In comedy what is acceptable and what is not?

Are some jokes really Discriminatory?

In the words of comedian Rowan Atkinson ‘The job of comedy is to offend, or have the potential to offend, and it cannot be drained out of that potential. Every joke has a victim.

That is the definition of a joke.’ Therefore, a joke will always offend. Comedy shows are the places where the audience consent to this offence and the comedians, unlike the general public, are given some suspension from the rigid morals and immorals so that they can enter the restricted zone and make jokes around it.

We clearly understand that some jokes don’t discriminate, however some do such as racist, non subversive rape jokes, homophobic, sexist, transphobic or jokes otherwise aimed at, making fun of, marginalised, vulnerable and oppressed groups of society.

Are all jokes made on these topics unethical and discriminatory? Why are only comedians blamed for joking about these topics and not the general public?

Defining Discriminatory Jokes

All jokes are offensive and some are discriminatory. For instance, subversive jokes made on racist, sexist and otherwise discriminatory topics challenge these stereotypes by revealing their absurdities. And the same is true where such jokes are designed to expose the discriminatory belief of the audience.

Therefore, we come to the conclusion that the jokes which rely on discriminatory beliefs or attitudes without subverting them and rather endorsing them are termed as discriminatory offensive jokes and are morally wrong.

Take the example of AIB roast in the year 2015 by Tanmay Bhat, Ashish Shakya, Gursimran Khamba and Rohan Joshi. The roast was completely based on identity jokes including height, skin color, gender etc. When one cannot look beyond these things, can it be called art after all? Ashish Solanki’s ‘Pretty Good Roast Show’ is an example that roast shows can be creative as well with the performances of comedians Onkar Yadav and Gurleen Pannu.

What is the correlation of comedy with society and mental health?

Sometimes even sexist and misogynist jokes pass as a ‘benign violation.’ Such as when Comedian Harsh Gujral blurted out ‘You can get a russian in Rs 6000.’ Regressive wife, mother-in-law and transphobic jokes made by comedian Kapil Sharma. Such jokes rely on shared stereotypes and the problematic part is when such jokes re-inforce these stereotypes reminding the audience that they have something to bond over because everyone is laughing and agreeing to it. Another comedian Madhur Virli in his Stand up - Love and Latex makes rape jokes. Here the comedian is making the heinous crime look funny.

John Morreall depicts, ‘ As listeners enjoy sexist and racist jokes, they let harmful stereotypes in under their moral radar, as a kind of mental toy or aesthetic object. And that keeps those stereotypes in circulation, which perpetuates racism and sexism.’ Maharashtra based comedian Pranit More came into the spotlight when one of the audience members said he went out for a date, spent Rs 370 on the woman and got nothing in return from the woman. The audience laughed and More did nothing to call him out. This shows where we are as a society, when spending on the woman is assumed to be guaranteed the man consent to her body.

The dangerous part is that comedy is a transaction. These comedians alone are not blameworthy but the upper caste, upper class, misogynist audience they have is equally a representation of our society's mindset. Already in our country certain groups and genders face insults and attacks and when these discriminatory jokes are normalised through the audience they make these groups even more excluded. This feeling of not being able to belong in social groups creates a mental toll among the marginalised and makes them feel unsafe in their own country.

Are only comedians to be blamed?

Emily McTeranan in her paper ‘The Ethics of Offensive Comedy’ explains that in our daily interactions we have a social responsibility to not to offend others and treat them with consideration. When we abide by these social norms our social relations run smoothly. Still there is some partial suspension such as in case of interaction among friends, however everyday humour largely is based on bonding and to bring a moment of pleasure. Now, in the case of comedians, such a social duty seems to be suspended to a much greater extent and their work is to push the boundaries of these social norms, distinguishing edgy from discriminatory. This is the reason why comedians are blamed more because they have a stage and public.

Laughter is the best medicine

Still, despite all of this we cannot forget that comedy plays a very important role too in our society. Richard Child calls it the ‘value of freedom to play around with ideas.’ As an art form comedy has been used since ages as satirical weapon by writers and contemporary comics such as Manjeet Sarkar, Masoom Rajwani, Ravi Gupta and Kunal Kamra. Whenever times have doomed no one can deny the fact that comedy has been the saviour of mankind. It provides one of the most essential methods to speak against the tyrants and as a small protest against oppression. ‘Humour is a great way for us to have evolved so we don’t have to hit each other with sticks’ , says Scott Weems.

However, with comedians being non sensitive and neglectful and at the same time the Government's surveillance being at its peak where it is mercifully butchering freedom of speech day in and out, what will be the future of comedy in India?