Monday, May 18, 2015

Comics and Projection: Louis C.K.

Words do not come from a vacuum.  When one jokes in public, I always note the words chosen.

Professional comics work tirelessly at their routines, often testing out their lines upon smaller audiences, which, by the time it is on the "big stage", it is often from memory, and not the free editing process.

Yet, words reveal us, and once moved into the free editing process, the speed of language increases reliability.

In 1969, Bill Cosby joked about drugging women for the purpose of sex.

Louis CK gave this monologue on SNL.

Recognizing that the purpose of humor is, sometimes, to shock, and that free speech was something so important to our founding fathers because it was not intended to protect the rational, acceptable, or common speech, but the disagreeable, outrageous, and even illogical that needed protection.

Just as SNL has the right to say what it wishes, via those they choose to be on the show, so do viewers the right to tune out, and now through the internet, share their disagreement publicly.

If a comic continually makes humor of current events, he will reveal his own political leanings.

If a comic continually focuses upon a particular issue, we recognize the sensitivity of repetition.  If a topic is repeated often enough, viewers will wonder if he has an issue he is projecting.

I have also used this to demonstrate Statement Analysis in public, asking someone when they make a joke if they can identify where it came from.  The most common reaction is:

"No, I was just joking."

A few follow up questions, sometimes privately, reveals the truth.  The topic was on the person's mind, due to...

any number of reasons, including a song playing in the head, a movie, or, something that is more likely:

personal issue.

When people "joke" about important topics, there is often a reason behind it.

One recently "joked" about quitting his job and leaving his boss flat.  It appeared to be "just humor" but in a follow up discussion, he was feeling under-appreciated and under-paid.

I find this commonly done in "jesting" with a spouse.  It can even be uncomfortable for others and the 'vinegar' in the words generally has a source, and I find that it is not...not usually movies, and such, but personal.


23 comments:

stop_playing_dumb said...

LCK mentions pedophilia and child molestation quite often in his stand up. It really sticks out. This topic must be meaningful to him somehow. Is he just rocking the boat or is it more than that? Borat routine "Throw the jew down the well" song where many people join along and sing with him?

Anonymous said...

Yes, yes and yes. The mo'fker has gone too far. Child molestation/pedophilia is NOT a joking matter. There is a line that even a comedian/comedienne should draw and not cross over. Not funny. Not one bit.

Neither are the Jew jokes funny, or the blasphemous jokes about Jesus and God. Obviously these people have no respect for God or the precepts in the scriptures or fear of God. Guess He'll have to teach them all a lesson. A permanent one. Meanwhile, people go on laughing with and at them. They need to learn their lesson too.

Anonymous said...

Who in their right mind makes statements like this?

Statement Analysis Blog said...

Perhaps perverts.

Skeptical said...

Who in their right mind thinks this is funny. It's shocking and uncomfortable to listen to but that does not automatically make it funny. I will not be surprised if sometime in the future he comes forth with information about his own experience of being abused as a child.

maudes harold said...

All I have to say is....way to push the Minor-Attracted Agenda there ole Louie-boy!!

Disgusting.

Anonymous said...

This video is vile. I cannot understand how anybody finds this funny.

jen dugena said...

I was going to ask abut this SNL vid, thanks for discussing this.

While I was watching this, I was wondering "where is he coming from?" specifically on the part where he compared eating a mars bar(? choclate/candy) to molesting a boy describing both as 'delicious'.

before that he said he 'cant key in' to that yet proceeded to make the comparison.

i remember, there is a vid in youtube of richard pryor in the tonight show describing how he was advised by his lawyer to "settle" during divorce proceedings. he joked, 'oh she told you about me and that goat'.

later, in Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee with Letterman as a guest, Letterman described how he followed Pryor in a standup performance and he watched Pryor close "with a bit about having sex with a dog". I thought, that was where Pryor was coming from with that goat joke.

Frank said...

I read about this in the local paper. It's worse watching it. Wow. I do actually get a creep vibe. Nevermind let's not get a statement analyst or psychoanalyst to look at his choice of phrase when he says "I cant key in on it." That actually is what I found to be very alarming, such an odd phrase that I just dont like that he used it, something is off, also what he says about the candy bar. What the hell?!?!

jen dugena said...

in youtube -- a vid called "louis ck 4 year old" is weird. he imagined kicking his daughter & the last part was him saying he saw his daughter spread eagled naked on bed & (you can see the vid https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vRhr502wIc) --- that's the last part of the vid. the stand up is called "Shameless"

yet commenters say thats what kids do (do they??) & that they can relate -- 1 commenter said she was a mother & grandmother. i dont get it.

Frank said...

Jen, That sounds really messed up. His "humor" in above video supports the mentality of a pedophile. Also, listen to the 1st thing he says "There is no worse life than a CAUGHT pedophile". A more common phrase would be "CONVICTED pedophile". Why did he choose CAUGHT? My gut instinct says the comedy routine is a mask. He wants people to think "see how removed he is from being anything like a pedophile because he is making fun of the issue in a "light-hearted" way. Something very shady about him.

