Question: is it OK to joke about rape when you're talking about insects?
That's what some people are wondering this afternoon as Jerry Seinfeld is getting a little heat from anti-rape groups (hmmm...I would hope that every group is anti-rape, but I digress...) for a remark he made to the New York Daily News promoting his Bee Movie flick:
"Bees have the only perfect society on earth ... They have no crime, they have no drugs, they have no rape. A little rape, but it's not that bad."
Radar is reporting that the National Sexual Violence Resource Center, Students Active For Ending Rape, and The Rape Abuse and Incest Network are all calling Seinfeld's joke offensive and shocking. But I wonder, don't people understand that just because a comic jokes about something doesn't mean he endorses what he is joking about? Or are there some things you just can't joke about?
Maybe he should call Michael Richards for advice...
Update: Seinfeld has apologized: "I don't find anything funny about rape. I was only referring to the insect world. I'm sorry if anyone got upset."
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
6-22-2007 @ 1:30PM
Dawn said...
You know, I'm a woman, and, of course, find rape a serious and unfunny subject, but for crying out loud, has no one in this country heard the word context?
I wish the people fueling the hue and cry over this non issue would lighten up already.
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6-22-2007 @ 1:31PM
Scott said...
Why is everybody such a bunch of pussies?
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6-22-2007 @ 1:34PM
omar said...
all they want is attention, and people should look away and instead watch george carlin explain why rape is funny.
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6-22-2007 @ 1:35PM
YouFaceTheTick said...
Wow, rape sucks big time. But this was a joke. And a pretty simple one at that. I have friends - all female - who prosecute sex crimes for a living and they even make rape/incest jokes. It's a joke.
Really all these groups need to lighten up.
Seinfeld caught crap for making fun of how bad movies are too. Apparently comedians should stop saying things THEY think are funny...it might offend someone.
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6-22-2007 @ 1:45PM
Majikphat said...
yeah, but it's funny though.
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6-22-2007 @ 1:55PM
Dukrous said...
Ok, it's three out of the quartet now. Michael Richards with his angry rant, Seinfeld with his joke, and Jason Alexander on Thank God You're Here.
It can be argued that Julia Louis-Dreyfus was upsetting people with The New Adventures of Old Christine, but the jury is still out on that one.
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6-22-2007 @ 2:09PM
John said...
Rape is never a laughing matter. Unless of course you're raping a clown.
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6-22-2007 @ 2:18PM
stummies said...
I'm a woman. Not only that, one of my best friends was raped.
But seriously... people really need to lighten up.
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6-22-2007 @ 2:34PM
ds said...
Maybe Mr. Seinfeld should attend bee sensitivity courses so he can better understand how his comment could upset bees. Oh wait, that would be stupid.
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6-22-2007 @ 2:35PM
whoFarted? said...
this is so stupid.
everyone knows that ants are the rapists.
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6-22-2007 @ 2:57PM
Marcus Gorman said...
As George Carlin said, you can make a joke about anything, even rape. I mean, I'm a liberal born and raised in Berkeley, but I know what free speech is, and a joke as light as this shouldn't be a problem.
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6-22-2007 @ 3:06PM
Borat said...
People really are too sensitive nowadays.
It's funny because Seinfeld is generally a very non-offensive comedian, and the time when he makes a slightly "edgy" joke people jump on him.
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6-22-2007 @ 4:21PM
coffee said...
The comedians who make a living out of 'edgy' (mencia, chapelle) never get a second glance for anything they say, but a relatively clean comedian gets noticed for an extremely mild 'edgy' joke.
Offensive and shocking? go suck a .... nevermind. It's just a joke, they wouldn't understand.
//there's only one queen in the bee colony. all the workers must be gay, or she's a slut.
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6-22-2007 @ 4:39PM
KMF said...
Yeah always someone has to complain. It was a joke, I've heard worse. . I agree with my fellow posters. People got to lighten up!
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6-22-2007 @ 5:17PM
ac said...
I don't see whats so offensive about what he said.
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6-22-2007 @ 6:32PM
Cee said...
Ya know, I dont even get the problem. He didnt say HUMAN rape was "not so bad" he said insect rape. Are we really worried if one bee rapes another bee???? Don't we have enough things to get worked about without trying to defend the victims of Bee rape???? Holy moly, people need to get a life and learn to laugh.
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6-22-2007 @ 7:28PM
Jay said...
I know THIS will be controversial but
I don't care if bee's rape one another
or not.
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6-22-2007 @ 7:31PM
BartmanDK said...
As omar says, this group was just looking for a photo-op!
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6-22-2007 @ 8:18PM
Bash said...
This makes me want to give that group money. I now know they will do everything in their power to prevent insect rape.
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6-23-2007 @ 6:27AM
Paul said...
Here, I always thought there was a LOT of rape going on in the bee world. My whole world is turned upside-down now that I'm told it's only a little, and it's "not that bad". I had been using my cell phone basically 24/7 just to more quickly exterminate the bee population with as many microwaves as I could muster up, but that was before I knew the truth. I'll have to re-think things now that I know they're not ALL evil, insipid creatures.
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