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[Atrus]

I'm not offended by Cyanide or Happiness or PA because I can understand the nature of the use is in jest, but I can also see where some people might be offended however it is unusual.

Typically, the trope is that male on male rape is funny:
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeIsFunnyWhenItIsMaleOnMale

The most absurd point however, is that for whatever reason, the misgivings against rape as comedy supersede ALL other tragedies.

For instance, PA could (and probably did) joke about genocide, torture, slavery, or just plain murder, and it would have been okay.

The same goes for episodes of Cold Case where you apparently can make up as horrific an event as you want (man who steals eyes, man who steals hearts, cannibals, etc), but nudity however is more heinous than near torture porn scenarios.

Frankly comics should just not care. Something is offensive to someone.

 

[Lain]

In the first form the word isn't taken seriously.

I'm going to stop checking this thread now, the amount of ignorant people here is unbelievable.

Consider using the word rape for a joke the same as using the word retard for a joke. Respect victims. It's not funny.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satire

 

[v0yce]

:lol

I forget how good Tycho's writing is sometimes. Where else are you gonna find a phrase like "sampled a cavalcade of world class vaginas"?

Junior High?

if you are offended with this, you have a lot of fucking issues. In fact, I dont understand how can you go through the day if this makes you outraged...

It is fucking silly. I dont get this new world anymore.

Probably because you've never been raped and have little ability for empathy.

 

[Mumei]

Typically, the trope is that male on male rape is funny:
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/newreply.php?do=newreply&p=22836580&noquote=1

What did you mean to link to?

 

[Curufinwe]

I'm offended by the lack of funniness. I'll never in a million years understand the popularity of PA.

I feel the same way. I've never got so much as a chuckle out of anything on Penny Arcade.

 

[Atrus]

What did you mean to link to?

Whoops, sorry about that. The link was to TV tropes.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RapeIsFunnyWhenItIsMaleOnMale

 

[Deputy Moonman]

I feel the same way. I've never got so much as a chuckle out of anything on Penny Arcade.

Same.

Personally, I've never understood why people get such a kick out of offensive material. That's basically our culture right now. Comedy has taken a turn for the worse imo and has become increasingly reliant on crude humor as a crutch. In the end, I see it as unimaginative and cheap. Who needs to come up with something funny and original if all you have to do is slap on some offensive words, instead? While not exactly related to comic strips, I have a real appreciation for comedians like Brian Regan and how they can still be hilarious while keeping their material predominantly clean.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Junior High?



Probably because you've never been raped and have little ability for empathy.

I was forced to suck a dick when I was eight.

I went to therapy. I laughed at the comic, not because of rape. That's just creating a fucked up scenario the NPC is living through every day, what I find humorous is the response of the players character. His complete disinterest in the NPC's plight.

The joke isn't about rape, the joke is about game players. Once they've hit the milestone expected of them in the quest, fuck everything else!

 

[thcsquad]

Same.

Personally, I've never understood why people get such a kick out of offensive material. That's basically our culture right now. Comedy has taken a turn for the worse imo and has become increasingly reliant on crude humor as a crutch. In the end, I see it as unimaginative and cheap. Who needs to come up with something funny and original if all you have to do is slap on some offensive words, instead? While not exactly related to comic strips, I have a real appreciation for comedians like Brian Regan and how they can still be hilarious while keeping their material predominantly clean.

If your impression of Penny Arcade in general is offensive humor, I don't think you've actually read Penny Arcade.

 

[Chemo]

I can't believe they even acknowledged the whiners... I certainly wouldn't have, had it been my comic. Do whatever the fuck you want to, Penny Arcade guys.

That said, I don't particularly care for Penny Arcade, but thought this strip was pretty funny. Then again, I don't cry like a child with skinned knees every time something potentially offensive is said, though, so maybe I've just been blessed with good perspective and a dynamic sense of humor.

Serious (read: disgusting) sense of entitlement here, offended people. It's not your comic. If you don't like the direction it's going, you know what to do. (Fun fact: Blogging about your feelings? Not the way forward.)

