Poll: Daniel Tosh threatens Woman with Gang Rape

[craddoke]

EDIT: Another thing: Tosh "threatened" that heckler? He clearly said "wouldn't it be funny if that woman got gang raped." That isn't threatening, that's a hypothetical preposition done in his own style.

I'm reminded of this funny story where the king of England was joking around with some of his knights about how it would be really funny if someone just killed this bothersome fellow named Thomas a Becket (a bishop who argued that the Pope rather than the king had the authority to appoint new bishops).

The punchline was when a gang of those knights went out later that night and killed Thomas.

Eeeeeexcept Henry II said, "Who will rid me of this turbulent priest?" (or words to that effect) which has a completely different meaning. Also, 12th Century=/=21st Century.

Yes, that is the exact wording - but Henry was quick to claim it was just a hypothetical proposition the next morning when someone acted out his wish.

Totally right about the difference in time period, though - we all know that institutionalized misogyny, widespread racism, bloody religious intolerance, class warfare, and pandemics are a thing of our unenlightened past.

 

[Zealous]

I see no problem with this. Tosh specialises in dark comedy. This is the kind of thing that he does. He jokes about some stuff that can, and will, offend people. That's his style of comedy. Some people enjoy that kind of humour. I personally don't, but that doesn't mean that others can't enjoy their comedy. Deal with it.
As for the heckler, she disrupted his show, which people had paid to see, to try and express her opinion on the subject of the jokes Tosh was telling. While I agree that the way he handled the heckler was in poor taste, that's what comedians do. They stop hecklers by calling them out and then they get on with the rest of their show. If you don't like getting called out for disrupting the show, then either don't say anything or get up and leave.
As for the fact that it's a rape joke and it should be taken more seriously than other derogatory jokes, that's ridiculous. Plenty of people makes jokes about 9/11, murder, natural disaster victims and many other situations or events that could have affected members of their audience. Elevating rape victims above the rest of the audience is insane. That says that everyone else's opinions are moot relative to a rape victim's. That's saying that anyone else being offended will never compare to a rape victim being offended no matter what the circumstance.
"Oh, your mom died last week and this comedian is making a joke about dead mothers? Well suck it up cause only rape victims can be offended."
Makes sense.

 

[peruvianskys]

Where are you getting those statistics because the first says 8% admit to committing an act that meets the legal definition of rape or attempted and immediately followed with over 20% of men admitted they couldn't stop themselves from having sex with a non-consenting woman (which is either rape or attempted rape depending on whether or not the woman got away). Statistics out of context don't mean a whole lot and I'm not saying this as a way of "mansplaining" or whatever you want to call it, I'm just going to need some proof that 35% of my gender thinks the only thing wrong with rape is getting caught.

Statistics come from:

Warsaw, R. I Never Called it Rape. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 1994.

Peterson, S. A., and B. Franzese. "Correlates of College Men's Sexual Abuse of Women." Journal of College Student Personnel 28 (1987): 223-28.

Malamuth, N. M. "Rape Proclivity Among Males." Journal of Social Issues 37 (1981): 138-57.

Supported by:

Douglas, K. A. et al. "Results From the 1995 National College Health Risk Behavior Survey." Journal of American College Health 46 (1997): 55-66.

Rennison, C. M. "National Crime Victimization Survey, Criminal Victimization 2001: Changes from 2000-2001 with Trends 1993-2001," Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, NCJ 187007, 2002.

 

[William Dickbringer]

-SNIP-

you are aware this is daniel tosh we're talking about? the guy who pushes the line it's his character while yes the that was too far he doesn't care cause that's what people come to see is him cross bounderies with rape jokes(he's had a skit where he got raped on the show), gay jokes, women jokes, minority jokes, being rich white suburban, and abortion jokes just nothing is sacred around him he may not be a george carlin on ways he handles stuff but they both share the same principal: If you know what he talks about will upset you why go see him?
besides yes we shouldn't trivialize rape but at the same time it shouldn't be held above something that can't be touched
also nicely biased poll there

 

[craddoke]

Statistics out of context don't mean a whole lot and I'm not saying this as a way of "mansplaining" or whatever you want to call it, I'm just going to need some proof that 35% of my gender thinks the only thing wrong with rape is getting caught.

