To find ‘jokes’ about Maddie McCann upsetting?

[Helendee]

I saw a clip of Frankie Boyle demonstrating his sense of ‘humour’ by making what I find to be shocking jokes about Maddie.
The audience seemed to find it hilarious but I find it crass and distressing.
Please tell me I am not alone!

'I think some people love getting offended, and to feel all outraged. It makes them feel mighty to vilify a joke or comedian.'

No mighty feelings this end. Just genuinely feel offended by a comedian looking for cheap laughs based on somebody's missing child. Barrel-scraping stuff and really poor taste. He deserves to be vilified for material like that.

I think rude comedy like this is a bit like watching a horror film. You wouldn’t really want to be fighting zombies or laughing about Madeleine, but it gives us a healthy release of pent up emotions.

I guess this thread kinda shows that it’s a thin line separating us from countries like Saudi Arabia, Iran and Brunei. If we start policing comedy and free speech, it’s wont be long before we find other things to be offended by which might include certain books, homosexuality and women driving cars.

I hardly think it matters if I use the diminutive of the poor girl’s name!

Actually I think it does show a lack of respect for what her parents have said over and over again. I know that's not the point of your thread though.

I'm not sure subjects should be out of bounds for humour, but there are consequences. For Frankie B in this case I guess the consequences are selling a lot fewer tickets.

Just genuinely feel offended

Why? I just don't understand how you can be offended by a comedian's joke. Not find it funny, sure. But offended?

When Frankie Boyle was first on Mock the Week years ago myself and my boyfriend at the time found him funny and booked tickets as he was coming to our town on tour. This was probably about 10 or 11 years ago now.

On the night we just sat in stunned silence. He picked on one girl repeatedly in the front row calling her all the names under the sun and crossed the line repeatedly, the main one I remember was he did a thing about Shannon Matthews who was still missing and said “if you were delivered her you’d have to make her wear a Madeleine McCann mask to get going” it actually made me feel physically sick. We left at the interval.

Namechange...
I had no idea that the McCanns used Madeleine’s full name so I was hardly being disrespectful.

Frankie Boyle scores the barrel for jokes because he has no talent. Let’s face it cruelty and discrimination don’t take much talent do they?
He’s like an attention seeking child. Pathetic.

Scrapes not scores!

MilknOsugar totally agree. It’s not rude comedy, it’s not allowing the audience to relieve pent up confusion and emotion. It’s using specific people who have or are suffering in unimaginable circumstances for cheap and easy laughs. Talk about missing people as a subject- that’s fine but not real children who are either still missing or still suffering the aftermath of abuse as in the case of Shannon Matthews. She deserves more than some two bit entertainer making her suffering the butt of his sick jokes.

It's been so many years and people are still calling her by a name that she was never called in her life. I don't care much about jokes and have my own opinions about the whole thing but at least I can refer to her by her actual name. Madeleine.

I know the Daily Mail call her Maddy OP but if you care so much about her some research and knowledge might not go amiss.

Frankie Boyle's a punching-down cunt though, no argument there. Sees an easy target and takes it. Disabled people, murder victims, whatever. Anything easy, some prick will find it funny somewhere.

Frankie Boyle is almost 100% satirical, in his stand up material.

The audience may laugh but he’s making fun of them.

I used to really hate Frankie Boyle but have a lot more time for him these days. Some of his jokes seem very unfunny (to me) - he often seems to think that if his ideas are sufficiently shocking and outrageous then he doesn't need to bother including wit or humour.

But he definitely comes across as a genuine feminist in his New World Order, putting feminism into practice rather than just paying lip service to it. It's one of the very few programmes where the majority of participants are usually women and he certainly doesn't patronise, interrupt or talk over them.

I think a 'professional' comedian should set their sights a little higher than wise cracks about a missing girl. I'm not someone who's easily offended, but it demonstartes a lack of imagination/creativity on their part. Reminds me of the sort of Bernard Manning/Jim Davidson humour which I thought died out over a decage ago.

^ Namechange...
I had no idea that the McCanns used Madeleine’s full name so I was hardly being disrespectful.^

That is surprising as it was reported everywhere, but I'm sure you weren't being intentionally disrespectful.

*That's like saying: I don't think Jim Davidson despises blacks, I'm not sure what the evidence is apart from the awful jokes about Chalky.

Of course he is a misogynist - I am a Scot myself and recognise that sort of left Scotsman wanker a mile off. He punches down, with jokes about paedophilia and people with disabilities. But silly sods who like to think they are oh so different from Bernard Mannings' fan base lap it up as 'edgy'.

@TheNavigator* your whole tone is a bit off. Firstly, 'blacks'

It's nothing like it at all. Making jokes about one woman absolutely does not make you a misogynist.

Because you're Scottish you have some sort of Scottish superpower to understand other Scottish people? That's some talent.

Lol at the Bernard manning comparison ... not even close.

Yup, I'm Scottish and went to a comprehensive school in the late 70s/early 80s. It was full of nasty wee Frankie Boyle types. Middle class Guardian type men froth about how edgy he is, but he is just a ten a penny wee gobshite of the type Scots women have had to endure for years.

He reminds me of a grown man wearing ladies clothes with a shawl pulled tightly round his face so he can clamber into the last lifeboat leaving women and children behind to drown.

It’s very very dark . And sometimes I do laugh at dark jokes

But doesn’t mean in real life I find it funny . It’s like when someone falls and I laugh it’s a horrible reaction . I am sure in RL he thinks it’s tragic it’s just a dark thing that us humans do

Finding it pretty pathetic that I am getting grief for using a shortened form of a name; hardly of importance in the scheme of things is it?

hardly of importance in the scheme of things is it?

I would feel like it was if that was my child. But anyway it's not the point of the thread and as I'm pretty sure I've said, it wasn't intentional

As I have already said, I had no idea that the McCanns didn’t like the use of ‘Maddie’.

Frankie Boyle is a vile creature but I suppose some comedians, not him, can see humour in all sorts of situations and not be offensive in delivery. He is just not funny and is far too close to the wire.

Finding it pretty pathetic that I am getting grief for using a shortened form of a name; hardly of importance in the scheme of things is it

I’m loving that you started a post about “being offended” and have in the process offended someone else.

No one has a right not to be offended.

Humour is so subjective, it should never be censored. At all totally agree with*