Kellie said...

He's disgusting all the way around. The molester vibe was pulsating from this guy the first time I saw him on TV with his 4 children! He's a violent jerk and makes a living using the "it's a joke" excuse.

jen dugena said...

"There is no worse life than a CAUGHT pedophile" that stood out to me too. i think he used "child molester"

"caught" ? I thought being a child molester was worse enough.

jen dugena said...

if not for statement analysis and regularly reading this blog, I would have thought that vid was just "edgy comedy" & left it at that.

now I dont think I can look at anything the same way again.

Anonymous said...

Perhaps Louis CK was molested as a child ?


Just googling his childhood and it's hard to get much info.
His Father was an economist in Mexico of Jewish descent, can't tell if he's still alive or not.

Looking up keywords louis ck molestation father, I found this troubling snippet from http://lareviewofbooks.org/essay/louis-c-k-and-the-rise-of-the-laptop-loners:
"
There’s a controversial routine from C.K.’s standup — excerpted during season two of Louie — in which he explains that the problem with a society that condemns child molestation is that, because of the strength of our recoil, child molesters are more likely to murder their victims after raping them. “I can’t help thinking that if we take down a few notches the hatred for [child molesters] […] at least you’d get the kid back. Guy could call you, ‘Hey I just fucked your kid. Do you want me to bring him to soccer or drop him at your house?’”

It’s an impossible observation to unpack, made more so by how sickening it sounds when spoken out loud"

Disturbing as all get out.

Anonymous said...

I don't know, I think he's generating exactly the reaction he wanted. His entire intent is to make the audience uncomfortable. There is no topic that LCK will not touch. Every single one of his TV sitcom shows, makes you feel uncomfortable. Every single stand up, makes you feel uncomfortable. It's shock factor humor. You laugh, only b/c of the shock, the shock of a person existing that could say such things. On purpose, he intends to drop the jaw. His humor encompasses the dark side, the embarrassing side of human nature in general. Not that it deserves the spot light, but it does exist.

I thought it was an act, but now that you mention it.......why would one choose to 'make light' of such a horrible situation for a person to experience.....unless he himself has been through it, or has done it himself, and his manner of coping (whether with guilt, shame, pain) is to laugh it off. Humor is a coping mechanism in even the worst of circumstances.

Or, is he a sociopathic pervert making money off of duping people like me, who believe he is "just" joking?

I think I just answered my own question.

-Mouse74

Jenn C said...

I've taken notice of his child molester jokes as well and had fleeting curiosity about LCK's personal investment on the subject prior this incident.

I get the feeling that his specifications of male children as victims is deliberate distancing language.

I don't believe LCK is attracted to males.

I don't think LCK has acted on these types of fantasies.

I believe it's possible his personal computing devices are likely securely protected and cleaned with DoD level rewriting software regularly.

In the interest of not saying anything libelous, I'm going to stop there. These are just opinions based on a multitude of life observances.

Anonymous said...

I agree with mouse. Louie is not for everyone. Such is life. - Christy

StudioTodd said...

OMG you people are insane. It was a comedy bit. Calm down, fer chrissakes.

Do you also believe that Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon were screwing each other? Or that David Letterman believes Alex Rodriguez knocked up Sarah Palin's daughter?

Get a sense of humor, or at the very least, shut the hell up if you do not understand stand-up comedy. IT WAS A JOKE. The end.

Anonymous said...

The absolutely horrendous thing is not what Louis C.K. said in that, or any other of his monologues, but how people react to it. It feels like a real witch hunt. The mob mentality is all too eager to burn the outcast alive. You people are disgusting -- ganging up on this outstanding person, screaming your heads off, wanting to lynch him, salivating to see him hang.

I'm appalled by the response I've read here.

Anonymous said...

Getting angry at people who ask fair questions about the material comedians choose to use shouldn't illicite such a defensive response.
You are a pervert and you are annoyed that your pervert comedian favorite is being analysed because you feel better when you can hide your secret pervision behind jokes and famous people saying it's Ok.

Anonymous said...

You are a liar and pervert who doth protest too much.

StudioTodd said...

" Anonymous said...
Getting angry at people who ask fair questions about the material comedians choose to use shouldn't illicite such a defensive response.
You are a pervert and you are annoyed that your pervert comedian favorite is being analysed because you feel better when you can hide your secret pervision behind jokes and famous people saying it's Ok."


First of all, I wasn't angry, I was astonished at the levels of hysteria on display in most of these comments.

Secondly, your assessment of my character completely validates my statement. You and your reactionary compadres clearly do not understand satirical comedy, and obviously have no idea that your accusations make you appear ridiculous and moronic.
People like you are the reason why the McMartin Preschool case became such an absurd hysterical fiasco. Had you been around at the time, I have little doubt that you would have been an enthusiastic witch-hunter in Salem. You are so eager to point your self-righteous finger at someone that all you can see is depravity and perversion at every turn.

Here's some free advice--if something goes over your head, maybe you should hold off on sharing an opinion about it. It may not make you smarter, but at least other people won't immediately know just how dumb you really are.