I Laughed to TearsThis was a very funny episode and I was laughing throughout, I actually saw the prison show from the second video months ago, and almost died of laughter when I recognized the reference.
There is no topic in the world that is taboo for humor.  This blog routinely makes fun of The Pope, many around the world consider this very offensive and taboo.  But freedom of speech is freedom of speech, nothing is immune from mockery.
So the question in the title is irrelevant, the answer to “is it ok to make fun of XXXX?” is always yes.  The real important question is “was it funny”?  I thought it was.  

I see that question as no different than the questionIs it okay to make fun or rape?

Was it funny?On one Boondocks episode, they joked about the Ann Coulter character being trans/used to be a man.
I know if someone here on PHB did, a ton of bricks would surly fall on that person.
In my opinion, rightfully so.
 

a little correctioni may be incorrect but I don’t remember a Boondocks episode joking about Coulter being transgender. I do remember the episode making the claim that she is faking her conservative credentials and is in actuality more ghetto than “Sheniqua Jones on the corner.”

No, it’s not okay to make fun of rapeRape isn’t funny. Ever.
This has been another edition of “Simple Answers.” We now return you to your regularly scheduled program.

Like I saidNobody is immune from mockery, transgendered people included.  Obviously here it would not be welcomed, just like mockery of the Pope would not be acceptable in a Catholic forum.  But it is certainly not taboo to make fun of anyone in popular culture.
Folks are too sensitive, willing to lock hands with fundies and try to take a show off air because their feelings get hurt (not talking about you specifically).  I am against censorship, be it the right wing jackboot of “decency” or the left wing jackboot of “political correctness”.  People who are offended by the show shouldn’t watch it.              

The jokewas how far she had grown in public prominence and her living as a man in the past was no big deal.

slowly. it’s too much of a jump to rushplease bear in mind that no one said a word about censorship. I am against censorship also but there is nothing wrong with discussions on just how far some thing should go. such things are healthy.

Concerning the issue of making fun of male rape As someone who was sexually assaulted back when I had to live as a male. No.

Nope.Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope.
Because if you can justify male on male rape, you can simply justify rape.
Which you cannot. Nope, nosiree.

So, you wanna make fun of rape?Have you ever been raped? No? I didn’t think so. The people who make fun of rape have never been raped or have someone close to them who’s been raped. No one deserves it. No one.  

Your question is too vague.Is it legal? Yes.
Should it be legal? Absolutely.
Is it in good taste? No.
Are individuals within their rights to tell the show/producers/sponsors they thought it was in bad taste? Yes.
Are individuals within their rights to stage a boycott of shows/sponsors who refuse to stop promoting it? Absolutely.
I have no personal experience of sexual assault, but one of my personal hobby horses is prison reform. That we allow – even condone – dehumanizing brutality in our prisons says many not good things about our society, IMO. We can’t lower ourselves to the level of the criminals we’re supposed to be protecting ourselves from, and people put into animalistic survival conditions too often come out animals instead of people.
The raping Chris Hansen thing gave me a second of savage satisfaction, though, because I have huge issues with the whole premise of that show. An adult posing as a child engages another adult in sexual chat. No crime is committed, because no child was ever involved, but the arrestee thinks there was a child involved, and that’s what counts. We’ve truly entered the era of thought crimes. And way too many people don’t see a problem with that, because it’s done with good intentions. The ends justify the means, apparently.

It’s not okay.Ever. And I had such a high opinion of the show after the Gangstalicious episodes. (I missed the Coulter episode.)

Oh here we gowith the “you’re too sensitive” argument.

These are the people we representMy attorney boss represents, among others, prisoners who have suffered egregious harm in the correctional system. Most of them have been raped, either by fellow prisoners or by guards, sometimes both. Usually serially. Their lives have been ruined by this. They all, to a one, have PTSD and severe emotional problems. If they ever get out of prison, they will never be whole again.
Rape ruins lives. It’s never funny.
Rape in prison ruins lives. It’s a widespread symptom of how America as a matter of course dehumanizes our inmates. It also normalizes sexual violence and turns it into routine punishment, something to be mocked alongside bad food and orange jumpsuits.
Rape is never funny. And mocking it, making light of it, only makes it seem more okay to do, more normal. And what decent human being wants rape to be normal?

not-rapeI’ve had the line toed with domestic abuse and sexual assault, so topics such as these make me very skittish.
Boondocks isn’t my cup-of-tea, nor is Friends, Glee, American Dad, or The Cleveland Show. Heck, I haven’t even viewed the clip because of my disinterest, but I can’t say talk about it should be censored, but I agree that bad-taste would be an appropriate label.

