Last night, as a member of the studio audience, I attended a taping of The Half Hour News Hour at FOX Studios on Pico Blvd. in West Los Angeles.
Humor, as many are aware, is a controversial and enigmatic phenomena of the human condition, wherein a built in defense mechanism in individuals resorts to laughter. The laughter is often a reaction to the observation of a painful experience to another human being.
To say that humor is often insensitive and at the expense of someone’s feelings is stating the obvious to those familiar with “comedy.”
Tragically, the person unable to laugh at a certain joke is often the person experiencing the painful experience, or a person who has experienced a similar painful experience.
All that being said, during last nights taping, a segment depicted a male being hit in the groin area, not once, but three times. Audience members at the taping of the show were encouraged, and expected, to laugh at the jokes as they were staged and taped. Sadly, the joke depicting violence against a man was staged not once, but twice. Evidently, there was something wrong with the taping of the first take. During the taping of the retake, I sat with arms folded across my chest and not a chuckle or even a smile came from me.
Obviously, there must be something wrong with my sense of humor, since the rest of the audience had no problem in laughing with great enthusiasm at the skit. I have my doubts there would have been that kind of laughter if it had been a woman who was sexually assaulted with a hit in the crotch, or to the breast.
I suspect depictions of similar hateful violence against women would draw immediate boos from any audience and loud protests in front of the studios main entrance. Unfortunately, there is no need for any “entertainment” studio to worry about any such protests over their depiction of violence against men. There is no taxpayer funded, multi-billion dollar budget concerned with violence against men as there is concerned with violence against women.
Sadly, as evidenced by what is considered acceptable humor, we witness the reinforcement of the disposability of males through all forms of socially accepted forms of violence. Men are over 97% of deaths and casualties in the current war in Iraq. Men are over 94% of Industrial deaths and accidents. Men are approximately 76% of all homicides. Men are 75% of the roughly 25,000 annual suicides.
It appears that men have long been acquiescent to the disposability expectations built into their male role as even health care (or lack thereof) reflects this cruel reality. According to the CDC, of the 15 leading causes of death by disease, men lead in 12 categories, are tied in 1, and trail women in only two.
Humor, as evidenced by the reaction of the audience to the depiction of the violent hate crime against a man, is indeed a mask for the pain and suffering endured by the entire male gender in America. As English poet George Gorden, Lord Byron once wrote, “and if I laugh at any mortal thing, ’tis that I may not weep.”
In my opinion, my sense of humor is not fit for the tawdry, male bashing humor widely broadcast on TV comedies like the one I saw being taped last night. You won’t find me in the audience of such trashy (in my opinion) TV comedies ever again. I do not mourn the loss, but will merely fill that time slot with more male life affirming choices.
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jackal1994 said,
The only show I’ve seen that explored how stupid people are for laughing at this crappola is the Simpsons. They unfortunately didn’t look specifically at violence against males.
It was the episode where Homer guilt-tripped Marge into letting him on the ameteur film judge’s list. Everyone else was voting for Barney’s artsy-crafty movie about why he is a drunk, but Homer wanted to vote for “Man get’s hit in crotch by football”.
I still remember saying “It’s funny on soooo many levels!”
Homer is supposed to represent the beer-swilling sports-watching under-achiever in all of us.
July 27, 2007 at 10:57 am
jackal1994 said,
July 27, 2007 at 10:58 am
S Baker said,
July 27, 2007 at 2:01 pm
steven deluca said,
I liked the new James Bond movie but really… a man sitting nude in a chair with the bottom cut out being slammed … what was that all about? Such a man he laughed it off but there is something going on in America with so much emphasis on attacking the male mind and body - especially in ways related to gender and sex.
July 27, 2007 at 5:57 pm
donnieboy57 said,
July 27, 2007 at 6:07 pm
donnieboy57 said,
July 27, 2007 at 6:11 pm
Dittohd said,
Knowing everything you do and have done, I’m really uncomfortable typing this, but I have to just the same. I’m a bit disappointed that you didn’t boo the “comedy” when it happened. Without a doubt you would have been kicked out, but you would have made everyone else uncomfortable while you were being kicked out as you loudly explained your disgust.
