Opinion: Ranveer Allahbadia Row — A Bad Joke Is A Bad Joke, No More. Let’s Get Off The High Horse
What should be the penalty of a bad joke? Surely not FIRs and a parliamentary debate?
When it comes to jokes, there are few subjects that are off-limits for English comedian Ricky Gervais. His jokes have touched upon the Holocaust, paedophilia, and even terminal illness among children. Through all the backlash it triggers, however, Gervais remains unfazed.
“They’re (critics are) allowed to hate it. They’re allowed to not come to the show, but it’s not going to stop me doing what I love, and I’m not going to stop it at the expense of all the other people who love it,” Gervais said on a BBC podcast in 2023 after the teaser of one of his Netflix specials triggered a row. “No one has to watch this.”
It’s along similar lines that several social media users are defending podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia aka Beer Biceps in light of his widely condemned “sex with parents” joke on comedian Samay Raina’s ‘India’s Got Latent’. Have we solved all of India’s problems, they argue, that so much time and energy is being spent on protesting against a joke? A crass joke, a tasteless joke, a really bad joke — but a joke all the same?
Why Exactly Has Allahbadia Kicked Up A Row?
So, Allahbadia asked a contestant if he would rather watch his parents have sex all his life, or join in once and stop it forever. As far as taboo topics go — parental sex ranks right up there. It’s an idea most people don’t even want to think about, even if they are walking proof of its reality. Allahabadia, however, didn’t stop at spelling this out — he gave it another layer with the element of incest. Not even worth an uncomfortable giggle in this writer’s opinion, this ‘joke’ was clearly an attempt to employ crude humour simply for the shock value. It wasn’t a slip of tongue or an unguarded moment — copied from somewhere, this ‘joke’ was deployed in a calculated manner to cater to the zeitgeist.
In a world where the quality of content has taken a backseat to its potential to evoke a reaction — preferably disgust — it was the quest for a viral moment. Even so, one could argue that the backlash is outsized (does this really warrant a discussion in Parliament?And FIRs? Seriously?) Should a bad joke land someone in jail? No. Should it get them cancelled? Well… one does have the option to switch off something they don’t like. Sitting on a high horse and pontificating on what jokes should or shouldn’t be cracked leads nowhere but down a slippery, slippery slope. And it’s not just about jokes either. This writer was severely offended by the movie Animal, but no one is going out to file FIRs against Ranbir Kapoor or film-maker Sandeep Reddy Vanga. None of their films, however, is likely to find a place in my watchlist anymore.
A Bad Joke
Comedians are by definition expected to test their limits and push the envelope. There is, in fact, an entire genre of comedy dedicated to all that’s taboo — and for many consumers of comedy, that’s what works. The darker, the better, they say. One of the funniest scenes in the US show Modern Family is when Jay Pritchett takes his stepson Manny to the courthouse for a document on the day gay marriage is legalised. For the viewers, the ensuing conversation — “I have already paid for you…” — is clear because they know the context is Manny’s impending trip to Colombia. For the bystanders, however, the conversation seems like an old guy convincing an underage boy to marry him. And that’s the punchline. Think too much about it, the paedophilia undertone could be termed crass, but the show’s fandom is united in ruling it a laugh riot.
Another American show, Saturday Night Live, featured a sketch that sought to make fun of “mamma’s boys” in a tone that resembled Allahabadia’s ‘joke’.
At the end of the day, it’s your audience that makes all the difference.
Don’t like a joke? Leave a dislike, a bad review, unsubscribe. Move on.
At its worst, a crass and tasteless joke — made at a comedy show no less — is just a bad joke. At its best, it helps expose idiocy.
[Disclaimer: The opinions, beliefs, and views expressed by the various authors and forum participants on this website are personal and do not reflect the opinions, beliefs, and views of ABP Network Pvt. Ltd.]
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