I agree that humor can be a great device for adressing social ills. But there is a fine line between humor and exploitation; watching drug addicts get arrested on COPS seems to evoke laughter from most Americans, but I would difficult to classify as non-exploitative.
Furthermore, there is a tremendous difference between racial humor and intentional cruelty; Dave Chapelle's comedy does not condone or incite violence.
Unfortunatley, in the case of sexual assault in prison, the two are intertwined; men are raped in prison (in numbers even greater than women on the outside) largely due to crass social attitudes that mock their plight.
So before you label me "easily outraged" by a harmless film, I would ask you to imagine if your father or brother had been wrongfully arrested and was raped during his stay. And imagine if that rape led to AIDS infection. And imagine if someone profited of mocking the entire ordeal.
A new film is debuting this week: Bob Odenkirk's Let's Go to Prison. My outrage with the premise of this film has warranted this decidedly alarmist and uncreative post. This movie, debuting November 17, is a comedy based on the sub-human conditions faced by American prisoners, including sexual assault. I feel this is a good as time as any to draw more attention to an old blog of mine, entitled "The Truly "Other" America," and simultaneously call on all progressives to boycott the film.
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Furthermore, there is a tremendous difference between racial humor and intentional cruelty; Dave Chapelle's comedy does not condone or incite violence.
Unfortunatley, in the case of sexual assault in prison, the two are intertwined; men are raped in prison (in numbers even greater than women on the outside) largely due to crass social attitudes that mock their plight.
So before you label me "easily outraged" by a harmless film, I would ask you to imagine if your father or brother had been wrongfully arrested and was raped during his stay. And imagine if that rape led to AIDS infection. And imagine if someone profited of mocking the entire ordeal.