When Do Jokes Cross the Line?

The other day the correspondents dinner took place for white house staff and the news outlets connected with them and like always comedians are brought to make jokes and roast people in the room. The dinner itself is a sort of relationship building dinner to show the strength between the media and the white house as a symbol of transparency and freedom of expression in our country. The comedian they brough up Michelle Wolf did what the norm was and roasted many people across the board but some are saying she took it too far, so how far is too far when it comes to crossing a line?

Honestly in my opinion the job of comedians is to push the line of what is unacceptable, if you cant joke or criticize something people never move past it. Even in horrible situations where people make jokes about terrible things, it is part of the grieving process. Joking is a coping mechanism that is not only effective, but completely normal. Gilbert Gottfreid notoriously once made a joke about 9/11 a week after it happened and was booed by some but many needed the comic relief he brought because it was a dark time. If you cant joke about something for many people its hard to move past.

If you listen to the speech Michelle Wolf made, much of what she says isnt really that controversial compared to jokes other comedians would have made. The whole point of bringing a comedian there is to roast people and thats exactly what she did. Many of her jokes were funny regardless of what side of politics you are on. She probably could have gone a lot worse than she did and even probably ditched some jokes that were too far but I think many of the people who are complaining just want to be upset about something. There is a reason why most real comedians wont even do shows at colleges anymore and its because the crowd cant handle jokes.

Our society is become oversensitive to everything and its very scary for what the future holds for us if this continues to happen. Speaking out and bringing opinions to the table is a right we have in the public and there seem to be groups that want to shut people up. You arent protected from backlash for what you say, but people dont realize that forcing people to shut up either physically or by suppressing their opinions sets a terrible precedent that we have seen many times over in history . In almost all those cases it doesnt lead to a good or healthy society.

You have the right to be offended, but if something offends you just turn it off and dont watch it. You dont need to go on a rampage and hold a vendetta because you dont like a joke someone made. At the end of the day its a joke and it was made to make people laugh. Dont waste your time letting something like that bother you and furthermore dont waste your time attacking someone. I believe that the line in comedy must always be pushed and even crossed or else we will delve further into a more hyper sensitized society than we already are.

-Calaber24p