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'Ted 2' dogged by claims of racism, sexism, homophobia and transphobia

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Epcott

Member
The problem is, everyone feels it's their duty to climb onto a soapbox and announce their outrage, instead of simply turning something off or showing their lack of interest with their money/viewership. Or, they'll say "I don't very much care for that joke" and keep trying to enforce it on others to make their distaste valid.

I blame social media and the news outlets that make "outrage" stories into sensationalist 15 minutes of fame.
 

Dongs Macabre

aka Daedalos42
The problem is, everyone feels it's their duty to climb onto a soapbox and announce their outrage, instead of simply turning something off or showing their lack of interest with their money/viewership. Or, they'll say "I don't very much care for that joke" and keep trying to enforce it on others to make their distaste valid.

I blame social media and the news outlets that make "outrage" stories into sensationalist 15 minutes of fame.

Voting with your wallet doesn't work. There's no way for your criticism to be heard if you don't voice your opinions.
 

OmegaFax

Member
I can agree with this. Seeing either "this movie wasn't made for you" or "vote with your wallet" are just two different ways of saying piss off.
 
The problem is, everyone feels it's their duty to climb onto a soapbox and announce their outrage, instead of simply turning something off or showing their lack of interest with their money/viewership. Or, they'll say "I don't very much care for that joke" and keep trying to enforce it on others to make their distaste valid.

I blame social media and the news outlets that make "outrage" stories into sensationalist 15 minutes of fame.
Why'd you type this out then?
 

Oersted

Member
The problem is, everyone feels it's their duty to climb onto a soapbox and announce their outrage, instead of simply turning something off or showing their lack of interest with their money/viewership. Or, they'll say "I don't very much care for that joke" and keep trying to enforce it on others to make their distaste valid.

I blame social media and the news outlets that make "outrage" stories into sensationalist 15 minutes of fame.

Your issue is that people voicing their opinion over something racist/sexist. You got some weird priotities.
 
People keep bringing up the Family guy episode where Quagmires dad was transgender.

Am I remembering wrong or did that episode not end with Quagmire and his dad having a nice moment and accepting each other?

I can't remember it being any more offensive than any other episode of Family guy.

The most offensive thing about that show is the outrageous drop in quality over the years.
 
The problem is, everyone feels it's their duty to climb onto a soapbox and announce their outrage, instead of simply turning something off or showing their lack of interest with their money/viewership. Or, they'll say "I don't very much care for that joke" and keep trying to enforce it on others to make their distaste valid.

I blame social media and the news outlets that make "outrage" stories into sensationalist 15 minutes of fame.

You weren't kidding when you said "everyone" it seems!
 
People keep bringing up the Family guy episode where Quagmires dad was transgender.

Am I remembering wrong or did that episode not end with Quagmire and his dad having a nice moment and accepting each other?

I can't remember it being any more offensive than any other episode of Family guy.

The most offensive thing about that show is the outrageous drop in quality over the years.

Stewie and Brian puking for like 5 minutes over Brian making out with Quagmire's dad?
 

Epcott

Member
Why'd you type this out then?

I wrote something about BBC, realized it was a reply to something on page 2, and changed it.



But now that I think about it, maybe people are more vocal about these things now because in the past the viewers/public were just forced to accept it (that, or their opinions didn't make enough of a difference)?
 

lifa-cobex

Member
Same. If a large portion of GAF is offended, then the movie has a good chance at being funny & entertaining. I thought Ted was pretty funny.

I still probably won't see Ted 2 in the theater,but definitely check it out on bluray.

It adds to the comedy when people get offended. It was pissing me off when people kept going on about there fee fee's in the past year or so. But now I'm kinda enjoying the reactions of the couch fainters.
It's kinda like word of mouth advertisement for me.
 
Oh for fucks sake, it's a film specifically geared to be offensive humor, created by the man who kick started a heap of offensive cartoon comedies.

Usually I try to be levelheaded about things like this but man, this overly sensitive outlook on everything is driving me mad. Humor about a topic doesn't mean the creators intend to be "transphobic" or overtly "racist."

People need to accept that certain films, websites, shows or games simply aren't for them if they are so easily "triggered" or offended by simple parody, humor or the use of a particular word.

