Friday, March 9, 2012

"It really short shrifts humor, which is critically important to a healthy democracy, I think."

UPDATE:

Louis C.K. has bowed out, perhaps yielding to pressure from people like Ms. Haag and Greta Van Susteren.

ORIGINAL POST:

Louis C.K. will be performing at the White House Radio and Television Correspondents' dinner this year. Mr. C.K. is known for pushing the boundaries of taste in his humor. The boundaries of taste have been on my mind given the recent controversy surrounding a filthy joke forwarded by federal judge Richard Cebull.

Over at the Big Think blog, tasteless jokes are also on Pamela Haag's mind. She criticizes Louis C.K. for his filthy jokes about Sarah Palin (and others) and concludes with the quote in the title above, including her assertion that humor "is critically important to a healthy democracy."

I will just say this: anything that is critically important to a healthy democracy is, by definition, not funny.

5 comments:

  1. Actually, the best part of the article is when the author writes, "I don’t watch Louis C.K.’s act." Given that she doesn't watch his act-the act that he will presumably do at the dinner and not just recite the Twitter posts that upset her-short shifts democracy? Her piece is a great example of why people hate pundits.

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  2. Well, in her defense, some of her friends have seen his act, and she kinda scoped these friends out before writing her piece, so...

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  3. So what? Humor, like any art, is subjective. How can she know whether she thinks he is funny based on what her friends think. Like the author, I haven't seen Louis C.K. I know some people think he is funny. I also understand that his TV show is critically respected (to put it mildly. Some seem to think it is the best comedy around). Despite this understanding, I don't have an opinion on whether his show is good or whether his act is funny. To have an opinion on art one needs to have some exposure to the art. For example, an opinion on the Mona Lisa that is based entirely on descriptions of the Mona Lisa is not an informed opinion and I highly doubt the author would have written an opinion piece on a painting she hadn't seen. I don't know why it should be different for a comedy act she hasn't heard.

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  4. I guess I should have put a ;) at the end of my comment.

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  5. The emoticon does change everything.

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