SO YOU'RE OFFENDED

We live in an age where everyone seems to be offended by pretty much everything. If someone gets their feelings hurt then we must immediately jump to the other side and take a strong stance. I recently saw a video of a news clip where they were discussing the Simpson’s getting heat for their “Apu” character and how offensive it was, etc. Now, on one hand, I can understand how it’s offensive and why there’s those who don’t appreciate it but where do we draw the line? It’s so easy to start demonizing anyone who makes fun of anything and before you know it, we will outlaw speech, which is where we are pretty much at now. We are definitely on our way.

The real issue with this, and so many other things like politics, is that it becomes a team sport mentality; You’re either with us or against us. There is no middle ground yet the majority of people and their beliefs fall somewhere in between. Just like in politics, it’s where you can’t agree with one aspect of someone’s views without completely aligning yourself with their party and then you are automatically viewed as being on “their side”. I’m sure in even writing this I will ruffle some people’s feathers and can already see, “Well you don’t understand what it’s like to be me”, and you’re right, I don’t, just like you don’t understand what it’s like to be me. No matter how much we try, we truly don’t know what any other person goes through. Even if we were to go through the exact same situation, it would still be different. However, we can still have empathy and understanding.  

So where do we draw the line? That’s the real issue, I feel. We can slowly start outlawing things and taking away rights under the guise of national security, and other seemingly positive issues, as we already do, and before we know it we are living in a dictatorship where we are told what to do, what to believe, what to say, what to think and what to feel. It’s all fun and games while you sit and watch other people’s rights taken away but see how quickly your attitude changes once they come to take yours. What we allow happen to others we may soon find happen to us.  

I for one think we should draw the line when it comes to hate, when it comes to anger. The whole point of comedy is to make people laugh, especially at themselves. I don’t think there’s anything as healthy as a real sense of humor about oneself and just how crazy all of us really are. Compare it to a comedy roast; you only make fun of those you really love. I remember when I used to be a caricature artist in Vegas, for about three years, all of us would constantly make drawing of each other, brutal ones, which I still have to this day and need to post. If we can’t laugh at ourselves then we don’t deserve to laugh at anyone else.

 First making fun of each other will be outlawed and then beliefs that offend people, then the way we dress, the way we look, the way we feel, and before you know it, we are all just clones walking around like robotic zombies. Should we outlaw opinions as well, is that the world you want to live in? I sure as hell don’t.

Just because one person is offended doesn’t necessarily make something wrong. Just because a million are doesn’t either. We live in a world of gray scale; very few things are singularly black and white, save a few, child abuse, slavery, etc.

As I’m writing this I’m thinking, “What the hell is even the point in putting this out there?”, no matter what you say or do someone is going to have an issue. Someone is going to take something to an extreme and before you know it, you are on the news defending yourself against promoting hate speech. So what’s the answer? What are your thoughts?

Here’s the video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_z76E2xdRg