JIM JEFFERIES & THE NORMALISATION OF RAPE CULTURE (a review).

OPINIONS NO-ONE ASKED FOR

By Ashton Brown

The below is a Facebook post that triggered a pretty widespread online interest and a mixture of both positive and negative feedback. It was interesting how peoples biggest concern was the fear of being censored as performers - which is something I 100% DON'T condone. I just believe that as performers we can't detach ourselves from any consequences of our performances and remove ourselves from any social responsibility just because we label ourselves as "comedians". 

*Trigger warning - this post discusses rape and references to sexual violence*.

Alright. I would like this particular post to invite discussion. I know that the opinion presented here might not necessarily be popular but I would really like to encourage open discussion on this as I would genuinely like to hear people's thoughts on this as I really don't know where I stand on things regarding censorship and freedom of speech in terms of entertainment and public performance - especially after this evening.

Tonight I went and saw the first hour of JIM JEFFERIES stand up show. (I only left early due to the fact that it started late and I had a show of my own to perform at.)

To be completely and utterly blunt, I have never NOT enjoyed a comedic act as much I didn't enjoy Jefferies. I think the first thing I want to say regarding this is that I am not saying Jefferies isn't funny. I'll admit that I personally don't think he is funny but to say he wasn't funny would be a stupid thing for me to say given that he had 1500 people rolling in audible laughter for entire set he provided. I will accept that I misjudged attending his show. I misjudged thinking I thought he was clever and I misjudged thinking that he was going to appeal to me in anyway. This, going in, was my fault. I was not nor will ever be his target audience. In fact, I was even identified by Jefferies as NOT being his target audience when he made a comment that was along the lines of "anyone who came based on watching a clip of me talking about US gun control laws is going to regret coming" (i'm paraphrasing) but I was one of these people. The only thing I knew about Jefferies was the gun control segment on youtube that had gone viral - and I still think it's genius. Genius to the point that when I watched it I booked tickets immediately, poorly assuming that this was a great example of the genius I would experience at a Jim Jefferies show. I was wrong. I was disappointed. I was offended. Like, deeply offended. Like, I'm still offended. And not in the way I think a comedian should leave an audience member feeling.

Now maybe this is my fault.. Maybe it is my fault I feel offended and I should get over it. Or maybe, just maybe, what Jefferies is doing isn't as justified as he thinks it is.

Let me break this down. 10 minutes into his set, Jim Jefferies begins to talk about rape. Now I am a massive advocate of freedom of speech. I am an even bigger advocate of a comedians right to talk about whatever the fuck they want to talk about. At least, I thought I was. The topic of rape has always been a massively contentious topic.My understanding of comedy (and life) is that you CAN joke about anything. As long as the thing you are joking about is funny first and offensive second. Jim Jefferies talked about rape. A lot. In fact for at least 15 minutes. He spent a lot of time justifying his right to talk about rape. He discussed the fact that as a comic he is only ever JOKING about rape, not actually condoning it. He then went ahead and spent 15 minutes laughing at rape for being rape. Not in any clever or thought provoking way, but more because he has a right, as a comedian, to joke about whatever he sees fit.

At this point I want to remind everyone that I am certainly not a prude. In fact, many people would consider me to be in the more "not giving a fuck" side of the argument of "who give's a fuck". But tonight I witnessed a comic whose primary joke was "we should be able to laugh at rape because everything should be laughed at if I want to laugh at it." The jokes on rape were never clever. They were never creating social awareness or encouraging societal reflection on the issue. His jokes on rape were never saying "it's fucked up how we deal with or talk about rape" or "we need to get better at talking about rape." His joke was literally (for 15 -20 minutes) "I have a right to make jokes about rape that are simply jokes about rape. If you don't think they are funny then you are a prude. If you don't think they are funny then you are wrong. If you can't laugh at them then you are a pussy" And more literally he justified these jokes by saying thing like "I'm not performing a Ted Talk, I am making jokes."

In essence, Jefferies is correct in what he is saing. He IS joking. He is not actually a rapist. He is not actually intentionally condoning rape. When he says things like "Most of the time I don't condone rape" - he IS joking. But my whole approach to comedy - whether right or wrong - is that a joke should be funny FIRST and offensive second. The whole point of Jefferies was that he was being offensive SIMPLY because he could. If it happened to be funny then that appeared to be a bonus.

But looking at this issue even more intently my personal problem with his approach was the fact that although, as an intelligent individual, he COULD clarify the line between consent and rape, the line between a joke and a crime. His audience didn't necessarily have the same level of insight. So whilst he spent the evening normalising rape culture from the point of view of someone who clearly understood why rape is bad and that it can be joked about (not all men), a huge amount of his audience wouldn't necessarily understand the difference nor be able to distinguish between a man joking about normalising rape and actually normalising rape. A huge amount of his audience weren't as intelligent as him. A huge amount of his audience WOULD go home to their wives or partners and feel even more justified in regards to their degrading opinions towards them. I couldn't help but feel highly uncomfortable about the fact I was in a room where 1500 drunk men were cheering at the mention of rape without the joke having any real weight or message. What Jefferies was doing was normalising rape culture for a laugh. And the laugh, in my opinion, certainly isn't worth the societal repercussions. Nor was it overly funny. Or funny at all.

So what am I suggesting? Am I suggesting that Jim Jefferies is a rapist (since he suggests that anyone who takes issues to his material thinks he is) - no. I am not.

Am I suggesting that Jim Jefferies ISN'T funny? No. I am not. (A room of 1500 men pissing themselves with laughter would prove this thought wrong).

Am I suggesting that comedians should have to filter their material? No - I am not.

What I am suggesting is that if the point of your humour is negative to society for the sake of being negative (because you have a right to be as fucking negative to society as you wish) then what are you offering to the world as an entertainer? It concerned me that the majority of Jefferies fanbase weren't able to establish the difference between rape being a joke and rape being a massive, horrendous societal issue. I could feel this in the room. I believe I was right to feel uncomfortable when people cheered at comments that suggested a males physical empowerment over a female was funny. I believe I was right to feel uncomfortable as people cheered when it was suggested backward that woman had the right to vote and I believe I had a right to feel uncomfortable that I was in a room of 1500 people who thought it was funny to suggest that Bill Cosby fingering woman whilst they were unconscious was more light hearted than it was actually sexually offensive.

As someone who believes in freedom of speech and that art need no filter, I strongly believe that Jim Jefferies offers absolutely nothing to our industry other than being radical for the sake of being radical - and in his fight to justify this radical behaviour he normalises acts that need standing up against rather than patting on the back for the sake of a laugh.

I don't think we should celebrate people just because they are saying what awful people are thinking (Donald Trump anyone?). Based on tonights performance - I don't think Jim Jefferies is a rapist but I think he encourages a world where we laugh at issues for the sake of having a room of fuckwits validate your right to be outspoken.

No stars. No validation. No respect.

I couldn't leave quickly enough.