When Did Humor Become So Ugly And People Become So Offended By It?
Author: Bill Garwood
When Did Humor Become So Ugly and People Become So Offended by It?
IF you lived through the years of watching television in the so-called “silver age” you watched sitcoms like “All in the Family” and the “Jeffersons,” not to forget “Maude, and “Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In.” If you were offended by these TV shows you would be called an idiot - to say the least.
Many talk shows made fun of elected officials, even the President. But they weren’t out to destroy them! The best of the best was The Tonight show, with Johnny Carson. Johnny was a class act! Years after his show stopped running, he said, “In comedy you are paid to make fun of people, and to point out how crazy the people in the news were.” He said,” You couldn’t make a stand and become the divisive voice in the media. You would lose your watchers. He was right! Your job was to make jokes; give people a comedic outlet from the real-world news.
As we are seeing today, the so-called comedy talk shows are calling our elected officials horrible names and cursing out their families! Is everyone so blasted angry that they have to lash out at everyone else? This is sad. Our leaders have always been made fun of. Nobody in their right mind would want the jobs! It seems like our entertainment folks really think we listen to them for political advice. Many times, when the Academy Awards come on, I try not to scream at the TV, saying, “You are all just dancing monkeys; just dance and shut up!” I guess they think they have a lot of money, so they should be able to make important decisions in Government. Not bloody likely!
The comedians like Robin Williams and George Carlin made you laugh out loud. They weren’t trying to make political commentary. Well in his later years, George Carlin did become a grumpy old man. At least he wasn’t out on his front lawn yelling at kids, “Get off my lawn.” - at least I don’t think he was. Several comics were foul-mouthed, and they had places like the Vegas nightclubs for them. Many have been over the years clean; their comedy made you think and laugh. Ever hear of Steven Wright? Hilarious!
Before he went off the rails, Bill Cosby was a great clean comedian. Bob Hope, several more. When he wasn’t singing Dean Martin was funny. Now? Unless you are in a nightclub, most all the truly great comedians are gone.
Several of them, Jerry Seinfeld included, will not go to a college campus anymore. They get heckled by people who are offended by what they say. I say lighten up. If you are going to a comedy club for political insight, leave! The rest of us would like to laugh, without being reminded that you think the world would be a better place if you were running it. In other words: “Bite Me!”
