Boston Marathon Explosions

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Caesar said:
I do not see the problem with black humour as long as it is not maliciously intended. A play on words is fairly innocent. You can appreciate the wit without it being a commentary on the seriousness (or lack thereof) of the actual situation.

To object to any kind of humour as being disrespectful ignores the way a lot of people deal with serious events.
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A kid died waiting for his parent to finish the race, along with other casualties. I fail to see any humour in that, black or otherwise. Maybe you need to be a parent to understand the gravity of that.

Perhaps after 10 years here I'm getting too old for this place, if I'm in the minority for not seeing the humour in innocent death. And as someone who has attempted stand-up and appreciates the art of comedy better than most, this is not a time for gags.
 

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Rod Stroker said:
A kid died waiting for his parent to finish the race, along with other casualties. I fail to see any humour in that, black or otherwise. Maybe you need to be a parent to understand the gravity of that.

Perhaps after 10 years here I'm getting too old for this place, if I'm in the minority for not seeing the humour in innocent death. And as someone who has attempted stand-up and appreciates the art of comedy better than most, this is not a time for gags.
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Of course there is no humour 'in' the death. There is nothing inherently funny about what has happened. But the joke does not rely on the nature of the events for its humour. It uses a superficial description of the event to make a play on words, and the play on words is what extracts the reaction. The event could be anything and the joke would not be more or less funny.

Your real objection is the bolded. You don't feel this is a time for jokes, presumably because you are not the type of person who makes jokes in serious situations. That is fine, but try to understand it's not the case for everyone. Humour is a common emotional defence mechanism.

Malicious intent is obviously something different.
 
Silent Alarm said:
Hmm. I dunno, I think it's impossible not to have some kind of hierarchy when it comes to deaths vs people who ran away but saw some heavy s**t. It'd be traumatic to be there, but I think I'd sooner that than death.
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No doubt, but I meant as in, runner who died vs 8 year old child. Both lives, one was just yet to be fully experienced.
 
Caesar said:
Your real objection is the bolded. You don't feel this is a time for jokes, presumably because you are not the type of person who makes jokes in serious situations. That is fine, but try to understand it's not the case for everyone. Humour is a common emotional defence mechanism.
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On the contrary. I like to see the lighter side of most situations, to the point that I've been told on several occasions over the course of my professional career to "tone it down" with the joke cracking and take work more seriously.

But on this occasion, I'm just not seeing it. Gags, gaffs, jokes, play on words, whatever you want to call it, I just think it's disrespectful and insensitive with the carnage still so fresh.
 
Rod Stroker said:
A kid died waiting for his parent to finish the race, along with other casualties. I fail to see any humour in that, black or otherwise. Maybe you need to be a parent to understand the gravity of that.

Perhaps after 10 years here I'm getting too old for this place, if I'm in the minority for not seeing the humour in innocent death. And as someone who has attempted stand-up and appreciates the art of comedy better than most, this is not a time for gags.
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Please point out where people made light of that.
 
Well then, I presume you can understand that just because you made jokes about your work didn't mean that you didn't take the actual work as seriously as everyone else.

To me, disrespect is about intent. If someone came in here looking to offend people then that would be problematic. But if they are making a joke because they are emotionally affected by the situation and that is how they process it, how is that disrespectful?

I guess there is always the argument that it is insensitive, because that is ultimately subjective. As a mod I have removed poor taste jokes from threads before, but they have been a lot worse than a mild pun.
 
Rod Stroker said:
A kid died waiting for his parent to finish the race, along with other casualties. I fail to see any humour in that, black or otherwise. Maybe you need to be a parent to understand the gravity of that.
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Who exactly made a joke about that kid that died? I only saw a play on words x 2.

If you can point me in the direction of the person who made an actual joke about that 8 year old, or indeed the loss of life in general, I will agree with you wholeheartedly.

Perhaps after 10 years here I'm getting too old for this place, if I'm in the minority for not seeing the humour in innocent death. And as someone who has attempted stand-up and appreciates the art of comedy better than most, this is not a time for gags.
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I'd say mentally you're too young for this place. "Attempted" stand up means "attempted and failed" in your case I'd imagine. And if you say this is not a time for gags, the two biggest comedians in the USA disagree with you (D.Tosh and L. CK)
 
Caesar said:
Well then, I presume you can understand that just because you made jokes about your work didn't mean that you didn't take the actual work as seriously as everyone else.

