Comedy Central: Fat American kids should be BURNED ALIVE for entertainment

[classics]

Last night passing through the channels I came across a show on Comedy Central called 'Tough Crowd'.

One of the topics ont he show was fat children, and the show was generally just a lot of bashing about how they should be made to suffer for thier own good. The same old same old, pays the bills.

At the end of this show one of the regulars, Judy Gold, suggested that a solution to there being so many fat American children is that they should be SET ON FIRE because the burning process would make them lose weight, and that its just FUN to watch them die that way.

I wish I were making this up.

Americans have now been whipped into such a irrational genocidal hatred of fat people that so called 'comedians' are actually screaming that fat American children be BURNED ALIVE FOR ENTERTAINMENT, and the crowd CHEERS IT.

Comedy Central is certainly no friend to fat people, getting much of thier material from the humilation of fat people or fat comics who gladly humilate themselves. But its frightening and telling that given a chance to review such a horrifying endorsement of genocide against our own children, they aired those comments anyway.

So I guess its perfectly OK now to advocate murdering American children on television because they have a medical condition?

And for those of you who will respond saying its just good fun and comedy I would ask, how is burning a poor child alive FOR ENTERTAINMENT ever 'funny'? How much hate do you have to be filled with before this is just 'shits and giggles'?

How is advocating the murder of Americans on television.. 'funny'?

[ibegurpard]

1. I agree that this is not funny at all.

Tasteless in the extreme. However, please don't state that oveweight children are that way because of a "medical condition." There may be some but the majority of overweight kids are that way because of a sedentary lifestyle and atrocious nutritional intake. There's no excuse for villifying them but excusing it to a medical condition is masking a very serious problem.

[classics]

4. And your belief they 'do it to themselves'

has exactly what to do with advocating killing children for fun?

You dont believe that the word OBESITY exists in a medican dictionary and is a disease?

Many people who end up in wheelchairs 'did it to themselves' by jumping out of planes or driving cars. Is that an excuse to now advocate murdering them?

[ibegurpard]

8. Hello?

Very nice of you to completely discount everything else I said and see ONLY what you wanted to support your outrage. I agree that jokes at the expense of overweight people are cruel. I agree that this was beyond the pale. Now, can you take the chip off your shoulder long enought to try to LISTEN for a second? When you say "medical condition" that implies to me that childhood obesity is something innate that can't be helped. That is a VERY bad thing to be saying. We should be encouraging exercise, activity, and proper nutrition. Childhood obesity is ON THE RISE because of poor nutrition and lack of activity. That's preventable. And it should be fought VIGOROUSLY. It's unhealthy both physically and mentally. At the same time, we DO need to recognize that some people ARE naturally different when it comes to body size and that being cruel to them for it is inexcusable. Now, which of my statements are you going to cherry pick to continue playing the victim? :eyes:

[classics]

13. Hi.

> I agree that jokes at the expense of overweight people are cruel. I agree that this was beyond the pale.

This is not a joke. Its advocating MURDER FOR FUN.

> When you say "medical condition" that implies to me that childhood obesity is something innate that can't be helped.

I implied nothing of the sort. Obesity is a medical condition that required life long rehabilitation and access to medical care. It IS A DISEASE and the cure is not BURNING ALIVE.

>That is a VERY bad thing to be saying.

No its a good thing. People who are sick need access to medical care, not assholes who will scream at them they are 'gross' and need to be murdered.

> We should be encouraging exercise, activity, and proper nutrition.

Yes... all the things a DOCTOR would suggest to help curb OBESITY.

> Childhood obesity is ON THE RISE because of poor nutrition and lack of activity. That's preventable. And it should be fought VIGOROUSLY. It's unhealthy both physically and mentally.

Its not quite as unhealty as denying the condition is a disease that needs treatment, nor is it quite as unhealty as being murdered by burning alive.

> At the same time, we DO need to recognize that some people ARE naturally different when it comes to body size and that being cruel to them for it is inexcusable.

Suggesting that our American children should be BURNED ALIVE FOR FUN is not 'cruelty', its outright public advocacy of MURDER AND GENOCIDE against a group of people whos only common trait is suffering from a disease, preventable or not.

> Now, which of my statements are you going to cherry pick to continue playing the victim?

None.

[Dogmudgeon]

7. Punishment for obedience

That "sedentary lifestyle" that you speak of is far from a "free choice" made by a bunch of morally weak children raised without benefit of biblical morals, patriotic training, military discipline and corporal punishment (as a RWer might describe it).

Schools require children to sit in place for 6 hours or more per day. Schools have also been increasing the amount of homework children are assigned, and the trend became out of control when a generation of anxious parents sought the "competitive edge" for their children through extra demands. Children are still punished by "being grounded", and for two entire generations of kids, after-school employment has become mandatory, and that employment is often light on physical activity -- but there's lots of free food in most of the jobs.

To cap it off, a lot of neighborhoods are not safe enough to play in, especially for the children from lower-income backgrounds, who (surprise!) are often fatter than the children who have to pencil in an hour at the gym to keep their bodies lean enough for people to love them.

Fat, frightened, and obedient followers. That's what our society is turning our children into. "Personal Choice" and "Personal Responsibility" are merely the newest forms of the prod and the whip.

--bkl

[ibegurpard]

9. where did I say it was a free choice?

Jesus fucking H. Christ! It's a HUGE GODDAMNED PROBLEM that we have to deal with in society! Did I say that these kids DESERVE to be treated like shit for this? I said that excusing obesity as a medical condition is ignoring a big problem. Now get off your fucking high horse!