One More ThingPeople always accuse the fundies of thinking sex is worst than violence, that they care more about a woman’s breast in a movie than James Bond killing a hundred people in another film.  That they are aghast at Brokeback Mountain, but drag their children to see The Passion of the Christ. A very valid criticism.      
However, it seems that people here are guilty of the same double standard.  Last episode of the Boondocks Granddad slapped Riley in the face so hard he fell down.  The episode before that there was a gun battle between police and a drug gang with multiple depictions of people on both sides being killed, and children stuck in the middle of the crossfire.  The one before that had a child running around with a gun committing multiple felonies.  The one before that had multiple beatings of children by adults and an onscreen decapitation.  All are played for laughs.
I would say all of these are as bad as joking about prison rape.  But because prison rape is sexual violence as opposed to ordinary violence like murder, it gets special scrutiny.  I don’t understand people being up in arms against depictions of rape but not against depictions of murder or child abuse…    
       

Who here said any of those depictions were funny?No one.
Not one person here has said that anything else shown in Boondocks (which I don’t personally watch) was funny, as opposed to making light of rape. There is no special scrutiny here; no one has compared rape jokes to anything else used as humor fodder.
We’re talking about whether joking about rape is funny and ok. It’s not. End of story. If you want to discuss whether playing up gang violence for laughs is funny, you are certainly free to write a diary about it.

I remember the stripIn the strip Huey was talking to a conservative who voiced his belief that Ann Coulter is hot. Huey’s response was, “Sir, Ann Coulter is a MAN.” The caller responded with, “Wait…does that mean I’m gay?” The strip finishes with Huey answering, “It might.”
Couldn’t say if the strip was ever incorporated into an episode, having never watched the show.

From personal experienceBeing raped is like having your innocence murdered  

I didn’t say thatI just said I find it odd people are outraged over the show making light of rape but not over it making light of murder.
As for it being funny or not, depends on your sense of humor.  Judging by the fan reaction to the episode, many people find it pretty hilarious.  

No argument hereBut being beaten and starved by your parents isn’t like that?
I kinda see the point zazu is trying to make. Personally, I didn’t even know there was a show called Boondocks, and now that I know, I won’t make a point to watch it. For all of the reasons mentioned here, including zazu’s.

I am sorrySorry you had an experience like that, cannot even imagine walking in your shoes.  I worked in an emergency room and am still haunted by the rape victims we got, no idea how someone could cope with something like that happening to them, just witnessing it was horrible.
Nobody is saying rape is anything less than one of the most despicable crimes imaginable.  I personally favor the death penalty for rapists, no mercy to anyone who can do such a thing.  Certainly these “people” should never again walk free.  
But we cannot make a subject taboo for humor.  Humor is often how we deal with topics we as a culture find uncomfortable to talk about.  Gay rights wouldn’t be where it is today if it wasn’t for humor, people laughing at gay characters on TV shows helped pave the way for the gay rights struggle.  If you make a subject off limits to humor, you risk having it taken out of public discourse all together.  

You have got to be kidding. “There is no topic in the world that is taboo for humor.” Um, yes there is. We’re not talking about making fun of the Pope, and we’re not talking about freedom of speech.
Would you roll in laughter at somebody making fun of genocide? Women being raped and murdered? Snuff films? Animals be tortured on film – would that be equally hilarious? Maybe somebody could create a parody of turtles being burned alive in the Gulf of Mexico? Or children being raped on film for sale to pedophiles?
Some things are taboo for humor. And one of those things is rape.

This sounds like an appalling show. I have never seen it, and don’t plan on doing so. The only poster here defending the show is you, upthread, so I’m a bit confused.