Voila: http://www.oneinfourusa.org/statistics.php (this page presents stats from multiple studies; the original studies are cited at the bottom of the page)

P.S. If you want to know, rather than just avoid the issue, Google is your friend - all I needed to enter was "rape statistics 35% caught."

 

[Gigano]

Well, it's black comedy. Crude and poorly executed, but hardly a "threat".

There is no subject too "serious" or "sensitive" for a good joke. Timing and audience is everything though, but if the rest of the audience was having a good time, who was this woman to spoil it for them by interrupting the performance?

She got offended by an event she'd chosen to go to and was free to leave any time she wanted. She reacted poorly, and the comedian responded poorly. That's all.

 

[yeti585]

He never threatened the girl with gang rape as the thread title states. He saw her as a heckler, and with many people speculative of him being funny it may happen more often than not, so he thought he had to put her in her place as with all hecklers. He went about it wrong but don't tie a noose for the man yet.

 

[Korne]

Tosh is always a dick to his audience... it's what we like about him. The best thing about comedy is that it can take horrible things like Rape, cancer (50/50), serial murder (Dale and Tucker), and many other horrible things and shed a glimmer of light on it. Tosh is not everyone's cup of tea, but he is mine. Also, he didn't threaten rape, he made another joke... it's funny. The lady shouldn't go to a comedy club if she doesn't want to hear jokes and sarcasm (Quote taken from Daniel Tosh).

 

[SpectacularWebHead]

Why is there no "yes" option? She should have kept her mouth shut and realized she was at a COMEDY club where offensive jokes are the norm. I don't blame him one bit for taking down a heckler. Also, as someone said above me, Tosh's humor is very dark.

So you would honestly say if someone made a joke about a serious problem that effects you at a comedy club You'd be like "Ah well, that's humour". We don't know anything about this woman. hat if at some point in her life she had been raped or threatened with rape? Dark humour is not making jokes about how rape is funny, or even how murder is funny. His style is NOT dark humour, it's just plain offensive. Dark Humour requires a certain level of refinement and tends to be self depracating, reffering to a specific event and whilst pressing the borderline of shocking and/or offensive, but never steps the mark. Tosh is an asshole, he sets out to offend people because people with a simple sense of humour choose to take it as dark.

There's a difference between heckling and standing up for a problem that effects you as something that shouldn't be joked about. She had every right to be stand up and tell him he was wrong.

If you go to a comedy club and see a person who is known for his offensive humor then yeah you say ah well or you leave, you dont be an asshole and shout back at him for hurting your litte thin skinned feelings. It is really just that simple.

Just like you dont go see Lisa Lapaneli (SP) if you happen to be homosexual, hell I hate her comedy and find her repulsive, but I will defend her right to say that shit because I am not thinned skin and know there are people who enjoy her work, and above all they are just jokes.

If you go to a comedy club and see someone known for their offensive humour there's usually someone else on the bill. That's how comedy clubs work. More than one person performs. So you're a firm believer in the whole "Sticks and Stones" bullshit.
Btw, Bad idea to bring Lisa Lapaneli in as a method of defending your argument, I'm bi and MASSIVELY against her revolting brand of shit. People who do offensive humour are one of the main reasons for intolerance in the wider scale of things, when it's done for "Comedy" It's apparently less bad than any other circumstance. It's not. For example (Because we all like talking about LL so much) why is it that if a woman on the street screams homophobic abuse it's wrong, but if she says the exact same things in a comedy club it's ok, and even gets laughs? Freedom of speech is a bullshit argument to bring up in these situations, because their freedom of speech silences others through promoting intolerance and hate. It only goes so far. Thin skinned feelings? Okay, hows about you walk up to a rape victim and do five minutes of stand up on why it's her own fault and it's so damned funny? I guess if she cries she's just thinned skinned. They are NOT just jokes. That's like saying the N word is just something to describe black people with. This sort of offensive humour goes out of it's way to upset people, for every one person who finds it hysterical, there's another that finds it deeply upsetting. Don't you dare put it down as those people are just thinned skinned. It ultimatly only serves to make you look like a jerk.

a very well thought out and insightful post, thank you for that! One thing I would like to address first.

It ultimatly only serves to make you look like a jerk.

