Opinion: Radio, TV comedy loses humor

I was prepared to leave it to the many pundits who have chimed in on the story. At the last minute, I changed my mind.

Consequences of this story are greater than my initial take on it: “Celebrity sticks big foot in mouth big time and is fired.”

I don’t know much about Imus. I have listened to snippets of his radio show. Maybe profound words have been uttered from the show; however, what little I heard were caustic remarks about someone or something, followed by gales of laughter from Imus and guests. By simply living in the 21st century, one hears enough insults and laughter aimed at others without seeking out more on the radio.

Truth be told, given his reputation for insulting government officials, religious groups and anyone else crossing his mind, I was surprised that his insult of the Rutgers University women basketball players created such an uproar. He makes his living insulting people – why the gargantuan flap over this insult? That’s what makes this story more than it appears.

From the outset of things, it was well known that the insult wasn’t original with Imus but rather a repetition of lyrics from hip-hop songs by black singers about black women. Why weren’t the original lyrics insulting? Imus was a fool, and by chance paid the price; but this insult came from rap music.

One dimension of the story is that at long last some critical attention has been turned on the music that espouses violence, demeans women, the police and anyone else that rappers don’t like. If the young people who dote on this stuff get wise to it, Imus will have done the country a favor.

Although the network brass fired Imus, I doubt that he will be unemployed for long. He will likely join radio’s purveyor of bad behavior, Howard Stern, who traded commercial radio for a high-dollar salary in satellite radio. In the end, I doubt Imus will suffer great financial harm from his bad behavior.

It seems to me that the Imus commotion illustrates an atmosphere of bad behavior surrounding us. That the insult was taken from music lyrics deemed suitable for public distribution points to the degree of acceptance of public crudeness. Imus made his living by insulting anybody and everybody. His blunder was being caught insulting the wrong group at the wrong time.

Civility has virtually disappeared from politics. Name calling plays an intricate role in most discourse between political parties within the halls of Congress and between the branches of government. Bipartisanship in Washington, D.C., and most state capitals, is as rare as an election without mudslinging.

Imus isn’t alone in using insults for laughs. Some comedians whose concerts appear on cable TV movie channels rely on language that isn’t even suitable for locker rooms, let alone living rooms. Much of comedy today features coarse language and insulting humor aimed at groups or individuals. Is this supposed to be funny?

Road rage is well documented as bad behavior of the most dangerous kind. The bad behavior can work both ways. One driver’s bad behavior leads to the rage of another.

If insults are the stuff of which comedy is made and our elected officials attack each other as a matter of course, can drivers be expect to behave any better?

Hosts of network TV late night talk shows build much of their opening monologues around cruel jokes at the expense of anyone who happens to be in the public spotlight.

Sadly, public acceptance seems to depend on how the audience feels about the person or group being skewered.

Joe McAdoo is former chairman of the communication department at Drury University.[[In-content Ad]]