Is rape ever funny?

thats messed up sh$t.

Is this funny?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5l_rdSKXji0

I did a theater piece in Hollywood that was a dark comedy about the rape of a woman who is suicidal and wants the assailant to kill her. The show was actually really funny, but it didn't feel at all comfortable to laugh at. We had patrons walk out.. and I don't think it would have worked at all if it wasn't for the fact that the lead actress was also the writer and producer. Weird show. Critically successful for a show so small. Some Award noms...

I like your article and I agree with your comments. Keep it up. Good work

I don't know if anyone reading this thread has seen any of Pedro Almodovar's films. He is a Spanish director who discovered Antonio Banderas. He directs Antonio in a rape scene that is pretty hilarious in a dark comedic way. Most of Pedro Almodovar's films have dark sexual undercurrents.

The film is called Matador and it is about a Bull Fighter who is also a serial killer who kills his victims during sex. He meets the female detective who is investigating the murders and who also has a fetish for stabbing her partners during sex. The two meet and consummate the ultimate act of love by killing each other during sex.

The sub plot is the Antonio Banderas character who has been raised by an extremely religious home life. He is repressed sexually and is trying to act out.

http://www.clubcultura.com/clubcine/clubcineastas/almod...

Personally I think the whole skit was absurd. Using these ideas while first amendment protected the whole thing was simply "crap" with no real thought or ideas that protrude a laugh. Just a couple of green tee shirts with no real aptitude to comedy. Perhaps they should get day jobs.

Joking about harm that happens to other people is insensitive and is an inherent charteristic that is wrong within our society. It reveals an ignorance of a person about other peoples pain. Rape can and is a debilitating crime perpetrated on another human being for a simple selfish sexual gratification and cause years of pain, self loathing, attempts of suicide, remorse caused by guilt and shame. Rape is a violent act. Anyone who can find humor in this perpetrates and encourages rape and is as guilty as one who commits such an act.

Respectfully, I disagree with those who feel rape (or any other topic) is sui generis off topic. Here I wholeheartedly agree with Tracy.

Indeed, my father heard the following joke during WWII--it's funny and it's not glorifying rape:

During the Battle of France in 1940, a German SS soldier rapes a French farm girl. As he is buttoning up his trousers, he looks at her with contempt and says, "In nine months you vill haf a son, und you may call him 'Fritz.'"

The girl, as she is covering herself, glowers up at the soldier and says, "In five days you will have a rash, and you can call it 'jock itch.'"

I am sorry to say this Phyllis but even though I respect your anger at receiving the joke, I am offended by your response. This is not the forum for such profanity and malfeasance directed at someone who posted something in response to this discussion about whether or not there is humor to be found in rape.

I am sure that everyone can respect your indignation, but please spare us the diatribe of profanity.

"who posted something in response to this discussion about whether or not there is humor to be found in rape."

And that's all you should have done, was disagree and your reasons not send me an example of your crude form of humor, but which is quite base. Isn't there more intelligent things to occupy your mind, or no?

I showed my husband what you did, sending me the joke anyway after I stated I did not find it humorous and I guess he felt the disrespect you showed by sending me one anyway, my opinion completely ignored.

You and your kind can have this place...

Phyllis it is too bad that you have given up on Current .com because of one thing that one person posted.

Please come back and give Current another try. Perhaps you need to familiarize yourself with the way the system works so you don't accidentally receive content you don't want to receive.

Good luck to you.

it's like the N-word: i agree...when it comes to comedy, NOTHING is off limits...but if one wants to be a good comic, an effective way of presenting the comedy should be found. if it's not, you have a Michael Richards situation on your hands, rather than a Mark Twain, Randy Newman, Sarah Silverman, Lenny Bruce, Chevy Chase, Steve Martin or other-white-folk-who-have-gotten-away-with-saying-the N-word situation.

Rape and the N-word are both heavy topics, which gain weight with people's reluctance to tackle the issues. the more you call "nigger" the N-word, the more racist the word becomes. Whites--especially in the media tend to make things more racist this way, by trying to make things more civil. it's like a Bob Dylan lyric "Any minute of the day, your bubble can burst/Try to make things better for someone--sometimes you just end up makin' it a thousan' times worse."

so, i hope next time people quote somebody, they don't say..."he said the N-word," cause that person didn't...Michael Richards said "Niggers." why add weight to an already offensive word?

it's the same thing with rape...if we can't create good humour about a topic, it's as if the topic is unimportant for discourse...and rape is a very important topic, much like racism.

no one wants to talk about it, and they want to initialize the topics with the "N-word" or one day...the R-word ("rape"...sorry future media--i said IT, the R-word).

let's start being real like Mark Twain was, and understand that we are all just people suffering the ruins of history's past. let's understand that "nigger" doesn't mean black-person, who is to be hated--no, it doesn't even mean black person...if you know your history related to this word (i'm and English major, who loves Faulkner and Twain), you should understand that it means "property" and over the years it has been used sarcastically, carried on as a satire, and white people don't understand it, so they shouldn't use it CASUALLY...but that doesn't mean, when displaying a point or quoting someone who said "nigger" and not the "N-word," they should feel free to use it CORRECTLY, and not hide from the topic...giving it more weight, making things worse, dehumanizing people.

the same goes for rape. this video didn't work, because it was done INCORRECTLY, but if it were done well...yes, rape could be seen with humour and not encouraged or made light of.

Sarah Silverman has a good joke or two about rape, i'm sure...she knows how to do this stuff.

look around...because if something's funny, that doesn't mean it's not serious...in fact...comedy is a not-so-serious way of being serious.

do it well.

and everybody, have a good Holiday season,

h

Rape is not funny. It never was and never will be. Considering one out of seven girls have been sexually assaulted, it is a serious problem that deserves to be treated with gravity and respect towards the victims. The fact that we are laughing about it shows just what's wrong with this society. We have become one that is callous to pain, even to the point of another person's torture. What's next? Green Team showing us how to dispose of an infant? Like they had joked about? There is another society that treats rape victims with such disdain. It's called Saudi Arabia. I'd like to think that USA can do better than that.

I don't think rape is ever funny. Regarding this video, however, I think people are missing the point. Like you said, it was a satire about the hipocracy of extremism. Even though the skit itself isn't particularly funny, you have to be able to see the underlining theme. To just take the video for it's superficial value is a poor understanding of it.