I once asked Mel Brooks whether there would ever be a joke so lacking in good taste that it should not be used. He replied, “Distaste is something that cowards and prudes hide behind.” I recalled that response when watching the documentary “Can We Take a Joke?,” directed by Ted Balake, which gives pretty much of a no for the answer. Via interviews with comics, it characterizes the hostility that often greets performers when their humor offends others and sometimes leads to retaliation.
According to the film, we live in an age of political correctness that makes one worry about arousing someone’s ire. As a professor teaching undergraduates, I sometimes have the urge to tell a joke that would be attuned to a subject, or just a good campus joke, but I hold back. I know there surely would be someone in the class who would object on some politically correct ground. When in doubt, leave it out.
Some of the comics in the film are especially known for not giving a damn about crossing lines. Gilbert Gottfried is one who is especially daring. For one joke he told, he lost a television job, and he is amusingly candid in addressing the problem posed by the film. Lisa Lampanelli is another who would seem to have no limits. She’ll make jokes about gays, even at the expense of audience members and she revels in her reputation for no limitations. She uses blunt language whether performing on stage or at celebrity roasts. Joan Rivers was another who dared to tell a joke that might offend.
One example of what can happen involved Justine Sacco, who sent a line she thought was funny on Twitter, then boarded a plane. While she was in the air criticism of what she wrote went viral, and by the time she landed she had been fired from her job.
We hear a lot in the film from Penn Jillette, who firmly warns against an atmosphere that endangers free speech. The film goes on too long and becomes repetitive with its message. However, it is interesting to hear the viewpoint of performers who resent pressure to not feel the freedom to tell whatever jokes they think funny, and the film makes a strong case for no type of censorship or self-censorship. A Samuel Goldwyn Films release. Reviewed July 29, 2016.