I’m very confused about what point zazu is making, because he seems to be taking three different positions in this thread.At the top of the thread zazu says that he finds the show to be hilarious. Then he tells us that we’re being too sensitive about rape and not sensitive enough about other things, even though nobody else in this entire thread has defended the show. Then he’s telling us that we’re all censors. And now he’s accusing all of us of being hypocrites for being offended by jokes about rape but not other things.
For the record, I’m offended by attempts at humor that belittle the truth about rape, as well as child abuse, murder, genocide, torture, cruelty to animals, and a host of other awful things. And I don’t plan to watch this show Boondocks. Not my cup of tea.
For the record, I believe in the right to free speech and think that very few things should be censored. Believing that something should be legal doesn’t mean I won’t protest them, though.

I think instead of making fun of prison rapeAaron McGruder could use his show to talk about the disproportionate number of black males in prison due to our “War on Drugs” in America. Blacks and whites use drugs at around the same rate but you see more blacks in prison for drug crimes.
He obviously hasn’t read the book “The New Jim Crow” by Michelle Alexander.

This hits home.One of my loved ones is in prison and I hope that so many of the horrible things you hear about in prison don’t happen to them.
I’m probably being naive but you know the saying, “Ignorance is bliss.”

Usually, I LIKE Aaron McGruder..And I think The Boondocks has it’s moments of laugh out loud funny. Obviously, this is NOT one of them. I’m in the NO camp. No, rape is not funny. Ever. Joking about rape isn’t acceptable in polite company. Ever. Then again, you’re talking to the person who thought Passion of the Christ was a disgusting orgy of horrific violence that should have been made NC-17. There is NO WAY any kid should have been allowed to see it. Or any adult for that matter.
That said, I hate to say that I personally think there will be more hell raised over the depiction of Tyler Perry in the other episode than this. Mainly because there are a lot of people desensitized to violent sexual assaults in prison-or out, unfortunately.

Fortunately I’ve never been ….raped;but I’m well aware that rape jokes aren’t appropriate and can possibly be retraumatizing. There seems to be a double standard though. Male on male rape, particularly prison rape, is often viewed as funny. While male on female rape is viewed by society as the horrifying,traumatizing event that it is. Rape is rape and it isn’t funny.

All I can say is, wow.Like… WOW.  This is the second clip I’ve seen of this show.  The first was a clip of the grandfather character (I think he’s the grandfather?) beating the two kids (the main characters, if I remember correctly from the strip) with some cane or something.
Needless to say, I don’t plan on becoming one of this show’s loyal viewers.
Freedom of speech blah blah blah, but some things you just don’t poke fun at.  And the animation is just realistic enough to make it super creepy.

Do you think…the show could get away with a humorous parody of male on female rape?

I’m fine with it.Why do the people always attempt to police comedy?  Once you put limits on it, it just – straight up – is not comedy.
There was obviously no malicious intent with this joke.  It was pretty creative.  It’s not a serious joke (which, should go without saying, is contradictory) and doesn’t portray rape in a positive light.  What is really so horrible about it?  Do you really take a comedic adult cartoon on Cartoon Network/Adult Swim this seriously?  What about the many dark comedies with jokes featuring rape – or other equally dark topics?
First this blog shows one of the most obvious misunderstandings of exploitation films and now is showing a blatant misunderstanding bizarre view of comedy…
This place is basically GLAAD.

Succinct, clear, accurate n/t

It is not funny when you have lived through itA lot of us here either have been the victim of rape or had a close loved one who has been the victim of rape. Trust me, it does not matter whether or not there was malicious intent: rape jokes are evil.

I can’t believe how unbelievably OFFENSIVE the QUESTION is!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Would you EVER ask the question, “Is it ever OK to make fun of female rape?”