Anyway, I know of many of your past efforts in support of the effort and think you’re great nonetheless. I booooed a college teacher once when he made a sexist comment in front of our class and I think we should all do the same and explain our feelings on the subject at the same time.
I know, I know. Easy for me to say. But I had to say it nonetheless. For everyone’s sake who’s reading this.
July 27, 2007 at 10:49 pm
Ray Blumhorst said,
At the show, I thought I was amongst friends, or at least people who respected me as a person. I was taken by surprise and felt dumbstruck by the cruelty and insensitivity portrayed to males. It was embarrassing and I was shocked.
I think we’ve all been there, where we don’t think of the right thing to say or do at the time, but it comes to us later after the time to respond in a timely manner has passed. With the steady barrage of male-bashing that we get on TV, I suspect we’ve all (at some time) let something go, that we “shoulda, coulda, woulda” responded to, but didn’t.
The hurt and insult festers in the gut and in the soul like the cowardly and hateful sneak punch it truly is. Writing about that display of violent degradation of males was as much a catharsis to purge the festering memories as it was to inform the public of this shows crass promotion of violence against males as “acceptable humor.”
I was with some people I assumed were friends, and who are supporters of this show, and may have lost their friendship as a result of expressing my feelings by writing about them, but if their friendship is gone as a reaction to my calling attention to violent displays of male-bashing, then truly, what value is their friendship?
July 28, 2007 at 8:09 am
Dittohd said,
>I think we’ve all been there, where we don’t think of the right thing to say or do at the time, but it comes to us later after the time to respond in a timely manner has passed.
It happens to me all the time. I guess it even happens to pro’s. I hope many read my post and it encourages them to make their feelings known and to use the opportunities to spread some serious discomfort where and when it’s needed.
July 28, 2007 at 9:08 am
amfortas said,
Onstage, an actor lit a cigarette. My lady guest stood up and berated him, loudly, bringing the whole play to a halt. (Of couse, it was assumed by the audience that I was her husband. That was embarassing).
The actor decided to argue with her. Now I started to get amused. They argued back and forth for a few minutes whilst the other actors sat on the stage to wait. “Its against the law’, she said, ‘to smoke in a public place”. “Ah, but the play requires this character to smoke”, came the reply. “And I get asthma” she said. “You don’t have to stay and watch”, came the reply.
People were shouting at her to sit down and shut up. The Theatre Manager arrived and ‘ordered’ her to sit and be quiet or be removed. She pointed to the ‘No Smoking’ signs. He said that the actor could smoke.
Well, I had to join in then. Its only reasonable.
I lit a cigar.
July 28, 2007 at 9:21 am
Squiggy said,
July 28, 2007 at 1:52 pm
christianj said,
I don’t think as we have a bit better taste than that…
I had to tune my family as they laughed anytime it come up with the “would that be funny if someone did that to you”. I got the appropriate response.
July 28, 2007 at 5:01 pm
mruffolo said,
July 30, 2007 at 2:34 am
Zola said,
I hate to burst your bubble but: everyone else found that funny.
Why? Because of the set up. It was two brothers using youtube to ask Barack Obama a question that was not used in the CNN debates.
The guy getting hit (within the logic of the bit) understood what was coming and gladly took it. He was in on it. To put this much thought into a silly bit is beyond me. The Three Stooges beat the hell out of each other for years…what are we supposed to ban those films? How you navigate from a stupid sketch on a silly show to those horrible male suicide and war statistics is beyond me. It’s apples and oranges to me. But while you want to complain over your perception of unfair, unbalanced male abuse in the media, you might also turn your gaze over to the hundreds of hours of ‘torture porn’ horror films that fill out local multiplexes and video rental establishments. The victims in these films are 99% of the time women. That stuff (which eventually will run forever on cable channels) is far more disturbing than the same “Kicked In The Nuts” bit that we’ve seen for over ten seasons on “America’s Most Funniest Videos”.
Why is it funny when men get hurt? Because we are (supposedly) the more dominant sex (maybe this will all change with a female President, but I doubt it
Don’t worry about the lack of females being treated violently on TV: the victims on CSI, Law&Order, Dateline, are predominatly female. But perhaps a woman laying dead in a pool of her own blood (which we see daily) is not as disturbing to you as two dumbasses on a sketch show.