[classics]

10. Obesity is a disease that requires access to MEDICAL CARE.

NOT MURDER BY BURNING AT THE STAKE.

[ibegurpard]

12. obesity is a condition

that is mostly preventable by giving kids proper nutrition and lots of activity. And your completely RIDICULOUS assertion that I somehow agree that they should be burnt at the stake is beyond laughable.

[classics]

14. You make excuses for it.

You call is 'a cruel joke'.

This is not a joke. Its advocating murdering children for the pleasure of watching them die.

Thats 'funny' to you? Cruel but funny?

[Name removed]

19. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[classics]

20. Give me a break.

If your going to defend murder of children as a 'joke' at least have the balls to stand up to your comments.

As for your insane 'disease' point, I suggest you get a few medical books on diseases. Suffering from a disease process that requires medical care has ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to do with how one obtained the condition of if it was preventable or not.

Your position is absolutely insane. From your position AIDS should not be considered a disease because people mostly get it from preventable behaviors.

[ibegurpard]

22. No give me a break

You've managed to twist what I've said into my defending these statements. THAT is insane.

[Forkboy]

23. Dont worry

not many will fall for it,and the ones that do are probably not worth worrying about anyways :)

[Name removed]

24. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Forkboy]

25. that's beside the point

:evilgrin:

[Forkboy]

82. that last post shoudn't have been removed

he was joking with me,and I knew it.

[mitchum]

92. I also understand what you are saying...

and I agree with you (wonder of wonders!:))
You are not being insensitive or callous.

[mitchum]

93. I also understand what you are saying...

and I agree with you (wonder of wonders!:))
You are not being insensitive or callous.

[OpSomBlood]

76. If obesity is a disease, why has it increased dramatically...

...in the last 20 years?

And by the way, nobody here endorsed burning children alive...not even Judy Gold. It was a joke.

[StephanKetz]

79. It's so sad

you are right

[CTLawGuy]

58. woah

settle down, ibegurpard is not advocating the murder of fat people. HE/SHE AGREES WITH YOU!

[SemperEadem]

69. No one is disagreeing with you

so why do you continue to beat it into the ground as if they were?

The only thing that was said is that not every overweight child is that way because of a medical condition, which is a true and fair statement. There are many factors which contribute to pediatric obesity, but to say they all stem from a medical condition is incorrect.

Your angst on the issue is understandable because what was said on the program was plain wrong and if you'd take time to read what was written here instead of insisting upon being angry from what you want to interpret from a glossing over of a post, you'd find that no one has yet to disagree with you on that point.

[Dogmudgeon]

18. Re-effing-lax

I was ranting about society and its response to obesity.

I know quite well what you were saying. But when you incorporate blatant and inflammatory RW talking points like "excusing obesity", you have to expect it to evoke the outrage in people.

I was a fat kid, and I got no end of "constructive discipline" for my problem, which was also described as "huge" ("huge" like the fat kid -- get it?) It was always a cause for adult alarm and outrage. The word "excuse" was frequently used. The diets were always externally imposed, punitive, and painful. The fact that I could have had major problems (like endocrine tumors) occurred to no one until I was over 18 years old, because medical problems count as a collective "excuse."

Speaking of high horses, the problem is usually the wrong choice of a saddle.

--bkl

[Cheswick2.0]

46. wait wait wait

Ibegurpard.... you know I am a fan of yours. But saying obesity is a medical condition is a fact, not an excuse. Heart desease, high blood presure, cancer and many other medical conditions are also self induced in most cases. When someone gets lung cancer do you get upset when someone calls it a medical condition or disease? Do you say blaming it on cigarettes is an excuse?

If you look at a fat kids parents you will notice that they are probably fat too.... so how much control does that child have over his or her condition? Less than an adult who chooses to smoke I think.

Maybe you have some ingrained prejudices you need to examine. I am guessing you have never had a serious weight problem.

[CTLawGuy]

60. the family could be fat

due to genetics, yes, or to lack of discipline. If parents are undisciplined about THEIR eating habits, and THEIR exercise, they will pass that same lack of discipline on to their kids.

Obesity is a condition which causes medical problems. Obesity is defined as having a body fat percentage over a certain number, depending on gender. For men it is over 25% body fat. You can cure obesity by consuming fewer calories and expending more calories than normal. It's that simple.

I can't rule out genetic predispositions to obesity, but knowing how the body works, it seems to me that it's more the attitude toward eating and exercise thats passed on in the home environment.

[ibegurpard]

68. The only issue that I take with what you said, Cheswick

is the implication that I blame it on the kids. I guess I wasn't clear enough about that. Good nutritional and lifestyle habits have to come from the parents, although there are some kids who have weight problems even though they are active and eat healthy. If that was the case, I would definitely take my kid to a pediatrician to make sure there was not some sort of underlying medical condition to cause the obesity.

Bottom line: The comments were disgusting, period.
In my opinion, obesity is something we should be making every effort to prevent in children, however, we have to be VERY careful that we don't allow that position to be somehow taken as condonement for rephrehensible attitudes towards overweight people.

[Cheswick2.0]

43. people with heart desease and diabetes often cause their own medical

condition too. It is still a medical condition.

[Dogmudgeon]

2. Comedy's downward arc

Once Upon A Time, comedy was something subversive, novel, and compelling.

