Can We Take a Joke?

"When they come after the comedians, that's when you worry" In the age of rampant censorship and forced virtue signaling, this is more important than even when it first aired. Under new cultural mandates and anti-first amendment crusaders, comedians have been targeted and cancelled for saying the quiet part out loud. Not even satire is safe from the ministry of thought police. Watch this and marvel at how much humor has changed under the dictates of the rage-filled mob.

This was made in 2015-2016things moving so fast its like old news because its so much worse now. They need to make another doc especially since gilbert Gottfried just died and catch up on these comics trying to deal now after the Trump era. As we all know it was just starting to get bad in 2015 as soon as Trump was elected it all went into over drive. I wonder what all those people that were in this movie would say now about where we are with free speech.

In the wake of recent controversies dealing with free speech, I decided it was fitting to at last watch this documentary that has been heavily appealing to me for quite some time. As a fervent supporter of free speech, the messages contained within this film play a heavily important role in our modern day society. There is still hope for comedians despite the ridiculous cries of outrage that seem to pointlessly be sweeping the county day by day. Hypersensitivity does no one any good, and this film knows that and begs for our society to rethink the path they are going down. A disturbing amount of people refuse to oppose hate speech laws, and universities thrive on tearing down the values that made them respectable to the liberal minded in the first place. Liberals were once the great free speech figures, but the road they have followed has led them to the polar opposite of such a reputation. This documentary does have its technical flaws, but it is still entertaining as hell, its messages are brilliant and well spoken, its hilarious at times thanks to the cast of comedians, and its also a shed of light for the future of free speech.

Comedy, good comedy, should entertain as well as inform. And yet too often now we see comedians having to apologize for things they said in their set because the PC brigade has gotten their panties in a twist.

I don't agree with all the comedians here. Some of them I literally can't stand to listen to. But that doesn't mean I feel they need to be silenced. The problem is coming from a small group of people that think they know better than you and are doing this to protect you from things they don't want you to hear. Well I say no thank you. While I agree that some jokes aren't funny, I don't feel that there are topics that shouldn't be joked about or even better still some topics that can't be discussed in a rational manner.

Comics like Lenny Bruce challenged societal norms by using language we considered off limits back in the day. Others like George Carlin were unabashedly for free speech and skewering the sacred cows of the establishment. And that's the key here. Good comedy has always been anti-establishment. There's always been this relationship between good comedy and social norms and I don't feel that that should be a reason not to see or listen to a comedian.

There are good points to be made, on both sides mind you, but not all the points are worthy enough to enact actual change. Personally I will continue to watch these comedians I like and hope that their edge isn't dulled by too much SJW and PC backlash.

The nature and content here are far more evocative and challenging than in most comedy docs. While it's a bit amateurish at times (especially the narration), the discussion of free speech is thoughtful; Jim Norton always surprises me, and Gottfried is just the best. Even the few talking heads I actively dislike who are highlighted here (Lampenelli, Carolla) made me wonder: do I think they should be silenced, should I fold my arms in disgust, or should I just ignore them?