Too serious to be joked about?

[IAM]

What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

Relegion?
Political beliefs?
Death?
Embarrasing situations?
Sexual preference?
Race?

Nothing, in my opinion, is to serious to be joked about. But as a practical matter not everyone is as enlightened as I therefore some things may not be prudent; depending on the company. IS there something you think (idea/belief/event/etc.) is too serious to be joked about?

 

[Tekee]

I don't understand Great tatse less filling?
Maybe it means lieing to others about food.
I can call people queers and get away with it but tricking someone into eating something disgusting is no laughing matter.

Embarrassing situations as well, I would not bring up embarrassing moments.

Everything else is fair game.

 

[Joecoolyo]

Either everything can be joked about, or nothing can.

 

[IAM]

I don't understand Great tatse less filling?

I edited it out. Not enough people would understand.

 

[Tekee]

I edited it out. Not enough people would understand.

did I understand it?
Just a simple yes/no
don't explain and don't get people interested

 

[Cutlass]

I think anything that can't be joked about is too boring to be talked about.

 

[downtown]

Lebron leaving Cleveland.

 

[_random_]

Lebron leaving Cleveland.

I actually saw a Cleveland 23 tee-shirt while helping out at my church's clothing drive. My first thought was "This won't go over very well." (I live in Ohio.) Sure enough, nobody took it. For free. I think that signifies better than anything how grave this situation is. For everything else, use discretion. If you're around people likely to be offended by the subject matter, don't joke about it. If you're in crasser company, go right ahead, provided it's actually funny.

 

[.Shane.]

Its more the timing or context. 9/11 jokes were not funny on 9/12. But by now enough time has passed that a good deal of humor is acceptable on this topic.

 

[Perfection]

Giant Death Robots

 

[IAM]

did I understand it?
Just a simple yes/no
don't explain and don't get people interested

a definate maybe! It's from a beer commercial and some skits making fun of diets.

 

[ComradeDavo]

I think that the majority of the time it depends on the nature of the joke.

 

[History_Buff]

Indeed. There are obviously certain situations and certain groups of people where you might hold your tongue (don't make fun of the dead at a funeral, soldiers at a remembrance day ceremony, etc), there are no topic that should be solidly off limits. I mean, the Holocaust is probably the most serious event to have transpired in recent history, and there are some hilarious holocaust jokes.

 

[Tani Coyote]

Its more the timing or context. 9/11 jokes were not funny on 9/12. But by now enough time has passed that a good deal of humor is acceptable on this topic.

Precisely. Making Michael Jackson jokes was very taboo after he passed, but as time went on, it was back to square one...

Anything can be joked about, pretty much. But the timing and/or context must be correct.

That's mostly only really true with black humor.

That said, there are emotionally-sensitive topics that are never really acceptable... for example, while many horrible incidents can get jokes made about them, good luck being able to crack one related to the Holocaust or the Third Reich around any of its victims.

Or say, the Israel conflict to a Palestinian or Israeli that portrays the other side...

---

All that said, humor is increasingly taboo; I've seen my fair share of Hitler jokes. And with that, all the jokes about World War II AND subtle references to genocide.

As time goes on, moral inhibitions decline.

 

[GhostWriter16]

What, if anything, is too serious to be joked about?

Relegion?
Political beliefs?
Death?
Embarrasing situations?
Sexual preference?
Race?

Nothing, in my opinion, is to serious to be joked about. But as a practical matter not everyone is as enlightened as I therefore some things may not be prudent; depending on the company. IS there something you think (idea/belief/event/etc.) is too serious to be joked about?

It depends on whether the person who is in question is easily offended. However, I don't see how making fun of political beliefs could really be THAT offensive.

I think the only thing that is ALWAYS too serious to joke about, for me, is making fun of God. Anything else I'd be OK with if it was someone I knew wasn't trying to offend.

EDIT: I'd say joking about the Holocaust is a bit bad too, making fun of Hitler really isn't though.

 

[Cull]

Anything and everything is alright to joke about.

 

[Zelig]

downtown is too serious to be joked about.

 

[Miles Teg]

I don't think any topic is really invalid for jokes. Obviously however, timing is important. To use an up-thread example, making 9/11 jokes on 9/12 is obviously offensive, but as time passes, the boundaries start to grow hazy, and it depends a lot on who you're talking to.

And then of course, there are idiots who make jokes about touchy subjects that fall flat for what ever reason (bad joke, wrong place, tough crowd, bad delivery, etc.) and blame their failure on cultural taboos.

 

[Mango Elephant]

I'm sure there must be something, but I can't think of it right now.

 

[Eran of Arcadia]

If we can laugh at the most serious or tragic things, we can laugh at anything.

If we can't laugh at the most serious or tragic things, then what's the point?

So no, nothing is completely beyond jokes. However, there is a time and a place for everything; and some people don't want to joke about some things, so it is important to know context.