go after another's job for their petty vendetta's.

 

[Iscariot6794]

Participating in threads like this depresses me to no end. so I'll just finish with a few quick points for the people who don't seem to really get it.

1) If you say something and it makes someone feel bad, you're the bad guy and you owe them an apology. If you demand that they go and not be offended by the things you say, it betrays your lack of compassion, and shows that you don't really understand communication. I'll demonstrate.

Elephant. You thought of an elephant, didn't you? Now stop. STOP THINKING ABOUT ELEPHANTS. What, are you an idiot? How hard is it to stop thinking about elephants?

When you say words, you put ideas into peoples heads that sometimes cannot control. If you trigger a person's trauma in doing so, you owe them an apology and should be more careful about that in the future. I don't understand how a truly moral person could think otherwise.

2. It's not a freedom of speech thing. If you think it is, stop. You're not helping. Nobody is saying he should be arrested. So many people get this wrong it baffles me.

Free speech is being able to speak your mind without fear of suffering physical harm or duress. It does NOT mean people can't hear what you say and decide that you're a pillock and should be made into a social pariah and lose all your friends and become a poster child for a terrible human being. It only means you can't be arrested for speaking your opinions, or prevented through force from speaking your opinions.

So go, run free. Be a total jerk. Have a ball. But don't start crying "1st amendment" when everyone starts demanding you give an apology. You can refuse. And you may become unpopular and scorned for it. But as long as you remain un-punched and un-arrested, the 1st amendment is working as intended.

3. You must never forget that rape jokes do not exist in a vacuum. Sexist feelings and tropes do not exist in a vacuum. "But I'm not sexist, and I hate rapists!" you may say. That's fine. But I will quote something from a very well-written piece I think all dudes should read:

To all those who don?t think the rape joke was a problem, or rape jokes are a problem.

I get it, you?re a decent guy. I can even believe it. You?ve never raped anybody. You would NEVER rape anybody. You?re upset that all these feminists are trying to accuse you of doing something or connect you to doing something that, as far as you?re concerned, you?ve never done and would never condone.

And they?ve told you about triggers, and PTSD, and how one in six women is a survivor, and you get it. You do. But you can?t let every time someone gets all upset get in the way of you having a good time, right?

So fine. If all those arguments aren?t going anything for you, let me tell you this. And I tell you this because I genuinely believe you mean it when you say you don?t want to hurt anybody, and you don?t see the harm, and that it?s important to you to do your best to be a decent and good person. And I genuinely believe you when you say you would never associate with a rapist and you think rape really is a very bad thing.

Because this is why I refuse to take rape jokes sitting down-

6% of college age men, slightly over 1 in 20, will admit to raping someone in anonymous surveys, as long as the word ?rape? isn?t used in the description of the act.

6% of Penny Arcade?s target demographic will admit to actually being rapists when asked.

A lot of people accuse feminists of thinking that all men are rapists. That?s not true. But do you know who think all men are rapists?

Rapists do.

They really do. In psychological study, the profiling, the studies, it comes out again and again.

Virtually all rapists genuinely believe that all men rape, and other men just keep it hushed up better. And more, these people who really are rapists are constantly reaffirmed in their belief about the rest of mankind being rapists like them by things like rape jokes, that dismiss and normalize the idea of rape.

If one in twenty guys is a real and true rapist, and you have any amount of social activity with other guys like yourself, really cool guy, then it is almost a statistical certainty that one time hanging out with friends and their friends, playing Halo with a bunch of guys online, in a WoW guild, or elsewhere, you were talking to a rapist. Not your fault. You can?t tell a rapist apart any better than anyone else can. It?s not like they announce themselves.

But, here?s the thing. It?s very likely that in some of these interactions with these guys, at some point or another someone told a rape joke. You, decent guy that you are, understood that they didn?t mean it, and it was just a joke. And so you laughed.

And, decent guy who would never condone rape, who would step in and stop rape if he saw it, who understands that rape is awful and wrong and bad, when you laughed?

That rapist who was in the group with you, that rapist thought that you were on his side. That rapist knew that you were a rapist like him. And he felt validated, and he felt he was among his comrades.

You. The rapist?s comrade.

And if that doesn?t make you feel sick to your stomach, if that doesn?t make you want to throw up, if that doesn?t disturb you or bother you or make you feel like maybe you should at least consider not participating in that kind of humor anymore?

Well, maybe you aren?t as opposed to rapists as you claim.

Here is the link to the article. Sources are linked in the text on the site. [http://dbzer0.com/blog/feminists-dont-think-all-men-are-rapists-rapists-do]

There. I've said all I can, and I've nothing more. Now to go and play a single-player game and pretend for a moment that just maybe I've reached ONE person and made this community a little less disgusting.

fucking finally someone who understands this has nothing to do with whether certain humor is okay or funny

this is not a fucking censorship issue

 

[DudeistBelieve]

This is a ridiculous thread. How can you even talk about infringing on free speech? What kinds of jokes are unacceptable? Who is the authority on determining what is and is not appropriate? Honestly I am surprised at how few are defending their own right to free speech, and recognizing this as the first steps towards censorship.

This post is ridiculous. How can you seriously not understand that a mere social reaction doesn't infringe on free speech? How can you miss the complete lack of calls for laws against it?

how about the people trying to get him banned from the comedy network forever, does THAT infringe on free speech?

Well let's see... does it infringe on my free speech that I don't get to be on there? No? Then it doesn't infringe on his to be denied a platform to speak either.

It's not merely a platform to speak, it's also his lively hood.

It's a dick move when people go after another's job for their petty vendetta's.

Keep on track, this is about free speech. Your point doesn't have anything to do with it.

But since you bring it up, I think what he did was a dick move. So why should I care if it bites him in the ass?

You don't like what he said during his off time while he wasn't on his comedy central job.

Now you want him fired from his comedy central job because of it.

Just because it's not the government or someone in a position of power doing it does not mean it's not censorship. You could just simply opt to not watch him on TV anymore.

Just like the offended woman in question could of politely left the room with out incident and ask for a refund from the club owner.

 

[Teshi]

So to recap: when Daniel Tosh says a particular person should be gang-raped, that's him exercising his free speech. How dare anyone say his behavior was unacceptable? And when a person says "rape jokes aren't funny," that's heckling, and she needs to shut up and get out.

I think I see a flaw in the reasoning here!

This idiot is entitled to say whatever he likes. But he's not entitled to a paycheck for that, or for an on-stage venue in which to say it. I hope potential future gigs take his behavior into account and make decisions about whether to book him accordingly.

As far as Carlin goes, I respect him; the man had actual principals. But I don't think that Eskimo rape skit is at all funny. I live in an arctic community and the rate of sexual assault against Alaska Native women is horrifying. Plus the whole "hur hur I thought you guys all lived in igloos" stereotyping has been really tired for decades. His point about the construction of the joke being what's important is reasonable, though, and Tosh definitely fell down on that front as well as on the human decency one.