Sure. Why not? Josh Blue made jokes about his own disability (cerebral palsy), and he was probably my favorite comedian to ever appear on Last Comic Standing. Even saw a stand up special of his, and he was hilarious. Had a great joke about how he also did sign language for the hearing impaired, though he didn't know if his hand was doing the same routine.Lil devils x said:Do you think it is appropriate to make fun of someone who is disabled, has a birth defect, due to the color of their skin, or some other thing they have no control over? That is how you start much larger conflicts, such as making fun of a mentally disabled person, they take it wrong, kill themselves then say their brother kills you.. yea that is not a good example to set at all for improving society as a whole... this in history has led to fights, murders, wars.. it is a horrible idea.Saltyk said:You should be able to make jokes about anyone. And you frankly shouldn't be afraid to make those jokes around the people you are joking about. People should be able to take a joke. By giving people special exemption you only encourage divisions between people.
Some insist that you shouldn't punch down, but I disagree. Can you think of a better time to hit someone then when they're on the ground? Punch everyone!
There are limits to this, of course, and times you shouldn't mock people. But that doesn't mean that you should never ever make jokes about some people. We're all equal in comedy. And comedy gets people talking. And when people talk, they can come to understandings and work to fix what problems exist.
By saying you don't want certain people to be made fun of, you're telling me you think those people are children. That they can't handle a joke. And that you don't want people to acknowledge them or their problems.
But why don't I put my money where my mouth is?
Today, I was talking to a black coworker of mine. He had taken a few days off last week and was seeing a doctor. Now, the last time I saw him, he wasn't quite himself, but today he seemed much better. I commented as much to him and the conversation went something like this.
"What do you mean? I wasn't me?"
"Nah, you just seemed a lot less energetic and happy."
"Sorry if I was grumpy. Next time give me a Snickers bar."
"No, I think I'll give you a niggers Bar instead."
(His eyes light up) "Oh, that's perfect. I'd love one of those."
He then dropped his 'character' and began wondering if someone like Dave Chappelle had made a joke about that. Needless to say we were both laughing and having a good time about it. Nor is that the first time we have made jokes about our respective races. ("If someone steals something, you did it, if someone kills someone, I did it")
That's not to say I would mock a particular disabled person, but I would certainly make jokes about disabled people in general. However, if I had a disabled friend, I can almost guarantee that we would make jokes about his disability. You know why? Because disabled people don't want you to treat them different, they want you to treat them like people. And if my friends and I weren't making jokes about someone like that, they would certainly feel like we were treating them differently. Mind you, we'd probably wait to make them feel welcome, and apologize if we ever crossed a line.
(Among my friends is a cancer survivor and we've never avoided using the cancer cards in Cards Games Against Humanity and we certainly make jokes about our gay friends)
As for people committing suicide, I don't think a single joke will drive most people over that line. Harassment certainly could, but that is not a joke. If a single joke drives you to suicide, you had other serious issues.
As for jokes causing wars, that is an absolutely ridiculous assertion. Me making a joke will not cause a war. A representative of a government being an idiot to a representative of another government might. Trying to suggest that a joke could cause war is shameful. Even if there was a case of a government representative playing a joke and causing a war, need I remind you that I stated that there are limits and times you shouldn't make jokes or mock people? That would be one such time.