Now it's all about immature semi-ethnic white middle-class conservative-but-hip guys who are angry at the world for depriving them of poontag, privilege, authority, affluence and "street cred".

Yes, yes, I know, there's a whole lot of exceptions to that rule, even among comedians who are white males, but there has been a flood of boorishness that has continued unabated since the stand-up comedy explosion of the middle 1980s (and you thought the 1980s were all about Flock of Seagulls, huh?)

I have no doubt that the "comic geniuses" behind "Tough Crowd" wrote and performed such a thing. Just be glad they weren't upset that men and women fight a lot, or that L.A. and NYC are different.

--bkl
Take my cable subscription ... please.

[Cheswick2.0]

48. Bravo and you are absolutely right

Just note how many supposedly progressive people will rant and rave about how sick they are of political correctness when they really mean they are sick of having to be considerate of other non-white, non male people.

[thebigidea]

3. that show is where bad comedians go to die

horrible, horrible swill.

you feel sorry for the rare decent guest that somehow stumbles into range.

you feel sorry for yourself for watching it.

you wonder why Colin Quinn is allowed to have a career.

[Kipepeo]

90. Colin Quinn is an asshole

And his show is offensive every single night, but what's probably more astounding is that it's not even funny. Yet it stays on Comedy Central? I think Fox "News" would be a better home.

[NewHampshireDem]

5. Colin Quinn ... well, actually, he never was funny ...

and that show sucks. It's generally a bunch of b-list comics trying to out-rush-limbaugh each other ... sad and unfunny. I guess CC is trying to strike a balance with "The Daily Show." You know ... TDS is left-wing, TC is right-wing ... TDS is funny, TC is unfunny ... John Stewart is smart, Colin Quinn could gets lost in his own bathroom ... the list just goes on and on.

[Cheswick2.0]

49. <grin>

TDS is funny, TC is unfunny

Good post

[Liberal Classic]

6. Even funnier because Judy Gold is

A Democrat. And a lesbian two, she's mentioned it on the show. She also has a very mean sense of humor, told Greg Giraldo that he wasn't a hispanic to his face once.

[0rganism]

11. Perhaps a backhanded reference to Swift's "Modest Proposal"?

A MODEST PROPOSAL

FOR PREVENTING THE CHILDREN OF POOR PEOPLE IN IRELAND FROM BEING A BURDEN TO THEIR PARENTS OR COUNTRY, AND FOR MAKING THEM BENEFICIAL TO THE PUBLIC
...
I have been assured by a very knowing American of my acquaintance in London, that a young healthy child well nursed is at a year old a most delicious, nourishing, and wholesome food, whether stewed, roasted, baked, or boiled; and I make no doubt that it will equally serve in a fricassee or a ragout.
...
more: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~rbear/modest.html

[Bunny]

15. I wonder that myself.

Judy Gold does not seem the type to advocate burning fat kids. I didn't see the show, but I wouldn't be surprised if she wasn't being really sarcastic. She's a Dem, and a lesbian.

[thebigidea]

16. the worst thing is, its not even borderline funny

like most everything she says.

[Kinkistyle]

30. It was probably satire: Gold is no waif

She's been up and down with her weight, so I would think she would know what its like to be a "plus size". I am guessing she was being satirical.

[Forkboy]

17. Well the skinny ones go out too quick

here,let me save you all the trouble;

BOO HISSSSS :spank:

[bicentennial_baby]

34. Good one!

Hehe...

[OKNancy]

21. I don't get it sometimes

Why do people care if someone else is fat? Does it offend you to see fat people like "how dare they offend my eyes with their unappealing self".

Is is that a person "cares" for the poor things? I don't think so.
I think it is a mass hysteria that makes young girls starve themselves, guys take steroids, women get breast implants when they don't need them, and many other actions taken all in the name of "beauty". I do NOT believe all this concern is because one cares about another persons health. And if you do care about a strangers health......I say butt out, it's none of your business.

Oh, and I know what a response will be from the nannies....it hurts my pocket book because these people are a drain on the healthcare system. There are hundreds of other actions that people do that are drains on the health care system....let's go after them while we are at it. Or better yet, let's have single-payer universal heathcare!!

[markses]

26. What I really want to say

(even though I'm supposed to know it's wrong):

It's fairly simple: Stop feeding the kids McDonald's and sitting them down in front of videos and video games. Less empty calories, more exercise. When I was a kid (and I'm talking the 80's here), there was always one or two fat kids in every grade. One or two. Not a whole posse of fat asses rolling around. And we were fucking poor! Is it a class problem? Yes. Do poor people have less education about nutrition and less time and money to eat healthy? Yes. But even though we were poor, I suffered through generic canned vegetables (awful); having a slice of pizza was an event for me, and McDonald's was only for other kids' birthday parties. And we fucking played OUTSIDE all day, running around in a dangerous neighborhood, getting our asses kicked once in a while, playing baseball, football, basketball, soccer, street hockey, war, manhunt, ring-and-run, whatever - as long as we were running, jumping, throwing or otherwise exerting energy. Less empty calories, more exercise. There's not a great medical mystery here. Fat Albert could only be Fat Albert because not all the kids were fat. The vast majority of childhood obesity is because of poor parental discipline, poor nutrition, and not enough exercise. Like it's a big fucking mystery that at the same time that kids become more sedentary due to excessive TV and videogames, and that food becomes more fat-laden and processed, kids get fatter? No. You don't even need a nutritionist: Less empty calories, more exercise. Those who are obese for other and unavoidable medical reasons are fairly rare (one or two in a grade of sixty), so let's just cut the bullshit.

