By Bruce Piekarsa
Staff Writer
Dark humor is meant to make light of a subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. I take issue with those that use dark humor as an excuse to be dehumanizing. Saying you hate minorities isn’t humorous; it’s blatant prejudice.
It’s okay to be offended, and to call out somebody’s tasteless or dehumanizing humor. You’re not weak for calling somebody out for an inappropriate joke, because it takes courage to stand up to bigotry.
Hate speech is harmful even if the targeted groups of your joke aren’t hearing it. Hate speech incites violence and intolerance, even if said behind closed doors. Using it as a medium to get laughter is fueling the internalized bigotry that so many are pushing to end.
When there’s injustice, people typically don’t act on it because they’re afraid to be labeled easily offended. However, by doing nothing, a bystander negatively contributes to the situation at hand. Living in fear of retaliation shows others that hate speech isn’t a problem. Instead, be an upstander, even if it’s as little as not laughing. Do something to show others that they’re unamusing. For instance, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. wasn’t afraid to voice his opinion on the degradation of human beings. He saw normalized hate speech and worked to fix it.
“He who accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it,” Dr. King said. “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
An example of dark humor is “South Park’s” “Pandemic Special.” During the episode, the police shot the only Black kid present because somebody sneezed. The joke mocked those who perpetrate police brutality, and practically said “look how messed up this is.” It was dark, but inoffensive. Some people took offense to the joke; Others defended “South Park” because being offensive is funny. Both sides despise each other when in reality they’re two sides of the same coin. It’s ironic that by criticizing others for being unable to take a joke, they themselves don’t understand it.
Prejudice has negatively affected a majority of our lives. It’s not funny, edgy, cool or mysterious to use this as a form of comedy. By hiding behind dark humor, you’re insulting comedy and perpetuating misconceptions about what dark humor is.