Is there a line between black comedy and vulgarity?

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Hey, guys.

I'm known throughout WrongPlanet for my sometimes witty, and sometimes insane posts. You've probably noticed that my style of humor is cynical, satirical, and extremely dark. To go off topic a bit, I graduated from high school last week. Hallelujah. I feel that I've matured even more just by saying that last part. Anyway, let us continue.



If you've seen Ferris Bueller's Day Off, you might be familiar with Jeffrey Jones, the actor who played Principal Ed Rooney. Well, in the early 2000's, Jones was arrested on child pornography charges involving a fourteen year old boy. Yeah. Try watching the movie with that knowledge in hindsight and reap the dark lulz. At least, that's what I thought. I considered posting a demotivational poster featuring Jone's mugshot, with a caption that read "Don't Drop the Soap, Ferris!" However, the angel on my shoulder wholeheartedly disagreed. You can crack jokes about terrorism, suicide (*cough*Heathers), and war, but making a quip about child molestation is a BIG no-no. In fact, it's the equivalent of pissing on a homeless person. On camera. In my heart, I feel as though that there are lines that should never be crossed when it comes to comedy. Wouldn't you agree, guys?

Dear GiftorCurse, I agree with you that any humor ridiculing sexual abuse/taking advantage of children is not humor.
I do remember when Jones was arrested, I do not know which story is actually correct, but I thought it turned out that he picked up a working male prostitute who turned out to be 19 years old.

Sylkat

I disagree. I think that if something is genuinely funny, it doesn't matter how many lines it crosses. To me, there is no subject in the world above being made fun of. Of course there are some subjects that are really difficult to extract any humor from, but that does not mean that they should be entirely taboo.

There is no absolute line between black comedy/ satire and vulgarity. Where the line is will differ substantially from person to person. Some will laugh and some will wince.

A line? yep, it's called the Jeremy Kyle Show. Vulgar because of the sub-human filth that appears on there, yet funny at how pathetically they try to live as human.