I'm not defending hatred or bias, but it's clear there is none to be found in a movie about a fucking stoner teddy bear that talks.

This shit needs to stop. This over-sensitivity to every topic is ruining parody. These people demand the world be a serious, organized place with certain words completely omitted from speech so as to not offend a single party in any way.

That's not going to happen and it shouldn't.

TL;DR: Loosen the fuck up, people.
 
But now that I think about it, maybe people are more vocal about these things now because in the past the viewers/public were just forced to accept it (that, or their opinions didn't make enough of a difference)?

The only real difference is you now have platforms that make it easier to reach out to companies and creators. Back in the day, your only option was to write a letter. Now we have websites like Medium, Twitter, Facebook, and email.

You and I now have the power to provide feedback directly. As long as that's fine in a civil manner, it's a right you should exercise. I believe strongly in that.

TL;DR: Loosen the fuck up, people.
I'm not the one posting an angry screed?

Who's throwing a tantrum?

In today's media a movie like "Airplane" would never be made because of all the over-sensitive whiners. That's a damn shame.

It wouldn't?

There's a number if recent comedies that say otherwise. Statements like this trend to weaken such arguments.
 

Slayven

Member
people bring up "so and so" would never be made today are hilarious. The shit they mention is timele4ss, and classic. Which means it was well written, made people think, and might be a bit subversive.


Seth's comedy is non of that.
 

lifa-cobex

Member
people bring up "so and so" would never be made today are hilarious. The shit they mention is timele4ss, and classic. Which means it was well written, made people think, and might be a bit subversive.


Seth's comedy is non of that.

Never really thought it was.
Kick up your feet after work kinda comedy.
 
people bring up "so and so" would never be made today are hilarious. The shit they mention is timele4ss, and classic. Which means it was well written, made people think, and might be a bit subversive.


Seth's comedy is non of that.

Remember that bit in Airplane when the lady asks for some light reading and is given a small paper called Famous Jewish Athletes?

Yeah that shit was deep.
 
Who's throwing a tantrum?

In today's media a movie like "Airplane" would never be made because of all the over-sensitive whiners. That's a damn shame.

"Who's throwing a tantrum? I'm simply insulting people and swearing."

But yes, let's continue to compare "Guy who made A Million Ways to Die in the West" to some of the greatest writers and comedians ever. Hold on, let me link some images of George Carlin and Stephen Fry with things they said taken out of context.

The presence of criticism isn't going to make the movies you like go away, and frankly, your argument amounts to "it's a comedy" - which implicitly reduces it. I'm sure George Carlin would love to see his work defended by people saying "it's just comedy, get over it".
 

kirblar

Member
You can make race jokes without being racist. You can make trans jokes without being transphobic. You can make gender jokes without being sexist.
I'd argue in most cases the things that blow up are blowing up because the writer either

a) does not agree with what you just stated - like the Grantland writer earlier who appears to believe the Kardashians should be "off-limits"

or

b) is incapable of actually figuring out what the target of a joke is and views any mention of race/sexuality/gender as a joke making fun of race/sexuality/gender because they're too stupid/ignorant to figure it out. The "Sickle Cell isn't funny!" thing would fall into this (it's a setup and not the punchline of the Kim K sex tape joke) as would the whole Suey Park debacle.

The reasonable moderated opinions (Seth may be a liberal guy with good intentions, but his willingness to go for the lowest common denominator joke frequently causes him to undercut himself) don't draw clicks/attention- it's the unreasonable ones that do.
 

Oersted

Member
In today's media a movie like "Ted 2" would never be made because of all the over-sensitive whiners. That's a damn shame.


Am I doing it right?
 
The problem is, everyone feels it's their duty to climb onto a soapbox and announce their outrage, instead of simply turning something off or showing their lack of interest with their money/viewership. Or, they'll say "I don't very much care for that joke" and keep trying to enforce it on others to make their distaste valid.

I blame social media and the news outlets that make "outrage" stories into sensationalist 15 minutes of fame.

its not everyone ..its a minor but very vocal group of people,in the gran scheme of things they are insignificant and money talks so they can keep talking and talking but unless your put your money where your mouth is nothing with change

CIGjV2wUYAAzLWU.jpg
 
The reasonable moderated opinions (Seth may be a liberal guy with good intentions, but his willingness to go for the lowest common denominator joke frequently causes him to undercut himself) don't draw clicks/attention- it's the unreasonable ones that do.