(Oh, but I know this is wrong. We should all feel victimized by Judy Gold's poor attempt at humor, and pretend that she is advocating murder. Yaaargh. I'm so angry at Judy Gold and the culture! Now let's all head down to Burger King, kids, and get ourselves some shakes!)

[SmokingJacket]

55. yer right of course

but the world has changed. If your parents were benignly neglectful in the old days (50s-80s), you just watched TV till you got sick of the game shows, then ran around outside until it got dark (my childhood, more or less). Now it's harder to run around, because all the other kids are inside with their cable TV/computer/video games. In the old days, McDonald's was a treat; now the food is actually a lot CHEAPER than real food.

My point is, in the old days, it was easier to be healthy. Nowadays it takes WORK. You have to be an active, involved, slightly obsessed parent to make sure your kid doesn't get fat. I don't let my kids watch TV, because it's so much more appealing than it was in my day -- and they can't tear away from it. So they play outside a lot, but since NO ONE else in the neighborhood is out there, there are fewer eyes to watch my kids, and I have to do it all myself. Raising kids the old fashioned way is hard -- not just a matter of letting them run wild.

I'm not making excuses for anyone. Letting your kids get fat is CRUEL and, I believe, child abuse. (Except in the cases where there's a metabolic problem of course.) But it's not a simple problem that will be solved by telling people to lay off the shakes.

Getting the crap out of school lunches is a start. Increasing PE will help too.

[TahitiNut]

66. In the "olden days" ....

... the choices available were predominatly from local mom'n'pop stores and local businesspeople. We drank milk from local cows. We ate produce from the local produce truck or farmer's market or a grocery store that had local suppliers and distributors. The "chain stores" were there but were only about 25% of the places we shopped for food. The chain restaurants were rare. Remember, McDonald's is a relatively young corporation. Even Big Boy was far more locally owned and operated, with franchisees afforded far more latitude and responsibility for their menus and supplies.

No more.

We eat corporate food. We wanted year-around bananas and we got them. We also got food grown and selected for its shelf-life, transportability, and ease-of-handling ... not nutrition, not absence of industrial substances, not taste, not the health of the consumer.

In corporate Amerika, there's very little room for "niche" tastes among the large unwashed. The mass-distribution and mass-production steamrollers have decimated the local family farmers and mom'n'pop green-gorcers.

And the 4x3 Cyclops infests our homes with 24x7 propaganda for the corporatized society ... where "normal" (average, "C", mediocre) is lionized and worshipped ... because it's cheaper to handle, manipulate, store, and reprocess.

We are a society of the cheap. Cheap tastes. Cheap morals. Cheap values. Cheap lives. Cheap "leaders." Cheap thrills.

[JNelson6563]

99. My kids aren't fat & it's not hard

First of all I don't feed them crap and I only allow them so much "screen time" (computers and TV) before it's turned off and they have to find something else to do.

I send lunch to school with my kids. I don't obsess at all about keeping them active. Through 6th grade they had gym and recess. In the winter there is snow to shovel, in the summer there is yard work to do. So even if they don't "play" outside there are always tasks they can help with.

We are not rich and for several years, early in my kids' lives, we were pretty darn poor. During those years I couldn't afford to feed them in a way where they'd be fat, just didn't have the grocery money. Processed foods, fast food, all that stuff is much more expensive. Oh and I worked full time for most of the years my kids have been alive so it's not like I had buckets of time to be a super mom or anything.

Too many excuses for this form of child abuse/neglect, not enough honesty.

Julie

[sendero]

27. Your response is hysterical.

Someone said something that offends you - now what do you want to do? Take them off the air permanently? Burn them at the stake?

DO YOU HONESTLY THINK JUDY GOLD IS 'ADVOCATING' BURNING PEOPLE? REALLY? If you do, you are the one with the problem, not her. Her offense is that she reached and failed to be funny. You are clearly hypersensitive about this and you are really overreacting. Did you ever consider that maybe her comment was an ironic parody of current thought?

And besides, what were you doing watching Tough Crowd? The show sucks, it has always sucked, Quinn is trying to do Politically Incorrect but neither he nor his guests have the intellect or comedic chops to pull it off.

I fully understand how fukked it is to be a fat person in America. Everyone could stand to consider a little more compassion. I have never been fat (despite what my kids say) but was once very skinny and believe me for a male that isn't much better. This current faddish fat paranoia will pass, as everything else in this shallow culture does. On the other hand, MOST people are fat as a result of diet and lifestyle choices. That may really tick you off, but it is the truth.

There is plenty on the airwaves that is supposed to funny but isn't. This isn't even a particularly good example IMHO.

[classics]

32. Not funny at all.

> DO YOU HONESTLY THINK JUDY GOLD IS 'ADVOCATING' BURNING PEOPLE? REALLY?

Sorry did you think I was paraphrasing? What she said is a QUOTE.

> If you do, you are the one with the problem, not her. Her offense is that she reached and failed to be funny. You are clearly hypersensitive about this and you are really overreacting.

I'm overreaching? A woman goes on national television and says our children should be BURNED TO DEATH for our entertainment, and *im* overreaching?

You are rationalizing in the extreme here. What she said is a quote, not a paraphrasing of some joke in poor taste. She said American kids should be killed by setting them on fire, and that she though it would be fun to see them run around that way.