 

[Rodney McKay]

They are DICKWOLVES. What else are they suppose to do to people?


P.S. Don't tell these people about the woodland critters from South Park.

 

[Flavius]

Same.

Personally, I've never understood why people get such a kick out of offensive material. That's basically our culture right now. Comedy has taken a turn for the worse imo and has become increasingly reliant on crude humor as a crutch. In the end, I see it as unimaginative and cheap. Who needs to come up with something funny and original if all you have to do is slap on some offensive words, instead? While not exactly related to comic strips, I have a real appreciation for comedians like Brian Regan and how they can still be hilarious while keeping their material predominantly clean.

In all seriousness...

What cave have you been living in/rock have you been hiding under/plastic bubble have you been inhabiting?

Jackie Gleason did a very popular show 60 years ago during which he regularly threatened to beat his wife...and holy shit!!!!...people laughed!

And you know what? It's still funny as fuck.

It simply isn't for you. Nothing to puzzle or ponder here.

 

[fernoca]

In all seriousness...

What cave have you been living in/rock have you been hiding under/plastic bubble have you been inhabiting?

Jackie Gleason did a very popular show 60 years ago during which he regularly threatened to beat his wife...and holy shit!!!!...people laughed!

And you know what? It's still funny as fuck.

It simply isn't for you. Nothing to puzzle or ponder here.

Pow!, right in the kisser.

The problem is just the usual "selection".
Many choose choose when or what is offensive, or because they don't know what's going on; otherwise they laugh.

 

[charlequin]

And while triggering a traumatic memory is a serious issue, I'd argue PA is relatively well-established as unsafe reading for somebody with a serious rape-related emotional trigger.

This is really what kind of gets me about the whole situation. I totally understand the idea that "I won't read Penny-Arcade because it's potentially triggering," and I think it's only right to apply much more discretion and consideration to interaction with strangers or people whose triggers you don't know, or when discussing things in a more public, open forum.

But this is a strip with a history of inappropriate content continuing that tradition by publishing another strip with inappropriate content, on their own website where no one is forced to look at it. It is about the most reasonable environment (other than "in complete private with only trusted friends") to make such a joke.

I feel bad for people for whom something even seemingly harmless like this is traumatic due to their own experience, but I don't think wiping culture clean of potential triggers is the appropriate way to deal with that problem and I don't think phrasing an objection in the way some of these objections were phrased is productive when "I'm personally not willing to read PA because I don't like this aspect of their content" communicates the same point in an entirely reasonable fashion.

Or is there a list of which kind of victims it's okay to mock the trauma of, and which kinds are off-limits?

Unfortunately, it's not that uncommon for people who object to any kind of comment that they see as offensive to their own personal experience to simultaneously be blithe about comparable comments about other issues.

I consider myself unabashedly a feminist and I do think that this issue is a lot more complex than "people should make whatever jokes they want, wherever they want" but there's definitely an insularity that emerges in many groups based around discussion of how oppression interacts with cultural issues and what comes out of that insularity can be pretty bizarre.

Personally, I've never understood why people get such a kick out of offensive material. That's basically our culture right now.

There is literally no moment in history, in any culture that has ever existed on the Earth, where humor has not reveled in the inappropriate, the boundary-pushing, the offensive, and the crude.

 

[FLEABttn]

There is literally no moment in history, in any culture that has ever existed on the Earth, where humor has not reveled in the inappropriate, the boundary-pushing, the offensive, and the crude.

No kidding. If crude humor offends you, avoid any Shakespeare comedy.

 

[dLMN8R]

Junior High?



Probably because you've never been raped and have little ability for empathy.

Where is your empathy for those who have been dismembered, tortured, etc. when Penny Arcade has made jokes about those in the part? You heartless, cold, disconnected bastard.

