21 ago 2007

Remember when The Onion used to be funny?

Neither do I. One more of those "local man finds hole in sock" story...

I really don't get that "women in the battered women shelter can't cook dinner" story. I won't dignify that with a link even. It's not just that it's offensive, and not funny, but that I can't even understand why it's supposed to be funny in the first place. What's the joke? Who thought THAT was a good idea?

7 comentarios:

Jordan dijo...

The Onion used to be funny every other issue. For poetry that's an unsustainably great batting average - for comedy, though, that's the middle of the standings, not much of a shot at the wild card.

Anónimo dijo...

There's usually something to laugh at in any issue-- but it has to come in small doses. I do enjoy their potshots at poetry/poets (and getting Shrub in is a bonus):

Bush Regales Dinner Guests With Impromptu Oratory On Virgil's Minor Works

or others...

Maya Angelou Honored For Courage, Blackness

Nation Afraid To Admit 9-Year-Old Disabled Poet Really Bad

National Poetry Month Raises Awareness Of Poetry Prevention

shanna dijo...

i believe that is supposed to refer to a "classic" "reason" for a wifebeating--dinner isn't ready on the table when the asshole gets home from work. but you'd have to watch a few hours of *lifetime* to confirm.

Joseph Duemer dijo...

I have rarely found the Onion funny, but then I was too straight for the National Lampoon, too. (Showing my age.) It is relatively easy to be a smart-ass.

Kasey Mohammad dijo...

You can't really argue whether something's funny or not, but it's pretty clear "why it's supposed to be funny in the first place": the shelter coordinator guy is supposed to be supplying these women with a safe haven, but he's just the same as all the men who abused them in the first place. Standard irony.

Joseph Duemer dijo...

"Standard irony." But still not funny.

shanna dijo...

um, yeah, i did not find it funny either. though not because i was offended by it. (i think maybe i wasn't offended *enough* to find it funny. it landed somewhere in that not-outrageous-enough-to-be-ridiculous-and-therefore-hilarious area.)

i was just offering the cliche on which the (unsuccessful) joke relies as an answer to "why its supposed to be funny." a lot of comedy begins with cliches or stereotypes and that *can* be funny when done well.