>Did you ever consider that maybe her comment was an ironic parody of current thought?

Her comment being on a channel called 'Comedy Central' does not make it parody. She clearly said she wanted to see them die by being set on fire. There was no punch line. There was nothing funny about it.

> And besides, what were you doing watching Tough Crowd? The show sucks, it has always sucked, Quinn is trying to do Politically Incorrect but neither he nor his guests have the intellect or comedic chops to pull it off.

Its like watching a car accident, what can I say.

> I fully understand how fukked it is to be a fat person in America.

Somehow based on your comments I seriously doubt that.

> Everyone could stand to consider a little more compassion.

Asking that people not go on television and shout that little children be burned to death for being fat is 'compassion'? I'd call it common sense.

> I have never been fat

Then please dont make comments about how you 'fully understand' what its like to be to fat in America. You may know some fat people and watch fat people in the grocery store, but dont pretent you 'fully understand' what its like to be fat when you are not. Thats no different from a white man saying he 'fully understands' how bad it is to be a black man in some parts of America... he doesnt, he cant.

When someone goes on national television and says they want to BURN YOUR CHILDREN TO DEATH FOR FUN and the crowd CHEERS, come back and tell me you understand.

> On the other hand, MOST people are fat as a result of diet and lifestyle choices. That may really tick you off, but it is the truth.

It does not tick me off, you can hold any opinion you want about why you think fat people are fat, but it also has nothing to do with the subject of Judy Gold advocating burning American children to death as 'comedy'.

Unless of course its your way trying to say that its ok for her to say that because they are just 'fat kids'?

[markses]

That she said it

doesn't mean she was in fact advocating a real policy to that effect, as every sane person knows. For all I know, she was mocking people who have something against fat kids. You're posts are flailing around like lunatics.

[classics]

37. You obviously didnt see the show.

Wait for the chip, its not mockery or satire.

[markses]

40. Bizarre

Continue on with this line of argument, I suppose. You can't be taken seriously.

[FredScuttle]

75. You must have been plenty pissed at Henny Youngman then...

all those years of asking total strangers to take his wife...the nerve!

[Hekate]

28. Except for "The Daily Show" this channel is worthless garbage

There may be some other redeeming program, but every snippet I've seen has sent me diving for the remote.

DU the management and let them know how you feel about this hateful "humor."

Hekate

[stanwyck]

70. agree, with one other exception

Chapelle's show. That and The Daily Show are the only worthwhile programming. I would love for Comedy Central to do with The Daily Show what they used to do for Maher's Politically Incorrect. Run back to back shows on Sunday of the previous week's shows.

[Kipepeo]

91. agreed to both with another exception

Didn't they used to rerun Absolutely Fabulous? That was worth it too. And Reno-911 has it's moments. But The Daily Show and Chapelle Show are the best, hands down.

I can't even leave the TV on for Tough Crowd or The Man Show without feeling assaulted. Vomit.

[LizW]

29. "Tough Crowd" is a horrible show

Turn the tv off after "The Daily Show"!

[RossMcLochNess]

31. It was funny because...

its such a ridiculous idea. Its called humor. The show appears on the COMEDY CHANNEL. She wasn't on the nightly news advocating this. It was a freaking joke! Not all jokes are funny to all people. If you don't find things funny, don't laugh and turn the channel. No big deal. When the first child dies because someone took her "advice", come talk to me. But its not going to happen because everyone knows it was a JOKE. There are too many things in this world to be happy about. Loosen up a bit, enjoy them! :)

[classics]

36. Please explain.

Again just because a channel called 'Comedy Central' aried it does not automatically make it high satire.

Whats funny about killing american children by burning them to death?

Please explain in detail to me in what context it is funny to burn American childen to death for Judy Golds personal entertainment?

Please explain how it was 'supposed to be funny'. Where did it go wrong? The burning to death part, or the her watching and getting off on it part?

[markses]

39. Oh please

Nobody was burned to death and nobody watched anyone being burned to death. Nobody was really ar5guing for anyone to be burned to death. Your arguments are foolish, and obviously have more to do with your own personal issues than with Ms. Gold's mildly unfunny commentary. Get real.

[classics]

42. So no explination?

Come on you claim to know its just a joke, explain it to me.

[markses]

45. You don't need an explanation

You need some perspective. If you need someone to tell you that a comedian on a comedy channel on a comedy show was not in fact arguing for the public burning of American children, then there's little anyone can do to help you.

[classics]

47. So anything on that show is a joke, no matter how foul?

They can say please burn all the black children in America to reduce the future prison population and its not hate, its just a joke in poor taste?

When you start saying you want to watch children die by burning them to death you have LEFT THE DOMAIN OF COMEDY.

[markses]

50. If she meant it in earnest

Then it would be bad. If she was joking, then she can suffer the consequences for a bad joke, but only those who are themselves ridiculous would take it as a serious policy proposal, as you do here.

I'll let you deal with your own fat kid issue, however, since you're the sensitive one. That said, comparing the struggles of fat kids to the African American struggle in America is disingenuous on its face, and more than a little disturbing. None of this exists in a vacuum; it is all colored by history. You want to raise a class issue with childhood obesity? Then do so. Childhood obesity is often a symptom of the dreadful and oppressive class structure in America, in which the working class has little time, money, or education for a healthy and nutritious diet. That's an issue. You want to raise a gender issue or a race issue about what constitutes "overweight," or an issue of a media industry that favors and normalizes some bodies over others? Do so. But this laughable line of argument you are running makes you sound school-marmish and ridiculous. Get to your real issue. I hope it's not about "self-esteem," or some other such nonsense. At present, it seems to be all about you and your precious feelings, rather than about a real political issue with some, ahem, weight to it.