 

[Monocle]

The original comic is hilarious, the outrage over the line "raped to sleep by the dickwolves" is hilarious, and PA's response to the prudes is hilarious. Arbitrarily sensitive people lose, the rest of us win.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

Guys I just watched the latest episode of South Park and there was a joke about Jewish people on there. Long-time watcher here, certainly find it amusing enough when they make jokes about scientologists and catholics, but this time they crossed a line. :/

 

[S1lent]

The original comic is hilarious, the outrage over the line "raped to sleep by the dickwolves" is hilarious, and PA's response to the prudes is hilarious. Arbitrarily sensitive people lose, the rest of us win.

"Arbitrarily sensitive"...yes I believe that's the perfect phrase for them.

 

[wondermega]

this has turned out to be one of the more surreal (and thought-provoking) threads I have read on this here videogame discussion forum in some time..

But it is pretty timely, and considering where our society is/always has been (witness the popularity of Bed Intruder Song) on topics considered taboo, I guess it is not surprising in some ways. It's just a bigger deal in PA's case since they have a larger audience now. Anyway, I am curious if most of their "disappointed" emails were from Americans or if a fair share of it was from elsewhere.. (probably an easy answer to guess)

Anyway, sorta on-topic, I was thinking to make a particularly taboo videogame satire (YouTube video), which would directly fall in line with what's being discussed here (read between the lines) - I think the particular idea is HUGELY funny, and I am attracted to the attention it could get me (I have something to sell, and a potentially successful viral video is a goldmine). But I don't want to piss people off, either, esp. as I am a little guy. So I need to think if there's a way I can do it where it can be "taboo without being offensive," it's tough.. I guess even early on with PA, they had come to this point where they had to decide "what am I gonna be going forward? Sanitize it for the masses, or just screw you to everyone who has a different opinion?"

 

[Luigiv]

The situation in which said fictional rape occurs is absolutely ridiculous and is paired alongside other terrible occurrences (abuse, slavery), making the whole thing an absurd joke based on the NPC's suffering and the nonchalance of the wolf hero.

There's no glorification of rape. There is no concrete imagery for a rape victim to be traumatized by. In fact, the entire scenario is so absurd as to be almost impossible to imagine in a coherent form; how is one raped to sleep, and how does a wolf that has four erect phalluses for limbs accomplish this feat? The word "rape" is simply a tool, a word paired with other terrible words to impress upon you the ridiculously dire situation set for the NPC, and gives a starker contrast to the absurdity of the quest. Replace "raped to sleep by dickwolves" with "stabbed to sleep with knife wielding bears" and you get an equally absurd situation impossible to coherently imagine. Why would a bear wield a knife?

So why not use rape in this context, where all it really means is "this is a terrible thing that is happening to this character." We can't use the word rape anymore because the mere mention of the word might hurt someone?

Then that person should know better than to read Penny Arcade.

P.S. If you want to read something that will CONCRETELY impress upon you the horror of rape, read The Rape of Nanjing.

Shit, I was depressed for three days afterwards.

You put my thoughts into words perfectly.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Guys I just watched the latest episode of South Park and there was a joke about Jewish people on there. Long-time watcher here, certainly find it amusing enough when they make jokes about scientologists and catholics, but this time they crossed a line. :/

Seriously.

Most of the world experiences stuff as bad, that's life. Most of us have seen someone die in front of us, either slowly (cancers, heart problems), or quickly (shooting, car crash, accident of some kind). Just as many have been sexually assaulted in one form or another.

That's what being a sentient animal gets you. What matters is who you are after the trauma. If you can move past the point that you lost someone, or lost all sense of control for your own future, your body, yourself.

It's not like I like remembering being trapped in a garage and being forced on a cock, but that moment will never define me.

There's no humor in rape, no, but it can be used to show you the apathy gamers find in an NPC's scripted and often short life. Leading to the humor in the comic. So sad it's funny.

Fuckers making me think deep.

I need to find a thread to shit up.

 

[freddy]

You'd think they'd realize the sensible and non-hypocritical thing to do would be to shrug and move on.

Are you talking about he rape victims on that blog, some of the people in this thread or both?

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Are you talking about he rape victims on that blog, some of the people in this thread or both?

Pretty sure he means the viewers of the comic.

It's a comic...

