That Feeling When by Nikhil Taneja: The war for jokes against the wokes

Emotion vs ethics: asking for accountability is no laughing matter. We need to find better, kinder ways to express anguish at people in positions of power

Comedy is dead. The internet is now unfunny. The Left has murdered jokes. Anytime a comedian makes an edgy joke, the woke mob, which is perpetually hiding behind the shadows, waiting for their moment to strike from a very high horse, leaps into offence en masse, to attack and cancel the comedian from being funny ever again. We are now doomed to live in a world without jokes, as stand-ups fall in quick succession, like a pack of ill-fated cards with only Jokers in it, cursed to a hellscape of podcasts, Reels and tweet storms, so they can somehow raise their suppressed voices, against all odds, to their… umm... millions of followers.

In the age of outrage, should comedy be politically correct?

The power of the mic

Okay, so maybe jokes are not dead. I just made, above, a very sorry attempt at humour myself. But hey, I’m no comedian, and my life and career do not depend upon how much I push the boundaries of humour to an audience that was, allegedly, once accepting of any and all jokes, but is now too touchy, sensitive, self-serious and ever so quick to be offended.

This too-sensitive audience is accused now of being ‘snowflakes’. The enduring points of view of everyone from Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais to Samay Raina closer home, is that comedy is the last bastion of free speech, and asking comedians to ‘censor’ their material is akin to sentencing their careers to death by hurtful tweets. Or even worse: to the exact same career, with no difference whatsoever, but armed now with a war rant of the noble battle for telling risqué jokes against the reactionary wokes.

If I had to momentarily walk in the sneakers of these hallowed comedians, I’ll be the first to say that I kind of get where they are coming from, especially in light of Will Smith literally smacking Chris Rock at a very public event, and Dave Chapelle being attacked on-stage a few weeks after that. The whole world, in the midst of a never-ending pandemic and a chaotic global political landscape is certainly in need of a *lot* of chill. Attacking comedians, or anyone for that matter, physically or verbally, is not cool, and we need to find better, kinder ways, as a society and as digital natives, to be able to express anger or anguish at people in positions of power.

But let’s not kid ourselves. Anyone holding the mic undoubtedly has power. And if you’ve got power, you’ve got to be okay with being held accountable for it every once in a while.

Cool to be kind

Yes, the screams for being heard can sometimes get loud, but so many comedians have built their careers on being brash, so why not have the ability to take what you so often dish out? The truth is: it’s glamorous to say that the Left has power to ‘cancel’… but if the Left truly did, wouldn’t it be *in* power (sorry, Left)? On the other hand, most public figures, who have launched into tirades about cancellation, have often gone on to make just as much, or even more money, as they always did, because the powerful (especially cis-het men) do not truly lose anything, except sometimes the love and respect of a few who ask more, and better, of them.

It is for this love that they should and must try and do better (Logan Roy can laugh all he wants). When jokes are hurtful not to oblique sentiments or feelings, but directly to the identities of the marginalised or the oppressed or those in any kind of pain, it is sometimes worth measuring your response not in clap backs but in compassion.

Because it is not censorship that is being asked of comedians, it is empathy. And when there comes a choice between being funny and being kind, it’s cool to be kind.

Nikhil Taneja is a writer, producer, storyteller, public speaker, feeler of feelings, men’s mental health advocate and co-founder of Yuvaa

That Feeling When is a fortnightly column that offers a relatable take on mental health and emotional well-being.

Catch Nikhil Taneja’s column every fortnight in HT Brunch. It will next appear on July 30, 2022.

From HT Brunch, July 16, 2022

Follow us on twitter.com/HTBrunch

Connect with us on facebook.com/hindustantimesbrunch