But if many here are to be taken at face value, the correct course of action is: Don't like it, don't read it, don't say anything, right?

You are not saying that, Kirb, this argument is to others.
 

Stet

Banned
If you can't see the difference between a sickle cell joke and a joke about speaking jive, chances are you think about jokes about as much as Seth McFarlane thinks about jokes.
 

kirblar

Member
But if many here are to be taken at face value, the correct course of action is: Don't like it, don't read it, don't say anything, right?

You are not saying that, Kirb, this argument is to others.
I'm not talking about you and the other posters- that's directed at the articles that draw the initial thread post in the first place. Sorry for not being clearer on that distinction.
Enlighten me, please
The joke is that there aren't many famous Jewish athletes.
 
I'm not talking about you and the other posters- that's directed at the articles that draw the initial thread post in the first place. Sorry for not being clearer on that distinction.

Oh no, I didn't think you were. Just using part of your post as a jumping off point. We cool.
 
I'm not surprised. I'm usually 50/50 on his stuff. You can tell his intentions, but sometimes it's so low brow it's cringe worthy. I liked the first Ted because I loved a teddy bear doing coke with Flash Gordon. But from the sounds of it, this movie suffers from a sequal trying to one up the origional. Which is a shame, the trailers looked like it was going for the shock value.

I liked a million ways to die too. Though the unrated version killed it for me. Added a bunch of cringeworthy underage sex jokes.
 

danielcw

Member
The joke is that there aren't many famous Jewish athletes.
To me the joke was that the lady asked for something light, but then good something with and odd and oddly specific title.
For me, it could have been anything, you could replace the word Jewish with any Religion or Country or Race or whatever, as long as it sounds a little bit odd, the Joke would still work.
So I don't think the joke is aimed at Jews, or making fun of them.


I don't want to spoil the surprise while you figure out this stereotype on your own.
Fine, but not really helpful in a thread discussing such topics. Besides, somebody else has already awnsered :)
 
I'm not surprised. I'm usually 50/50 on his stuff. You can tell his intentions, but sometimes it's so low brow it's cringe worthy. I liked the first Ted because I loved a teddy bear doing coke with Flash Gordon. But from the sounds of it, this movie suffers from a sequal trying to one up the origional. Which is a shame, the trailers looked like it was going for the shock value.

I liked a million ways to die too. Though the unrated version killed it for me. Added a bunch of cringeworthy underage sex jokes.

I haven't seen a single person who liked it until just now. It took me and my girlfriend three tries to get through it because it was so dull and humorless. That's a big dissapointment for someone like me who loved the original Ted.
 

kirblar

Member
To me the joke was that the lady asked for something light, but then good something with and odd and oddly specific title.
For me, it could have been anything, you could replace the word Jewish with any Religion or Country or Race or whatever, as long as it sounds a little bit odd, the Joke would still work.
So I don't think the joke is aimed at Jews, or making fun of them.
Anatomy of the joke:

"Light Reading" from the passenger refers to something not-serious, short, brainless, etc- think something like People magazine or EGM.

The attendant is using "Light" in its literal sense- "Not Heavy." "Famous Jewish Athletes" is "light" because it' would not be a very big book. It's using the double meaning as wordplay.

It's a joke using/involving race and poking fun at their lack of representation in pro sports, but it's not a racist one (especially considering the film was written by 3 Jewish guys.)
 
But now that I think about it, maybe people are more vocal about these things now because in the past the viewers/public were just forced to accept it (that, or their opinions didn't make enough of a difference)?
It's because many people, specifically minorities and women, didn't have a voice at all. Technology now gives everyone a global platform.

People generally aren't more sensitive or louder these days. They just have Twitter and other social media where they can actually get attention instead of organizing small protests or putting a message in a magazine that people could ignore.
 

Sianos

Member
its not everyone ..its a minor but very vocal group of people,in the gran scheme of things they are insignificant and money talks so they can keep talking and talking but unless your put your money where your mouth is nothing with change

CIGjV2wUYAAzLWU.jpg

woah false equivalences ahoy

No one is saying people of different backgrounds cannot be part of the scenario behind a joke.