 

[A Link to the Past]

Okay, so rape jokes are bad.

Does that mean that we cannot make jokes about murder, because people have been murdered?

Rape is bad, but murder is worse, yet because murder, unless combined with rape, is not sexist in some way, feminists don't complain when it happens.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Okay, so rape jokes are bad.

Does that mean that we cannot make jokes about murder, because people have been murdered?

Rape is bad, but murder is worse, yet because murder, unless combined with rape, is not sexist in some way, feminists don't complain when it happens.

Rape is bad, but rape jokes can be funny.

Just like physical violence is bad, but violent jokes can still be funny.

At least to me it's never been about the act that makes a joke funny, it's the truth it reveals about people.

 

[Wthermans]

Same.

Personally, I've never understood why people get such a kick out of offensive material. That's basically our culture right now. Comedy has taken a turn for the worse imo and has become increasingly reliant on crude humor as a crutch. In the end, I see it as unimaginative and cheap. Who needs to come up with something funny and original if all you have to do is slap on some offensive words, instead? While not exactly related to comic strips, I have a real appreciation for comedians like Brian Regan and how they can still be hilarious while keeping their material predominantly clean.

Reactions are funnier than any pun.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

 

[freddy]

Pretty sure he means the viewers of the comic.

It's a comic...

I didn't actually expect a response but I'll take one from a handsome monkey with a shiny butt.

 

[Thunder Monkey]

I didn't actually expect a response but I'll take one from a handsome monkey with a shiny butt.

You don't want to know what I do to frogs.

 

[spats]

I thought it was funny. Guess I'm a soulless sociopath that loves rape then.

 

[Segata Sanshiro]

This thread just took a sudden turn for the sexy.

 

[A Link to the Past]

Rape is bad, but rape jokes can be funny.

Just like physical violence is bad, but violent jokes can still be funny.

At least to me it's never been about the act that makes a joke funny, it's the truth it reveals about people.

Precisely. Imagine if slapstick were outlawed!

But I mean, whatever her name was argued that rape jokes were making rape a normalcy of the world, as if it isn't already. Don't all jokes of all kinds do this, if rape jokes do? It's not like a rape joke makes people think "lol, the idea of a person being forced into sexual intercourse by one or more people is hilarious".

 

[freddy]

You don't want to know what I do to frogs.

It can't be all that bad. Warm, if not completely dry and if I get a hungry I can always nibble on a fig or two. It's all good.

 

[Stahsky]

People getting angry over jokes


what a joke

 

[Thunder Monkey]

It can't be all that bad. Warm, if not completely dry and if I get a hungry I can always nibble on a fig or two. It's all good.

The last one died in my tender embrace.

 

[Christine]

Family_Circus.gif

Not funny, man. There are lines you just shouldn't cross.

 

[Aaron Strife]

Hey man, I know someone who died when it was raining.

 

[freddy]

The last one died in my tender embrace.

You saved him a trip to heaven then. He was already there

 

[spats]

Hey man, I know someone who died when it was raining.

I once knew a man who had a similar hat as your avatar.

You'll be hearing from my lawyer.

 

[neorej]

Thought it was funny. Then again, I noticed how the rape wasn't the actual joke. So maybe some people need to develop a sense of humor and get rid of their high horses.

 

[Branduil]

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Hey man, I know someone who died when it was raining.

I don't want anyone to mock those that have been raped.

It's not a fun experience. It is traumatic. An act that can't be accurately described.

You're left humiliated, you feel completely unclean in your very being. I was really young when it happened. I'd honestly forgot it for the majority of my life.

When it started flooding back it answered a lot about the person I'd become. Why I had issues with control and the real reasons I'd never really put myself out there. Why I lived the majority of my young life feeling completely beaten.

You should understand that.

I can see why it would be harder as an adult to cope. It's easier to start over new when your mind is still developing, surprisingly easy to forget at that age. It was just a bad dream.

But on the flipside those jokes rarely glorify the act. The act is a catalyst to the deeper truth revealed.

The humor is in that truth, not the violent act.

