The Draw Play

Al Michaels had a bit too much to drink this past Sunday night!

So in case you turned off the Giants/Broncos game early (as expected, because no one expected that result), you may have missed Al Michaels make a little snicker doodle comparing the Giants nightmare week to Harvey Weinstein’s Nightmare week. Yup, comparing a bad week for a sports team with injuries is sure a good comparison to a predator who is finally being unearthed for the monster he is. That sure went over well. Everyone kinda wen’t “woah dude” and then he apologized a short time later.

I’m the kind of individual who is not really offended by jokes. Never have been. I don’t really believe in “too soon” or “Some things are too offensive to joke about”. I think absolutely everything can be joked about, it is just that some topics require a higher level of contextual awareness and proper care to make the joke the right way otherwise you’re just an edgelord asshole. To make an extreme example, I’m not going to go up to people I don’t know very well and make a rape joke. But among close friends? Or to a very specific audience that understands who I am and am not advocating rape or being insensitive? I think that’s okay.

Everything is offensive to somebody. I don’t make a lot of particularly edgy jokes here, but a fair amount of comics could easily be seen as offensive to some people. I make lots of suicide jokes. Hell this very comic could be seen as offensive to alcoholics. It’s impossible to please everybody and to try would result in a comic so bland even puns would seem edgy. Considering how much humor is really meant to take in the absurdity of life, to push some boundaries, and in many instances a coping mechanism, telling someone else that NO JOKES ALLOWED kind of misses their point. Humor is subjective. I can’t stand people who get really angry at comedians, especially ones like Daniel Tosh or Anthony Jeselnik, for telling edgy jokes. That’s kind of their entire thing, you have to view the joke in context of the performer they are. They make a name out of riding that line between tasteless and funny.

That said, that doesn’t mean people do not deserve criticism and that those who are offended’s feelings don’t count. Tosh and other successful edgy comedians work because they are good at it, and a lot of people just tell offensive jokes with no creativity then tell anyone bothered that they are an SJW or some stupid nonsense for thinking it’s bad. Both the joke teller and the joke audience have a responsibility to meet halfway and I’m also not a fan of when someone who went pretty far  basically blames everyone mad for “not getting it”, like they get a free pass for being insensitive. Those feelings still count, and an apology is warranted I think. I’m more willing to forgive someone who admits maybe the joke wasn’t great instead of someone who just basically calls people who don’t like it prudes and doubles down.

Like I said above, context and situational awareness is very important when you want to get a little risky with your humor. I wasn’t offended by Al Michael’s Weinstein crack, but I completely understand why people were, and I agree that it shouldn’t have been said. That’s a twitter shitpost kinda joke, not the joke you want to hear from the premiere play-by-play announcer during a primetime game. That wasn’t the place or person for that joke. Michaels should have been smarter than that and he deserved to get called out.

We all make jokes that bother someone. It happens. I think when someone does screw it up, they probably deserve some of the blame they get. But unless this is a pattern of behavior it really shouldn’t be considered a huge offense. Sometimes we just make jokes that don’t land. I don’t think any less of Al Michaels for the joke, I think he just made a mistake.

Edit: I tried something different and wrote the blog post first instead of last, and apparently hit “post” instead of “save draft” and that’s why some of you saw this post without the comic yesterday. Serves me right for breaking routine.