What are the limits to humour?

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Permalink Reply by Finsbury Park Ranger on March 4, 2014 at 23:42

I had a Bavarian girlfriend once, I couldn't believe the amount of knee slapping and belly laughing the Bavarians allow themselves after some Jewish jokes.

Also I just couldn't work out if that meant they had totally recovered from that period or history ... or not.

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Permalink Reply by StephenBln on March 5, 2014 at 18:42

Rubbish!

I lived in Bayern for ten years and never heard any..

I hear more racist cr+p from UK citizens, than I ever do from Germans. That is, if you haven't noticed, exactly what you're writing. Anti-German polemic.. i.e. racist.

Yours, is the country still fighting WW2.

Strange also, that the Jewish communities in Germany, are the only ones in Europe that are currently enlarging.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 5, 2014 at 9:09

I think some of those who have been offended are doing so for political reasons. Sad they can't attack him for being useless or not visible in the community.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on March 5, 2014 at 18:26

Phil, it wasn't a silly joke, you wrote things that were offensive to a number of people on this site. The fact that you can't see why that is makes it even worse. It seems completely beyond you to just say sorry.

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Permalink Reply by Michael Anderson on March 5, 2014 at 19:04

I made no assumptions about your motivations, just read what you typed. From the thread I also read that some people found it amusing and some not. The people who sent me private messages about it did not find it faintly funny and some said they were upset by some of the things they read.
The person who posted that they had a room to let is not a politician who has made stupid statements, they are a neighbour and a member of this on line community. The post was elaborate as they wanted it to be.
I'm afraid that I don't understand what ownership of indignation means.

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Permalink Reply by John McMullan on March 8, 2014 at 9:03

"The post was elaborate as they wanted it to be." - oh tosh. He posted the same thing on a gay website and then thought it would be OK on HoL. It was an absolutely hilarious work of art. Having the homophobe card waved in my face was awful and WRONG. I've had an apology for it which I'm very happy about.

Constant indignation and offence is very tiring and if anything feeds genuine trolls, perhaps Phil considers himself genuine. I think he was very cheeky in his initial post but how much thought did you put into it? 1 second, 2 seconds? I have begun following Walthamstow MP Stella Creasy on Twitter just for the fantastic responses she gives to the crap she receives and I think she's onto something. Often she just retweets with "<- Mum! Switch the broadband off!" or something like that attached. We've got to stop getting outraged.

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Permalink Reply by LSquared on March 5, 2014 at 19:55

Pah, there is a much better joke that could have been made about an advert for a gay man who must like cats and no one has made it yet. I am disappoint.

(and although very crude and therefore probably offensive to everyone, as far as I can judge not especially offensive to gay people)

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Permalink Reply by Cllr Emina Ibrahim on March 5, 2014 at 18:15

Hi Alan

I think you raise an interesting question but one that is not particularly apt for the issue you allude to. The question here really is context. If you are talking about the Producers or the spoofs you mention these are fictitious parodies and can be rather funny.

Responding to the point about some being offended for political reasons. That is absolutely the basis of this debate, how do we do politics? what are the boundaries of political debate and what are our responsibilities to the communities we represent or seek to represent.

Is a cheap offensive pun worth it if two people fall over laughing, one person takes a nuanced view and the other seven are appalled?  

With television/books/newspaper satire one can simply choose to not watch or to not read. However here we are talking about the role and responsibility of those in public office.

If the person in question wishes to seek a new career in journalism, stand up comedy, acting or singing then we can perhaps have a different debate (though I wouldnt give up the day job!).

Emine Ibrahim

The Labour Party Candidate (Harringay Ward)

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Permalink Reply by Hugh on March 8, 2014 at 1:11

Phil, I don't know if your comment to Claire was intended as humour. If it was, let me offer you some feedback. For me, it wasn't humorous or even witty. If only you'd resisted adding that 'dear', it would have been only bickering. As it is, it's open to other interpretation.

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Permalink Reply by Old-Age-Emporium(OAE) on March 5, 2014 at 20:57

Including this hilarious OFSTED result

Of course the truly hitlerian irony is that Adolf had already picked up his Newrhamberg Knighthood, tearing through Sudetenland's Hohengate and flexing his biceps in his Hackademic Gymnasium, before taking over OFSTED and declaring himself both Lucifer and Michael the Archangel.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on March 7, 2014 at 1:06

Not humour, at least to begin with, but is was Superman who defeated the Klu Klux Klan. By exposing them and their ridiculous cod mysticism on the radio in 1940s, people stopped being scared of them and even turned up to the rallies to mock them. 

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Permalink Reply by CanadianMichael on March 8, 2014 at 0:29

Blame Canada for that :-)

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Shuster

"When Superman first appeared, Superman's alter ego Clark Kent worked for the Daily Star newspaper, named by Shuster after the Toronto Daily Star, his old employer in Toronto. Shuster said he modeled the cityscape of Superman's home city, Metropolis, on that of his old hometown.^[8] When the comic stripreceived international distribution, the company permanently changed the name to the Daily Planet."

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