By Katherine Timpf
Monday, March 30, 2015
Jamie Foxx is facing accusations of transphobia because
he made a joke about Bruce Jenner during the iHeartRadio Music Awards last
night — despite the fact that he’s a comedian and making jokes about other
people is kind of what comedians do.
During his opening monologue, Foxx joked that Jenner, who
is rumored to be undergoing a male-to-female gender transition, would be “doing
a his and hers duet by himself.”
“Look, I’m just busting your balls . . . while I still
can,” he added.
Immediately, swarms of social-justice heroes took to
Twitter to let Foxx know just how not okay his “transphobic” comment was. Even
Perez Hilton (who once called a Miss USA contestant a “dumb bitch” for disagreeing
with his stance on gay marriage) got in on the action.
Now, I’d agree that Foxx’s joke wasn’t all that funny. It
was pretty hack, and if I was going to perform standup on television I would
try to make sure that my material hadn’t already been worn out at open mics in
bar basements across the country. But Hilton’s saying that what Foxx did here
was “be transphobic on national television” isn’t just hypersensitive — it’s a
logical fallacy. “Being transphobic” and “making a joke involving a transgender
person” are not interchangeable phrases. Making fun of someone does not
automatically mean you hate or have a phobia of that person — and if we lose
sight of this seemingly obvious distinction we’re going to lose comedy
altogether.
Honestly, it doesn’t seem like we’re that far off. Just a
few months ago, Margaret Cho faced outrage over her impression of a Korean war
general at the Golden Globes because apparently making fun of even your own
community is unacceptable in the eyes of the PC Police.
Look, people. Comedy is not supposed to be a “safe
space.” That’s what’s so special about it. The implicit permission to offend is
what distinguishes it from other forms of communication and makes it a unique
part of our cultural dialogue that we can’t afford to lose. If you can’t handle
it, fine. Go watch a politician’s speech or an evening newscast or any one of
the other 9 billion bleached forms of communication out there — but please, for
the love of God, don’t think you’re so special that our entire society needs to
change to make you feel more comfortable
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