Rape jokes, can they be funny?

[OldGus]

They used to be funny for me, until my closest loved one got raped, now I cringe whenever the subject is brought up in a relatively realistic manner (Family Guy's Aquaman Can't stop rape scene comes to mind). However "raped by dickwolves" is still hilarious to me.

Well, if you're willing to try, I have a joke that might help. maybe. Again, if you're willing to try.

Spoiler: Did you hear the one about the grandmother rapist?

At least one person is now forever terrified to hear "I baked you some cookies."

okay.. now I've got to hear this

Well, let's just say she is a rather strong grandmother...

 

[Death God]

Is timed right and in good faith or spirits, then yes. But if you tell it to a teen pregnancy ward, I doubt that it is going to be funny.

I am politically incorrect to the core and proud of it. As a result of this, I have to be honest and say that this is the only thing in this thread that has actually made me laugh. And yes, I would laugh if I was there and someone did it, then I would run like hell. Assuming I wasn't laughing too hard to stand.

True, it'd be funny to those who aren't pregnant still but the general audience might rip you limb from limb.

 

[GotMalkAvian]

I find rape jokes, dead baby jokes, and other typically "offensive" jokes quite funny. I find absolutely nothing funny about the actual occurrences of these things, but I can find humor in a theoretical version of the events.

If anything, telling jokes about these things and laughing at them helps me deal with the horror of our world and keep a semblance of something resembling sanity.

 

[Sovvolf]

Yes they can, its all about context and execution. Just like any other joke on any other subject.

 

[spartan231490]

Is timed right and in good faith or spirits, then yes. But if you tell it to a teen pregnancy ward, I doubt that it is going to be funny.

I am politically incorrect to the core and proud of it. As a result of this, I have to be honest and say that this is the only thing in this thread that has actually made me laugh. And yes, I would laugh if I was there and someone did it, then I would run like hell. Assuming I wasn't laughing too hard to stand.

True, it'd be funny to those who aren't pregnant still but the general audience might rip you limb from limb.

Exactly why I would run.

Yes they can, its all about context and execution. Just like any other joke on any other subject.

Exactly. Very well said.

 

[4173]

I think VG Cats can confirm this. In two related comics.

http://www.vgcats.com/comics/?strip_id=128

Hon, that is not rape.

Drugging someone to have sex with you isn't rape? I am enlightened in a non-sarcastic way.

Yes rape can be funny, anything can be funny.

Drugging someone to have sex with is rape, but only if the drug removes their ability to consent [or, obviously, if they were never able to give consent in the first place]. But I don't think there is any real evidence to suggest that happened in the comic (beyond a general it was possible sense).

 

[Captain Booyah]

Spoiler: Click it. You know you want to.

Obligatory post. I gotta say, regarding this topic, I've laughed at my fair share of Pyramid Head gags, folks.

More OT: Rape, as an act, is never funny. At all. It's a serious issue, as well as a downright tragic one; but of course, none of that needs repeating. Rape jokes, however, are something different: one of the aims of comedy (besides entertainment, obviously) can be to cross the line, see just how much far you can push it before shit hits the fan.

And again, as we all know, this has varying results. Kidding about with things like rape, abuse, disabilities, etc. depends entirely on when, where, timing, the context, and the comedian themselves. When done well, it can be funny. I think we've all laughed at something a little dark at some point in our lives.

Then there's the flip side of the coin. There are always going to be people who take offense to such taboo topics; perhaps they've had too close a brush with it, perhaps they just don't find it amusing. Whatever. Those people are always going to be a part of life, and that's fine, because nobody's forcing them to laugh or take part, and they won't ever be able to stop the people who do find rape jokes funny. (After all, it can be hard to condemn a person's sense of humour just because it's different to yours.)
These people accept that. It's when you get the ones protesting that jokes about such serious issues should NEVER be made, is when we've got a problem. That defeats one of the main purposes of humour, and if we're going to go that route, why stop at rape? Everybody's offended at something, so let's just ban and censor everything, to make sure nobody is ever insulted. Then we cross into 1984 territory.

And in other cases, it's just...not so funny. "Rape -- those whiny-ass women, huh?" That kind of horribleness, that level of inappropriateness. That's the kind of stuff humanity never needs, period.

In this case, I have no idea whether these feminists were generally in the wrong or not -- I never really got involved in the whole Dickwolves thing -- but based on stories and personal experiences, a handful of feminists can be very...touchy. This might be one of those cases. The Penny Arcade guys could have handled it a lot better, though; I don't think anyone's disputing that.

 

[escapistraptor]

I've actually been having this conversation with a friend recently. I think that anything, no matter how horrible or tragic, can be funny in the right circumstances. In the case of rape, this is clearly evidenced by the "Nightman" song in "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia":

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ML_f4PltXi8