Going out on a limb hereIs demeaning or heaping abuse on rape victims funny?  That’s pretty much a no.
But as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and being raped by a professor in college, I will say I have been in counseling sessions and survivor support groups that left me holding my sides and gasping for breath.  Finding a degree of twisted humor in the experience is often a sign of healing — it all boils down to context.  Who is making the joke?  Why?  Who is the target of the humor?  Is it attacking and demeaning?  Or is it observational and sympathetic?
Humor can be a useful tool for introducing disturbing or painful issues in order to begin a serious discussion.  It can be a way for victims of violence to wrest a degree of power and control away from their attackers.  That’s pretty much the foundation of Jewish humor, for crying out loud.  Or a lot of gay humor and camp for that matter.
I’m loathe to say any topic is off limits for humor.  Mel Brooks found humor in the Third Reich and Richard Pryor was scathingly funny about racism.  So I’m open to the idea of laughing about rape — but it really depends on the circumstances and context.

Going out on a limb hereIs demeaning or heaping abuse on rape victims funny?  That’s pretty much a no.
But as a survivor of childhood sexual abuse and being raped by a professor in college, I will say I have been in counseling sessions and survivor support groups that left me holding my sides and gasping for breath.  Finding a degree of twisted humor in the experience is often a sign of healing — it all boils down to context.  Who is making the joke?  Why?  Who is the target of the humor?  Is it attacking and demeaning?  Or is it observational and sympathetic?
Humor can be a useful tool for introducing disturbing or painful issues in order to begin a serious discussion.  It can be a way for victims of violence to wrest a degree of power and control away from their attackers.  That’s pretty much the foundation of Jewish humor, for crying out loud.  Or a lot of gay humor and camp for that matter.
I’m loathe to say any topic is off limits for humor.  Mel Brooks found humor in the Third Reich and Richard Pryor was scathingly funny about racism.  So I’m open to the idea of laughing about rape — but it really depends on the circumstances and context.

I find SOME of the episodes funny.I have Season 1 and 2 on DVD but I couldn’t even get through the episode where Tom fears being raped.

Agreed.I feel my blood pressure rise and my muscles tense when someone brings up a rape joke.
I have yet to live a day where I don’t once think back to my rape 12 years ago.

What no one is mentioning……is that the character, Tom Dubois, who was terrified of being raped, confronts his fear and conquers it.
In that episode, he is in prison, with a bunch of kids participating in a “scared straight” program. A riot breaks out and the kids are taken hostage.
Twice Tom goes back into the riot to rescue the children in his charge and then, he confronts the inmate who wanted to rape him.
Yeah, he’s terrified. He does what he has to do in order to protect those kids and bring them to safety. Despite his fear.
Boondocks is very in your face humor and social commentary. Some of it is brilliant, some of it isn’t.
I’ve watched the series from the beginning and have enjoyed it greatly. And if it has made me a bit uncomfortable at times, then it’s doing its job.

Which is a low-down dirty shame.There are things that it is never acceptable to joke about. Rape is one of those things.

I am the King of Siam.I don’t think you’re sorry, given how you’re defending something that IMO is indefensible.
That said, just because you may think something like rape is funny, or because you may think that it’s OK for others to make light of it, that doesn’t mean that those of us who find it unfunny in extremis shouldn’t stand up and say something about it.

Not justifiedComedy or joke is supposed to generate laughter. If it hurts the feelings of someone, then it should be avoided under every circumstances. You cannot laugh at the cost of someone’s feelings or self-esteem. I think I have made it very clear that we must not make fun of others.
Force Factor

Is it okay to make fun of any kind of rape?Is it okay to make fun of…
1) Male-on-male Rape?
2) Male-on-female Rape?
The answers to those two questions have to be the same. Why would they be any different?
Let’s add one more category:
3) Female-on-female Rape
That happens in prison, too, as well as within female religious orders (formerly called nunneries).
All of the above are life-shattering crimes which should never be joked about. Just ask anyone on whom one of those crimes has been perpetrated. They will tell you, probably using strong language, how they feel about that kind of humor.

But in a survivor support group, it’s safe humorIf the bully who assaulted me last week starts to joke about doing that kind of thing, laughing in my face, it’s not funny. Likewise if he/she jokes with friends about it, I think that’s evil.
But if someone in my bullied-people support group laughs about that, it may be funny. In the appropriate context, I agree that anything can be funny.
But safe conversation about rape is rare.

Conquers the fear… how?Rape in prison is a serious problem. If you wind up in a prison where that is happening, it’s perfectly reasonable to feel fear. What’s the alternative? “Relax and enjoy it”?