 

[goldenpp72]

This is stupid, yeah, rape is a horrible thing, so is murder and kicking puppies. However, not only is the rape portion not the joke, but it's not even aimed at a particular person, the fact people seem to think we should never be able to joke again about something because it happened to one person shouldn't affect them. If they do, they're pussies.

PA has a huge range of 'insulting' humor, gay jokes, rape, murder, all that shit, no one seemed to care before -_-

I've had bad things happen to me, really bad, traumatizing things, I bet most have, and if anyone were to make jokes that pertained to the same subject matter, i'd not give a shit, now if a friend made the joke about ME perhaps i'd get pissed.

It's a fucking web comic :/

This thread makes me think that

Anything involving murder (all video games)
Anything involving dismemberment (many video games)
Anything involving exploding buildings (many games)
Anything mentioning rape (shit loads of movies, books, etc)

Etc, should be banned. Because at some point, all of that stuff has caused harm or killed. I know people that have died, and I know games that make a joke out of death, should I throw a hissy fit?

 

[Dabanton]

Seriously this whole issue is a giant facepalm.

The joke was about NPC quests and the 'rape' joke was a small throwaway part of it. I don't see how it's blown up like this and that blog was shall we say very strange.

Rape is disgusting in all it's forms, someone very,very close to me was raped when she was younger but she never let it destroy her. Some of the people in that link seem to be and i hate to use the word they seem to be wallowing in it. It's actually pretty disturbing reading the little world they've created over there where debate is frowned upon.

I mean how do they function day to day in the real world?

 

[dreamcastmaster]

Seriously this whole issue is a giant facepalm.

The joke was about NPC quests and the 'rape' joke was a small throwaway part of it. I don't see how it's blown up like this and that blog was shall we say very strange.

Rape is disgusting in all it's forms, someone very,very close to me was raped when she was younger but she never let it destroy her. Some of the people in that link seem to be and i hate to use the word they seem to be wallowing in it. It's actually pretty disturbing reading the little world they've created over there where debate is frowned upon.

I mean how do they function day to day in the real world?

In the real world someone would tell them to STFU and stop being so melodramatic. In the real world they would stay quiet rather than hide behind thier keyboards. That comic is in no way offensive only for people looking to find things to be offended by.

 

[Slavik81]

Yeah pretty much this.

Never heard of a group going all self-righteous on someone for making an "I'm gonna kill you" joke. Sucks that rape happens and that the mere mention of the word makes some rape victims "flashback" or whatever, but if that's the case then they should probably be in counseling or something because it means that person probably still has some related issues to overcome.

It's particularly important to also note the context. This is not something that Gabe and Tycho are throwing in everyone's faces. The only reason you'd hear rape jokes is if you purposefully go to visit their website.

To hear these jokes you have to choose to hear them. It's like a guy with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder deciding to go watch Saving Private Ryan. Why would you do that to yourself?

 

[Mama Robotnik]

They're back onto merely murder today. Does this one not cross-the-line far enough for someone to get offended? What about those who lost someone to murder? Shouldn't we think of them now?

For anyone who was offended by the dickwolves, but not the above, can you tell me where the line is please?

 

[Thunder Monkey]

Seriously this whole issue is a giant facepalm.

The joke was about NPC quests and the 'rape' joke was a small throwaway part of it. I don't see how it's blown up like this and that blog was shall we say very strange.

Rape is disgusting in all it's forms, someone very,very close to me was raped when she was younger but she never let it destroy her. Some of the people in that link seem to be and i hate to use the word they seem to be wallowing in it. It's actually pretty disturbing reading the little world they've created over there where debate is frowned upon.

I mean how do they function day to day in the real world?

Speaking from my own experiences not well.

Rape is the theft of your basic sense of control over your own body. That's kind of a hard thing to get back.

I'd been in therapy for years and never unearthed the trauma. The true source of my issues. If it wasn't for my brother I wouldn't have any memory of it today. I've been able to move past the trauma but it took nearly 20 years to get there.

 

[stolin]

Rape is not a funny word in any context.

George Carlin - Rape humor