Edinburgh Festival Rape Apologists

[shrodingerscat]

AIBU to ask anyone attending the festival not to put money in the pockets of these sick fucks:

Rape Jokes at Edinburgh Festival

This is another of Sarah Silverman's jokes:
"I was raped by a doctor. Which is so bitter sweet for a Jewish girl..."

Acceptable, or not?

WMittens, that joke is from the perspective of the victim and as some of us have said up thread, those jokes are generally more acceptable. Which of these two jokes would you find more offensive:

From a Pakistani comedian: My parents want to light up their local community. Fingers crossed someone torches their corner shop!

From a white comedian: I want to have a really hot time this weekend, so me and my friends are off to torch some Asian corner shops.

(I admit both are feeble as I just made them up)

The "joke" part of each is in the language as "hot" and "light up" both have two meanings. But one is acknowledging that they are part of a community that is discriminated against which sometimes results in other crimes and the other is suggesting that the teller wants to commit the crime. Surely there is a material difference between the two just as there is between a joke by SS about being raped and the ones in the article about raping and slitting his friend's throat?

I don't think the writer really 'got' most of the jokes. A breakdown of the quotes:

"I was waiting for my girlfriend to come round. Because I'd hit her really hard."
A classic joke structure; subverting the listeners expectations, in this case through wordplay.

Gerry K tells a joke about watching a pimp fighting with two prostitutes. "I'm not having that," he says, "So I joined in - I punched her spark out."
Again, subverts expectations - the listener expects that he will jump in to defend the women, but he actually jumps in to aid the pimp.

"Some audiences say they don't like rape jokes. They say that, but I know what they mean."
Parodying a rapist's mindset.

"Wouldn't it be funny if that girl got raped by, like, five guys right now? Like right now? What if a bunch of guys just raped her ?"
A weak, indefensible attempt to come up with something witty in response to a heckler.

"I fucked her in the arse. I thought I'd really give her something to cry on my shoulder about." Then he said he might "slit her throat from behind, dig a hole in my back garden and bury her".
Again, not really funny or defensible. But notable that Stewart Lee, a very pro-PC performer, also faced criticism after quotes were reported out of context.

"What do nine out of 10 people enjoy? Gang rape."
Subverts expectations, see above.

"Who is going to complain about rape jokes? Rape victims? They barely even report rape."
Clever, in the funny-but/cause-it's-true camp.

Of the seven quotes she uses, only the first one (maybe first three? Article isn't clear) was heard at the Fringe, and that one is a good joke, classic wordplay.

ecclesvet I don't think that just because a joke subverts your expectation means it's a funny or defensible joke. I am no defender of Tanya Gold, but I think she is probably intelligent enough to get those jokes.

That SS joke is a play on a cultural joke/cliche. The cliche about all single Jewish women wanting to marry a doctor. Actually, you could substitute Indian women for Jewish (I'm from an Indian background, doctors are revered as gods in my parents' culture). It's another bitter irony. The man that raped me is the type of man I dreamed of marrying. And, more to the point, the joke is on her and she is taking ownership of her own rape story. She is not making a joke out of another person's violation, she is not making a joke out of the notion that she has raped or beaten someone else.

yanbu, I find the less talented the comedian, the more obnoxious and crude they are.

Also, what yellowraincoat said, I think most of us get the subversion of expectations and play on words. It's just that many of us don't find the subject matter amusing, particularly when the butt of the jokes is the victim (I'll grant you that the one about the rapist's "no means yes" mindset is a joke on the rapist). It's not an axiom that all wordplay is funny.