[classics]

52. I made no such comparison.

And you still have not explained in what context watching American children burn to death is supposed to be a 'joke'.

The issue is not what you think you know about me, its about a woman saying she would get off watching fat children burn to death for her amusement.

Are you really suggesting that is comedy? Just a little boo boo of a joke gone wrong?

[markses]

56. It's a category error

Watching American children burn to death is not the joke. The joke is SAYING that it would be funny to watch fat kids burnt, an obviously absurd statement. It's the difference between the event itself (which of course did not and could not happen) and the utterance of the event (which is absurd on its face). That's one of your problems: you keep focusing on the referent, apparently not recognizing the difference in kind between the referent and the utterance. By this logic, you would accuse Swift of being unfunny because eating Irish children is not funny, where the real humor is in the utterance, or the siuggestion that this impossible and horrendous thing should be done. There are no end of contexts in which such an utterance would be funny. I'll just give you one drawn from classical argument, since you ask for only one counter-example. Suppose an aggressive anti-obesity advocate were listing a set of techniquers for reducing childhood obesity, each seemingly more cruel than the last. The counter-argument, after a long list of increasingly restrictive diets and exercise regimes, could be "And if that doesn't work, we can just roast the kids on a spit and watch 'em sizzle." It's an old technique called reductio ad absurdum, and it would make the anti-obesity advocate look ridiculous, and - hopefully - make the auditors laugh. But it relies on an essential difference between the utterance of the event in context (SAYING roast the kids) and the event itself (ACTUALLY ROASTING them), a distinction you - for reasons, given the obviousness of the distinction, that can only have to do with your own biases and predelictions - refuse to make throughout this thread. Saying X and doing X are different. Saying X in a context of humor even implies that X is ridiculous, or laughable. Every child knows this. Not classic.

[RossMcLochNess]

59. markses summed it up for me...

It was a joke. Because you don't find any humor doesn't take away the fact that it was a joke. I found humor but I don't feel the need to explain why I thought it was funny. We obviously have two completely different senses of humor and anything I would say would fall on deaf ears anyhow. When Tom Brokaw says it and means it, yes, be very concerned. When Judy Gold, a COMEDIENNE, says it, ignore it if you don't like it. Plain and simple.

[Cheswick2.0]

51. sure it's funny if you aren't a fat kid

or know someone who is a fat kid.

Get a fucking grip.

[hertopos]

65. No, it's not funny...

Making fun at fat people may be just a cruel joke.
I have an example of very cruel but funny joke ( yes, I laughed when my friend told me. I felt bad afterwards.) at the expense of fat people.
It goes like this.
A fat guy decided to take a roller coaster ride though he realized the safty guard did not come down all the way. When the roller coaster hit a cork screw, natually he fell. The he felt 'Oh, I am free falling, I am weightless.'.

Saying 'lets burn fat kids and that will be fun' is not a joke at all.
Because it is based on the premisis of 'hate setting'.

It's hate speech.
Anyway, I love to see 'Tough crowds' to be gone. Where is FCC. This is the example of real obscene statement!!

[SheepyMcSheepster]

33. don't watch that show if you are offended.

that is their whole schtick, making offensive jokes. some people like offensive jokes and understand them as just jokes, some people don't like offensive over the top jokes. these comedians just try to out do each other. I am no colin fan, he acted like an ass when the AAR crowd was on there. but seriously, don't take them seriously, it is on comedy central and they are just trying to say outrageous things to be outrageous. i doubt this person would actually advocate buring fat children.

do you think swift meant what he wrote in 'a modest proposal'?

[bicentennial_baby]

35. I take it you haven't seen Tough Crowd before

b/c that show goes out of it's way to be over the top offensive in every way. You're taking it waaaay too seriously, so I suggest you change the channel.

[classics]

38. Over the top?

Please explain how saying American children should be BURNED TO DEATH FOR HER AMUSEMENT is just 'over the top'?

[Cheswick2.0]

41. you are right, it is not funny. Imagine being such a child and hearing

that stupid comment? Why not just call for lynching gay kids with their pantyhose or something?

Some people mistake cruelty for humor. She was probably an asshole in middle school and has never changed.

[AG78]

44. Lighten up

It was a joke. Offensive, maybe. But still a joke.

She hates Bush, she's a complete liberal, I believe she has adopted kids. She doesn't advocate buring fat children.

It's just a show, on Comedy Central, at 11:30pm, Monday-Thursday. I doubt this will cause new laws being passed that says fat kids should be burned alive on TV.

She's a comic. You may or may not like her, her opinion, or her comic style, but damn. You took that far too seriously. I doubt comics practice genocide. If a political leader starts talking that way, then we have a problem. Funny or not, it was simply a joke.

[porphyrian]

54. Yes, Please Do

If you don't like juvenile humor, don't watch juvenile shows. Enough people do that there's a market, and this show attempts to cater to that market. You have as much a right to express your displeasure with the show as they have a right to crack what you consider to be tasteless jokes. Are you looking to see where other DUers stand on this, or are you trying to be a censor?

[JimT]

53. lighten up big time!

Nail on the head, AG78. I can't believe how seriously that "joke" is being taken by some in this thread. WTF! Anyone who watched that and believed she was actually and seriously advocating doing that to overweight children needs to turn off their TV and get a firm grip on reality. Don't take everything at such simplisitic face value.

