Patton Oswalt on rape jokes: "My viewpoint was fucking wrong"

[MadrasT]

Beyond being one of the day's great comedians, Patton Oswalt has shown himself able to speak thoughtfully about difficult subjects. Most recently, a lauded Facebook post of his about the Boston Marathon bombing went viral. It is because of this that some people were disappointed when Oswalt came to the defense of Daniel Tosh last summer after a blogger wrote about an exchange with Tosh in which she interrupted his set to disapprove of his rape joke, only to have him respond with, "Wouldn’t it be funny if that girl got raped by, like, five guys right now?" Oswalt eventually tweeted, "Wow, @danieltosh had to apologize to a self-aggrandizing, idiotic blogger. Hope I never have to do that (again)."

So, recently a new round of the debate on rape jokes has started up, with Oswalt among those called out in a Salon piece that questioned the double standard of male comedians vocally condemning violence, but not rape. And all of this got Oswalt thinking, and he completely changed his mind.

The result is a very good, very long blog post that he posted on his site this weekend. In it, Oswalt covers three topics: joke theft, heckling, and rape jokes. He makes good points about the first two, about why they are bad and such, but largely they are used to ramp up to his discussion of rape jokes.

He explains that his opinion, at the time, came down to how comedians shouldn't be censored and that he didn't really believe in the idea of a “rape culture” and comedians' ability to foster it. Then he adds: "I had my viewpoint, and it was based on solid experience, and it … was … fucking … wrong."

Read more at ONTD: http://ohnotheydidnt.livejournal.com/78773704.html#ixzz2WgKYEQJP

Link to Oswalt's blog for his full piece "A CLOSED LETTER TO MYSELF ABOUT THIEVERY, HECKLING AND RAPE JOKES": http://www.pattonoswalt.com/index.cfm?page=spew&id=167

From that link:

And just because I find rape disgusting, and have never had that impulse, doesn’t mean I can make a leap into the minds of women and dismiss how they feel day to day, moment to moment, in ways both blatant and subtle, from other men, and the way the media represents the world they live in, and from what they hear in songs, see in movies, and witness on stage in a comedy club.

There is a collective consciousness that can detect the presence (and approach) of something good or bad, in society or the world, before any hard “evidence” exists. It’s happening now with the concept of “rape culture.” Which, by the way, isn’t a concept. It’s a reality. I’m just not the one who’s going to bring it into focus. But I’ve read enough viewpoints, and spoken to enough of my female friends (comedians and non-comedians) to know it isn’t some vaporous hysteria, some false meme or convenient catch-phrase.

I’m a comedian. I value and love what I do. And I value and love the fact that this sort of furious debate is going on about the art form I’ve decided to spend my life pursuing. If it wasn’t, it would mean all of the joke thief defenders and heckler supporters are right, that stand-up comedy is some low, disposable form of carnival distraction, a party trick anyone can do. It’s obviously not. This debate proves it. And I don’t want to be on the side of the debate that only argues from its own limited experience. And I don’t need the sense memory of an actor, or a degree from Columbia, or a moody, desert god to tell me that.

I’m a man. I get to be wrong. And I get to change.

[redqueen]

1. Glad to be the 5th rec.

Little by little, the tide is turning.

[geek tragedy]

2. Today's misogynist a-hole can be tomorrow's ally nt

[bullwinkle428]

3. On the subject of rape apology, check out the thread in GD about Serena Williams

and her comments about the Steubenville gang rape case. It's like a convention for apologists!

[redqueen]

4. Holy shit... they just won't stop.

It was the boys' fault, but...

[ismnotwasm]

6. Ugh

Sometimes I feel like starting a thread with a poll "There's a girl, she's passed out at a party--what would you do" since so much of it seems like so e sort of projection.

[Zoeisright]

5. Good for him. We'll see if it sticks.

[ismnotwasm]

7. Awesome essay

He did a great job with that.

[Lunacee_2013]

8. I'm so happy to hear Patton say this.

Since, when it comes to the world of comedy, I see him second only to Lewis Black. His jokes on Bush always made me laugh till I literally cried.