July 31, 2007 at 1:38 pm
scottkirk said,
The femi porkers are just eating so much feminist pork at congress that they can’t even hold themselves up anymore!! The femi-porkers are collapseing under their own weight!!
July 31, 2007 at 3:06 pm
Zola said,
You angry at the ladies? Too bad. Maybe Mama didn’t breast feed you enough.
Boo-hoo! Grow a pair and stop crying like a little pre-teen femi porker!
July 31, 2007 at 5:41 pm
Zola said,
You angry at the ladies? Too bad. Maybe Mama didn’t breast feed you enough.
Boo-hoo! Grow a pair and stop crying like a little pre-teen femi porker!
Correction: I CAN speak coded hate speak!
July 31, 2007 at 5:42 pm
scottkirk said,
Its femi-porker pigs like youreself that have cultivated the anti-male hysteria that is causing massive civil rights violations for men/fathers/boys!!
Don’t worry little femi-porker..one of these days you might meet one of these men who you have indirectly imprisonned because of youre hate speech!!
July 31, 2007 at 8:20 pm
scottkirk said,
“you might also turn your gaze over to the hundreds of hours of ‘torture porn’ horror films that fill out local multiplexes and video rental establishments.”
may i suggest you discontinue “gazing” at this “torture porn”..It’s really not that good for you!!
July 31, 2007 at 8:28 pm
Zola said,
I never said I “gazed” at torture porn, I merely suggested you take a gander.
My point being that far more offensive material exsists in the realm of “entertainment”. Seeing how much anger you have towards the ladies, I’m sure you’re they’re target audience. I also did not “reflexivelly” turn my comments into “wait women are the real victims here”. POINT ONE: The article did not find one dumbass hitting another dumbass in the nuts funny. I disagreed and said it was (a la the Three Stooges) funny. POINT TWO: I found the link between this silly bit on a sketch show and some overall attack on the American male to be spurious. POINT THREE: My remarks about the debasement of women on TV was not to say that “they” are the real victims, rather to show that when it comes to art and entertainment both sexes are “debased”. What one may object to in the arts says more about ones own sensitivity.
But then, any man that refers to women as “Femi-Porkers” is beyond a reasonable discourse. POINT FOUR: I don’t know what civil rights violations for men/fathers/boys you’re talking about, but if you’ve lost contact with your son because his mother finds your views towards the other half of humanity creepy, well, I might agree with her there. But If you’re just using the very real and devastating issue of divorced fathers who being treated unfairly by the courts as justification for your spewing hate? Well that’s creepy too.
Either way the amount of venom you hold towards women is palatable, ugly and says more about you and your shortcomings as a man than anything else.
August 9, 2007 at 1:09 pm
shatteredmen said,
Zola…whenever a woman is a victim, you can be sure the person responsible will be punished to the fullest extent of the law often by other men. Remember “Dirty Harry” and “Sudden Impact” or I think it was “Unforgiven” where several men were killed for scarring a prostitute?
When you and your feminist friends start holding women accountable for their actions, then and only then will you have something to complain about. Until that time, it is the feminist that appear to hate women because they treat adult women as children while they hold young boys far more accountable then they do these women.
August 16, 2007 at 11:01 pm
shatteredmen said,
Scottkirk did not refer to women as femi pork but as typical, you and your feminist friends have to read all women into anything that is said about FEMIST. Here it is again:
scottkirk said,
zola i hate to burst youre bubble …but youre femi pork funded anti-male juggernaut is coming apart!!
The fact is that much of the abuse men face is at the hands of the Violence Against Women Act. This act empowers women to BE violent and it excuses them from all responsibility for their part in any domestic disturbance.
The fact is that it was written with only feminist at the table although thousands of people were pressing for a real gender neutral act. This included the Independent Women’s Forum. Yet no one from an opposing view that had unbiased research which shows women are as violent as men were allowed to sit at the table. This would be like Congress writing racial relations laws and inviting only the KKK to advise them.
Check the facts regarding the VAWA
http://www.mediaradar.org/
http://www.shatterdmen.com/VAWA%20too.htm
http://www.shatterdmen.com/pagetwo.htm
August 16, 2007 at 11:16 pm