by Lirpa Yadsloof

Created on: April 21, 2008

I worry that today is saddled with too much political correctness. I don't advocate being openly hostile, or derogatory toward anyone, I just mean that speaking your mind or openly finding something funny is harder to do than when I was younger. I suppose that in our litigious, paranoid society, this is a by-product, but I often wonder if it doesn't inhibit our sense of humor and our communication with each other. It just seems to me that someone is always offended by something, which they could have easily avoided, had they so chosen.

For example, domestic violence is a wide-spread problem and it's not funny in the least. But, the comedy of "The Honeymooners" from the 50's is still revered as funny today. Did we ever see Ralph actually sock Alice and "send her to the moon?" No, we did not. It was a comedy about a man and a woman trying to learn how to live together. Did it emphasize that genre's stereotypes? You betcha. Was it funny? To many people, yes. I read the other day how someone interpreted it as a "blueprint of violence that should be banned." For crying out loud, it's a defunct sit-com, canceled for years, however, it was cited in newspapers as late as 2006 as "examples of spousal abuse." Listen, in Shakespeare's time, there were live shows dedicated to mothers and sons sleeping together and detailed examples on how to kill other people and one's self. Does that define that era? Does it minimize the creative endeavors of that age? Of course it doesn't, and neither should we let individual creations define ours.

Look at "Will and Grace" from a few years ago. This was a sitcom about a gay man and a straight female learning their way through modern society's perception of alternative relationships. Did it emphasize stereotypes? Yes. Did it stretch the boundaries of what society considered acceptable? Oh, definitely. Was it funny? I thought so. I thought that it emphasized the human aspect and the day to day humor of people, no matter their sex or sexual orientation, and I liked the show immensely because of it's "watch us or don't" attitude. I liked it, so I watched. I certainly didn't watch Jerry Springer, which in my mind at least, emphasized a broader range of small mindedness and lack of personal responsibility; much of which still plagues our society.

I am so sick of reading about people suing because of a word, or a t-shirt, a book, an opinion, or even a TV show that offended them. I feel that if you have enough time to take action to protest about something that you have every right and opportunity to avoid, you're not really catching on to the biggest benefit of living in the United States of America, which is that everyone has the right to be happy, or at least try to. For some that means finding humor in different situations. For others, that means satire and cynicism illustrated in our society is able to highlight some basic problems. If you're offended by those basic problems, then go after the source of the problem, not the entity that is showcasing it.

Try your hardest to make yourself and those you love and those you have surrounded yourself with happy. Say it like it is. Respect others. Work hard and play hard. Admit your mistakes and make amends when you can. Above all, remember, we have the right to think freely and live freely. Make sure we don't throw that away that by inhibiting opinions. Opinions and freedom are our real founding fathers; we have to do what we can to protect them.

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