Also, so what if it is offensive? I don't want to live in an America in which all comedy has to be non-offensive and "safe" for every possible person. Anyone who wants that has quite a lot in common with Right-wing Republican religous zealots than they may realize.

[SemperEadem]

71. No kidding--If you want "nursing mom" humor, then stick to "The View"

if you can't tolerate humor with teeth, then don't watch Tough Crowd

It all starts with taking responsibility for what you allow into your space. Don't watch the show if you're overly sensitive because the whole premise of the show is to out-do each other, hence the name "Tough Crowd".

Draw a conclusion.

[CTLawGuy]

57. ah yes

you were watching "The Neo-Nazi Variety Hour with Colin Quinn"

:eyes:

[troublemaker]

61. Get over it

People like the author of this post are the reason Republicans control congress. You folks have made the Democratic party a laughing stock and I cannot even say that laughter is unwarranted when I read stuff like this.

I would vote for George Fucking Bush if the alternative was limiting television to what this poster thinks is funny. (Fortunately we are not offered that choice)

If you don't like something don't watch it.

[Cannikin]

62. AMEN!

[hertopos]

63. I believe obesity is a problem...

But it is a problem caused by the way U.S.A. has become.
Total dependancy on Car, working long hours to the extend nobody has time to cook but eating fast food.
Unlike some people on DU, I don't think being Obese is ok. We have to change our life style so that it become more 'body friendly' and 'earth friendly'. ( BTW, my definition of obesity is according to medical definition. I am not promoting 'model thin'.

'Tough crowds' is an aweful show. I tried once just because it is right after 'Daily show'. Could not stand it. It think it is to 'balance 'Daily show' for RW executives of commedy central.

Back to the topic. This is the level of comment we have to make a huge stink out of it. 'Tough crowds' has to be shut down.

Hertopos

[sadiesworld]

64. Sounds to me like she is playing the

"mean, hateful, liberal" role.

[alarcojon]

67. Cruel Humor

is a big problem in this society. It makes it easier for us to dehumanize others. As a first-generation American, I often find what makes other people laugh to be mean-spirited. Look at Limbaugh....

However, you err (seriously) in suggesting that this lame show is advocating burning fat kids.

[lanparty]

72. Colin Quinn is excellent balance to John Stewart ...

Quinn is slow, dimwitted and un-articulate. He's rude, ignorant, and crude. The only thing I like about his program is the honesty about race relations.

Anyway, Quinn vs Stewart typifies the relationship between the left and the right.

[tom_paine]

73. Imperial Amerika is merely taking on the characteristics of those

who rule her.

[coloradodem2005]

74. Did she think that was funny?

What a stupid bitch. She is a stupid bitch for so much as saying that whether she was sincere or not.

[Forkboy]

77. In the spirit of total overreaction

you calling her a "stupid bitch" is so mysoginistic and hateful that it's clear you hate women.

Hey,this outrage thing is easy!!!!! :silly:

[coloradodem2005]

83. Look

I just don't like jokes about burning people alive. The thought of these things going on makes my skin crawl. I react very stronly to it. The fact that it goes on makes me angry and I don't appreciate jokes about it. It arouses strong emotions in me.

[Forkboy]

84. I react very strongly to misogynistic rants

[coloradodem2005]

85. And if it were a guy, I would have called him something equivalent.

[Forkboy]

87. I see

so jokes about obese people are verboten,but serious comments that put someone down based on gender is ok.

Thanks for clearing that up!

[coloradodem2005]

88. This is not a comment meant to put down someone based on their gender.

I found what she said too offensive for words and I expressed it. Maybe I did not express it appropriately but I was expressing outrage. Not trying to put someone down based on their gender.

[Kipepeo]

94. Bitch IS a comment used to put women down for their gender

It's a sexist slur. And when I hear it used by a man against me (or another woman) I realize I've just been insulted for being a woman...not for what I said or did, just for who I am.

[Mr. Blonde]

78. George Carlin

has advocated the murder of several groups of people before. In fact the majority of his shows have at least one section involving people who need to be done away with. Is he also an unfunny mean person? Or is he the comic legend most believe him to be?

[ikojo]

80. Had Ms Gold advocated burning Jewish children or

black children you had better believe that show would have been taken off the air quickly. There would have been hours spent on "sensitivity training." Her co-workers on the show would distance themselves from her etc. etc.

What many seem not to realize is that humor can also be used to whip people into a frenzy and to dehumanize those perceived as "other."

For some being fat is just the way they are.

GET OVER IT AMERICA!


:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad::mad:

[neuvocat]

81. Send her some pictures of burned children.

Then tell her how to make you laugh at something like that.

[stickdog]

86. Yeah, comedy has really gone downhill since

"The Honeymoooners"

[SoddenRock]

89. Good Grief!

Alright, I noticed that this hasn't been posted in for two days, but this really pokes my boils and I feel like I have to say some things. I can only hope that classic reads this, so please everyone, humor me.

1) What I think was MEANT by people connecting obesity with medical conditions is that, not all cases of obesity are caused by medical conditions. I happen to think that obesity itself is a medical condition because of the terrible effects it has on a person's body and health. However, it can be helped with exercise and watching what you eat, which is a major difference between obesity and AIDS. Currently, there is no cure for AIDS.