Ultimately I am an insensitive jerk, I have an admittedly hard time empathizing with others. I suppose it could be a failing on my part, but its just how I am.

Now, onto your earlier points!

I did not know that, the comedy club in my town books one person per show, pay for the ticket go in, listen to the show then mingle and talk with others after the show.

Yes I am a believer in "Sticks and Stones" and I wouldn't say it is bullshit, at least from my perspective, people have insulted me plenty, I just laugh at them.

I agreed before your post that LL is a disgusting foul creature, but that doesnt mean I dont think she should say her piece, And the reason that she is laughed at and considered comedic while the crazy woman on the street corner is crazy (but also laughed at most likely) is because hers is a joke, its not like she goes from yelling about "dem fags" and goes straight to a WBC rally to protest gay marrages and the like, she is very friendly with homosexual folk.

As for the five minute tirade, as I said the only rape victim I have known was my close friends ex-wife and she made more crude rape related jokes than I even knew before I met her, and she loved Daniel Tosh's work.

And the "for one person who enjoys it one person is hurt buy it" argument is false, because that can be applied to damn near every medium from games to movies to music to comedians.

Hope you enjoy reading my post as much as I enjoyed yours, though next time consider paragraphing, it makes things much easier to read!

Well your arrogant response teaches me one thing: I have absoulutley no reason to value your opinions and nor does anyone else. Toodles.

 

[Korne]

Why is there no "yes" option? She should have kept her mouth shut and realized she was at a COMEDY club where offensive jokes are the norm. I don't blame him one bit for taking down a heckler. Also, as someone said above me, Tosh's humor is very dark.

So you would honestly say if someone made a joke about a serious problem that effects you at a comedy club You'd be like "Ah well, that's humour". We don't know anything about this woman. hat if at some point in her life she had been raped or threatened with rape? Dark humour is not making jokes about how rape is funny, or even how murder is funny. His style is NOT dark humour, it's just plain offensive. Dark Humour requires a certain level of refinement and tends to be self depracating, reffering to a specific event and whilst pressing the borderline of shocking and/or offensive, but never steps the mark. Tosh is an asshole, he sets out to offend people because people with a simple sense of humour choose to take it as dark.

It is pretty dark humor, as in it is crude and not suitable for a family friendly crowd. Also, yes, I have been offended at a comedy club (gay bashing is everywhere in the comedy scene), but guess what, I could have stood up and walked out. That would have been a tasteful move. Instead, I shrugged off the joke as a joke and continued to have a fun time. After the show, I ended up drinking with the comic and bought him a drink. He joked and said he hopes this isn't me trying to get his number. I said after that gay butt joke he said earlier, I don't think so. He laughed and bought me and my friends the rest of our drinks.

 

[bakan]

So the OP decides what we should accept and what not?

Make neutral voting options next time, if you bring up a topic like that.

 

[Laser Priest]

He's an idiot and has never been funny. He tries being "dark" instead and ends up making himself look like more of an idiot.

And this twat has a television show.

Yes, offensive humor can be funny. However, Tosh can't.

 

[Korne]

Well your arrogant response teaches me one thing: I have absoulutley no reason to value your opinions and nor does anyone else. Toodles.

Wow, I never say this, but someone sounds butthurt (aahh, a gay joke lol).

 

[Ninjamedic]

The idea of BRONIES defending the use of gang rape joke to shut up a woman who had a legit complaint is almost as shocking as when I found out that there were Nazi bronies...
Oh god the pain...

And once again we get to see another person that thinks their fandom is superior to others, as everyone knows that Saturday morning cartoons make you morally superior.


Seriously, drop the White Knight act, launching a crusade against a comedian (who specializes in Dark humor) for putting down a heckler in a bad fashion doesn't make put you in the right. It makes you look like an alarmist at best and misogynistic at worst. This woman doesn't need defending or an apology, she decided to attend this standup and heckle the person. No one forced her to do it.

 

[Korne]

He's an idiot and has never been funny. He tries being "dark" instead and ends up making himself look like more of an idiot.

And this twat has a television show.

Yes, offensive humor can be funny. However, Tosh can't.

Just curious, would you go to a comedy show with him headlining? And if you did, would you get offended by a joke after you heckle him?