When does humor go too far? When does it cross the line? Is there a line?
Yes, there is a line. It gets crossed a lot, when the humor goes too far.
The line is different for everybody. The tamest piece of writing or the cleanest of clean comedians might enrage some prude who is offended by the glasses bit because it’s insensitive to the vision-impaired.
The real line crossing happens when humor goes after targets unfairly, makes fun of things that ought not be made fun of, and turns off large chunks of the audience.
How do comedians and comedy writers toe the line and maintain a reputation for being a fair-minded “equal opportunity offender”? How do they remain edgy while still not crossing the line?
Monty Python was known for crossing perceived lines, amping up the shock Funny Filter to levels audiences hadn’t seen before. Their movie Life of Brian made a mockery of Christianity and incited protests at movie theaters.
But being more shocking doesn’t cross a line. Heightening any Funny Filter is fair game. Any subject is also fair game. Line crossing is about the target.
The Pythons’ humor never crossed that line. They knew who their targets were. They made regular fun of royalty, high society, government, and religion—perfectly worthy targets.
Dave Chappelle’s angry rant about how there are only two genders crossed a line. It targeted trans people, already an at-risk minority—not a fair target.
If you’re a comedian or comedy writer, you can cross any line you want. Just know that when you do, you risk alienating audiences. You risk earning a reputation as someone who’s not a fair player.
Audiences, on the whole, don’t like seeing people kicked when they’re down. They want underdogs elevated, and authority brought down to size.
They want to see comedy comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable.
That’s the line, and it’s the only line.
This was good for me read, writing some stuff on addiction and recovery and feel I am crossing line all the time. But I am writing, in action. Will keep the volume up, and try out in writing room.
South Park crosses the line constantly. They get a pass because they offend everyone and the use of animation allows the audience to accept the content as just jokes since they ain’t real people. If South Park did its humor with live actors it wouldn’t last two episodes.