To me, disrespect is about intent. If someone came in here looking to offend people then that would be problematic. But if they are making a joke because they are emotionally affected by the situation and that is how they process it, how is that disrespectful?

I guess there is always the argument that it is insensitive, because that is ultimately subjective. As a mod I have removed poor taste jokes from threads before, but they have been a lot worse than a mild pun.
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Thanks. I haven't made any of the jokes myself, but its good to see a reasonable view on this.

Nobody has made fun of the death or the intent of the attacks, and I'm glad the mods here have recognised that. Its an absurd joke, and a play on words. Seems the mods are getting better imo.
 
Thrawn said:
It's called decency. Just STFU please.
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I find American civilians indecent. Their country leads the world in killing civilians, economically crippling the third world and promotion of racist, pro-wealth rhetoric that holds us back as a species.

If any country deserves to have its citizens blown up, its America. I find the mock sadness and outrage by AUSTRALIANS a complete disgrace, compared to the reaction to the deaths of millions of Iraqi and Afghan children at the hands of the US war machine who openly target civilians, without even having the decency to do it in person.

If you don't see why American civilians have it coming, you don't understand democracy.
 

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Its a democracy, if both "sides" of government are pro-war, and they are, then the civilians have a right/duty to express their displeasure by voting for a third party.

I feel for the yank civilians who understand how ****ed their country is. How their democracy is just a front for multinationals, how far they've fallen, how hard it is to run a protest without being bashed/killed my the jacks... but the reality is the ultimate responsibility lies with the people.

Their country kills civilians every day, deliberately targets them in fact. So forgive me if i dont care that a couple of fitness freaks got killed, its "collateral damage" according to the US government.
 
I don't really 'care' either, not deeply anyway. But it's not about feeling sad - you've brought the question of justice into it by saying that they deserve it. So ... Hmm, I'm not going to even bother.
 
WeetBixKid said:
I don't really 'care' either, not deeply anyway. But it's not about feeling sad - you've brought the question of justice into it by saying that they deserve it. So ... Hmm, I'm not going to even bother.
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rJ just likes getting a rise out of people, I wouldn't engage him when it comes to stuff like this.

As an expat living in the US I think you are way out of line rJ, but living with Americans gives me a different perspective.
 
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/04/15/us/boston-marathon-investigation/index.html

The bombs that turned the finish line at the Boston Marathon into a scene of horror were made from pressure cookers and hidden in backpacks, federal law enforcement sources said Tuesday.
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Two doctors overseeing treatment of the injured believe the explosive devices contained nails or similar objects.
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Sounds like they were designed to maim rather than straight kill. Not sure if that makes the mongrel sicker.
 
just looked at what alex jones had to say

wish i hadn't. guy is a complete looney

apparently, because there were sniffer dogs at the start and finish of the race, it proves that it was a staged exercise by the US govt.. :rolleyes:
 
Mr_Smooth said:
just looked at what alex jones had to say

wish i hadn't. guy is a complete looney

apparently, because there were sniffer dogs at the start and finish of the race, it proves that it was a staged exercise by the US govt.. :rolleyes:
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haha, while the thought initially crossed my mind that these type of events really galvanise American's and it may have been self-orchistrated to bring the country together while they're doing this North Kora stuff.......then I lol'd

Alex Jones is a full nutter.

We need to hear from the Gun Nut who did that interview. He'l straighten everything out and let us know how people with AK's on every corner would have stopped the bombs.
 
Do you guys really think Alex Jones believes half of the s**t he says?

Watch one of his video blogs. His body language screams 'liar'.

Not 'loon who believes this s**t', but 'liar'.

There is plennnnnnnnnnnnty of money to be made by angling yourself as the leader of the conspiracy set.

He doesn't care whether people like you think he is a loon. In fact, the more you speak his name, the happier he is.
 
Wow, looks like I really rustled a lot of jimmies.

For the record, what happened yesterday was a tragic event, and I genuinely feel for all those involved. No, I don't think it's funny that people lost their lives and many others were hurt.

But a joke like the 'race related' one is a fairly harmless response. At most, it's a terrible pun. For those getting up in arms about it, you just have to accept that people have different senses of humour than you do. Like previously stated, sometimes using humour is a natural response when events like this happen, and a lot of comedians specialise in it.

For jokes about the Boston Marathon, I think there's a line. And they never crossed it.
 
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