orbem:
people who say offensive shit cause they think it’s funny or edgy are honestly so embarrassing
Well, the issue is that offense is subjective. Any number of things could offend any number of people for any given reason. (I.e. “You made a joke about bees? Screw you, my dad died of a killer bee sting!” or “You made a joke about sugar? Screw you, I’m diabetic!”)
What’s more important is the context of the joke, and what’s being said and for what reasons it’s being said. For instance, comedy is an extremely effective coping mechanism, and has been shown to help mentally and physically ill people with issues such as PTSD, or to overcome depression, or to cope with the harsh realities of a situation, such as the case with the men in the Trenches during the first World War, or people who were in the concentration camps during the second. It can also be used as commentary to make a point, such as what George Carlin, Rick and Morty, or South Park does, which use the mockery as a satire on people, ideas, and society in general. Or, it can just be used for the purpose of making someone happy by using over the top, and hyperbolic language on things that go against societal norms, which are therefore funny because of how bad and wrong it is, rather than it being used as anything malicious, and only has the point to make people happy. (A good example of this is Bo Burnham’s “Sad” because of the insight being made combined with the over the top nature of the song)
These are the purpose of comedy, as an art form, to both give insight into and criticize aspects of humans and the world around us. Where things go south is in examples such as Seth McFarland’s comedy style, where the offensive nature has no greater point then to try and shock you, and over using that so it removes the intended effects, lacking the meaning that’s so key in making offensive things funny, or when people use humor in an abusive way, where they shift criticisms and the intent not to harm and to bring joy to people with the intent to harm and ad hominems.
The distinction is in that fundamental difference of contexts, where one form is used as a means to bring joy by being vulgar and giving insightful commentary into things and ideas, the other is used as nothing more than a means to silence and attack people by edgy people like the alt-right and poltards.