The problem arises when the person being of a different background is the entire joke, setup and punchline alike.

You can make jokes about homosexual relationships - they're no different than heterosexual relationships - but when the joke itself is that a relationship is homosexual its not really even a joke any more. A joke where the entire premise and essence is "lol look at those straights being attracted of people of the opposite gender" strikes me as incredibly absurd, so it is equally absurd if a similar attempt at a joke was made about homosexual people. I hesitate to say joke because there is none - there's no creativity to just saying "group x is x!"

People are conflating "objecting to comedy because it touches on sensitive issues" and "objecting to comedy that is poorly done and also offensive in its treatment of sensitive issues". If your joke relies entirely on the "lolgays" or "lolblacks" factor, its safe to say you have a pretty shitty joke and should try a bit harder.
 

Kinsei

Banned
People keep bringing up the Family guy episode where Quagmires dad was transgender.

Am I remembering wrong or did that episode not end with Quagmire and his dad having a nice moment and accepting each other?

I can't remember it being any more offensive than any other episode of Family guy.

The most offensive thing about that show is the outrageous drop in quality over the years.

That episode was terrible.

http://www.thebacklot.com/is-family-guys-seth-macfarlane-a-complete-idiot/05/2010/
 

Sianos

Member
ALSO on a tangent, but a little anecdotal "experiment" I've been working on: whenever a few "acquaintances" of mine get into a habit of making distasteful jokes about things other people find offensive (such as suicide jokes to a severely depressed woman or base "lol you have a dick" to a trans-women) and go on to defend themselves by telling the offended party "you just need to lighten up" "I was just joking, etc., I make a point of finding out something personally upsetting to them. Then I make base, offensive jokes to them about their own flaws, insecurities, and painful heritage. The results I've found are truly shocking: they get very upset and can't seem to take a joke any more... what an odd reaction??? Bonus science points if I follow up by quoting their own justifications and they still don't get my point.

Also, "I'm doing a sociological experiment" works surprisingly well as a justification for being an asshole, maybe people who try and use shock value for cheap laughs should try that defense instead?
laugh.gif
 

sensui-tomo

Member
The only problem i'm seeing really, is people getting upset about what others think of a product they like. Like who the fuck cares, its not like they are calling you those things. I'm seeing lots of people get defensive of things they like. Its why i dont let people get to me who call me transphobic or whatever because i chuckled at a scene or whatever, because i know i'm not transphobic and would do anything to make sure all people are treated the same "as people"
 
Just because you've agreed to some strange non-alignment pact that compels all signatories to only pass judgments of taste ("I like A, others think that A sucks and like B"), doesn't mean outside parties have to. People can have convictions that aren't derived from tongues, noses and habits. People can and will judge artistic worth, ethical worth. People can and will explain why there's worth in something without falling back to their taste. If you can put forth a good argument, then yes, even you who usually only likes and dislikes can absolutely say that something I thoughtlessly like shouldn't be made, maybe because the real harm it causes others is greater than the shallow entertainment I gain. There's nothing diplomatic about choosing or recommending ignorance here, it's damaging. And if it shows that all I'm basing my opinion on is taste, you have every right to reject it when we have a discussion that encompasses so much more.

around and around it goes. as i said before, it would be a sad world if you took out anything that could potentially be offensive to some person/group. thankfully that will never happen!
 
People keep bringing up the Family guy episode where Quagmires dad was transgender.

Am I remembering wrong or did that episode not end with Quagmire and his dad having a nice moment and accepting each other?

I can't remember it being any more offensive than any other episode of Family guy.

The most offensive thing about that show is the outrageous drop in quality over the years.

It's funny how the important part of those 'arguments' are always left out.

I agree on the drop on quality, still love it though. American Dad too.


 

It's really interesting too, because I've seen people cite this episode as being trans-friendly, yet there are blatantly transphobic jokes. I suppose MacFarlane might think that those jokes are more speaking to the character of the other characters' ignorance, but I can't believe how daft he is to think that the episode doesn't come off as yet another trans punchline.

It's funny how the important part of those 'arguments' are always left out.

I agree on the drop on quality, still love it though. American Dad too.

People don't ignore it, people assume it doesn't need to be brought up because common sense dictates that that if that episode is anything, it's not trans friendly.
 
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