Was It Something I Said?

You know we're in trouble when comedians can't make jokes anymore. Sounds strange, doesn't it. A professional humorist that is barred from making their audience laugh if the subject is going to offend someone. And it depends on what you find offensive and then we have to figure out who makes the final call. It's a confusing conundrum: what to say, what not to say? And then you have people like Tracy Morgan that just says whatever he thinks is funny. He says what he thinks will make us laugh. Isn't that, in the end, what he is paid to do? So Tracy tells a gay joke. He goes on a gay rant, if you will. He says gays are "pussies" and that they aren't born that way, the behaviour is learned. He says if his son ever came out of the closet to him and talked in a whiny voice, he would "stab that little [n word] to death." Afterword, Tracy says, " "I don't "f*cking care if I piss off some gays, because if they can take a f*cking d**k up their ass ... they can take a f*cking joke."  Now let the outrage begin. In light of some of the recent rash of bullying and suicides by gay youth, one can understand why this subject matter should be considered in a most serious manner; EXCEPT if you are at a comedy club, watching Family Guy, or listening to a drunk man outside of a liquor store. I am empathetic to the fight for equality by gay rights activists and the need for the bullying of the young gay generation (straight generation as well) to come to an end. No one should be beat up, harassed and certainly no one should be murdered because of who they lay down with night, but with all of that said: I'm not going to march and protest and call for Tracy Morgan to be fired off of 30 Rock, banned from comedy and stoned to death. We have to see it for what it is people, a joke. It doesn't mean that it's funny, because comedy is subjective and most definitely in the eye of the beholder. It can be off-colour, raunchy, over your head or just down right offensive. It can be all of those things or none of those things. My question is why can't we separate Tracy Morgan's routine from the grave reality surrounding these very serious issues. We should be standing up for all human rights, gay and straight, conservative and liberal... the stone faced and the comedic. We all should have a voice, otherwise there'll be no one left to talk.