2) It was a joke, albeit in extremely poor taste. Simply because the person said it happens to be someone you apparently hate with a will doesn't mean otherwise. When the show is on a network called "Comedy Central," it in fact DOES mean that the vast majority of content IS satire or parody!

3) I do know what it's like to be fat. I was huge (200lbs in 6th grade, 230lbs in 9th) for about 8 years, which is a little less than half of my total life. However, I realized that it wasn't healthy in the least bit. I ate without caring what I ate, I spent (still do, in fact) copeous amounts in front of a computer/TV screen, and I got NO exercise. This was all well and good though, because I was a happy child at a private school where everyone was friends and nobody cared that I was fat. At the start of 8th grade though, I was sent to a public school at which I knew nobody. Also, the PE class was actually more than just stretching. Ridicule for not being able to run? Oh, yes. Very much so. Fortunately, I had a personality and sense of humor, so I wasn't friendless for long. Of course, that was only about 30 out of a shcool of 1000, and a lot of the remaining 970 went out of their way to make life hell for me. I even ended up staying home for a week because I couldn't take the bullying.

Then, when I got to High school, we had to run a mile in PE every other day in under 12 minutes. I couldn't, and everyone knew. It was about then that I realized, this isn't right at all. By then, I'd been walking to and from school every day, so I would justify to myself that I was already getting enough exercise and thus, the mile was unwarranted. This didn't float, however, and I ended up getting into a large argument between my PE teacher and myself. I ended up failing the semester because she and I disagreed about the mile policy(must be able to run 80% of the miles done in the simester, or fail the class).

Now, at the end of my eleventh year, I weigh a somewhat comfortable 180 lbs. I haven't tried recently because PE is only mandatory for the first 2 years at my school, but I'm pretty sure that I could do the mile in under 10 minutes. The problem is, I am still suffering from my early fatness. When compared to the majority of my peers, I'm nowhere near as fit. I still have a lot of body fat. Yes, my lower legs are the size of guns in regards to muscle, but that's the only part of my body where it's obvious. My upper arms and legs are fat. I've got a fair amount of excess skin, and when I lose more weight I don't know what'll happen to it because a lot of my skin (thankfully, none of the visible stuff) is covered in stretch marks.

*phew* Now that I've said all of that, I will again say this: It was a joke. It was a terrible, off-color, tasteless joke, but it was a joke nonetheless. If you take particular offence because you're fat, then that's fine; it's your right. HOWEVER! Because of that, don't try to make it more than it is. If you don't like it, change it. Get out there and make a difference. If you haven't already, get un-fat. If you've done that, then go out and shout from the mountain tops your message on how to get to a healthy weight. I completely agree with you! Parents HAVE TO step in and get help. Society in general should stop making fat people the butt of their jokes, because it's wrong. But putting a rant on this message board won't work, especially when by all outward appearances, it looked to me like you were trying to pick a fight.

That is all. I think I'll save this later so my kids can laugh at me. :)

[tkmorris]

97. Holy Mackerel

Your first and only post ever on DU, and it's a doozy.

This whole thread has been a virtual comedy of misunderstandings and chips that the Pringle people would drool over sitting comfortably atop shoulders. It's just silly if you ask me, and is a good example of what right-wingers are talking about when they mock the PC attitude of Leftists.

It was a joke. A bad one, a stupid one, an insensitive one. One that may well haunt this woman and perhaps it should. But that is ALL it was. I know that she was not advocating the actual event, just making light of the subject. Acting as if she really wants to burn to death fat people is pretty out there and suggestive of a hypersensitivity that borders on severe neurosis.

Welcome to DU SoddenRock! Please continue to post, if this post is any indication you have much of value to add to discussions here IMHO.

[LibertyorDeath]

95. Well that's not Comedy

That's pure shit.

Substitute Black Blind Female Male for Fat

There's nothing funny about this but there's something very SICK about it & a culture that allows it on TV as "Entertainment"

"fat American children is that they should be SET ON FIRE because the burning process would make them lose weight, and that its just FUN to watch them die that way."

[shraby]

96. No matter what causes

obesity, there is absolutely no excuse for anyone to say that children should be set on fire. Whoever said such a thing should be taken off the air and fined mightily. This is not Janet's nipple we're talking about. This is children's lives. That was beyond the pale. NOT FUNNY!!!!!!!

[DoNotRefill]

98. I recall seeing a photoshop thing a while back...

One of the entries said "Teach your kids to shoot: They're too fat to outrun a priest."

Frankly, I thought that was hillarious.

[JNelson6563]

100. Wouldn't that be "self hate" then?

Americans have now been whipped into such a irrational genocidal hatred of fat people that so called 'comedians' are actually screaming that fat American children be BURNED ALIVE FOR ENTERTAINMENT, and the crowd CHEERS IT.

So much of America is so overweight this statement translates into "America has been taught to hate itself". With this I disagree. Much of America is so in love with itself, as it grows in obesity one wonders if there is room for America and Narcissus at the reflecting pool?

Julie

[Nimble_Idea]

101. Hey, read this again buddy

"children on television because they have a medical condition?"
yeah right...

2nd, relax, that channel isn't for you, never go back there because you take things too serious.

[OpSomBlood]

102. Sweet Jesus, why is this thread still alive?

Does anyone here really believe that Judy Gold was advocating the murder of fat children?

Grow some armor, people.

[Deja Q]

103. No shock from me. We're akin to Varos...

It's sad when our society becomes more and more like a realistic version of a sci-fi society.

What's left to say?