Once you go dark, you never go back.
Dark Humor is a method of comedic relief created out of making fun of matters that are usually considered a social taboo or too grim to talk about.
In this age, social taboos are in virtually every subject. People get triggered by anything you say these days. It makes any form of expression about society and its devices like walking on a floor filled with egg shells.
Recently, I’ve grown a hankering for dark humor. I somehow find it aesthetically pleasing that someone can make a joke from the glummest of situations. Maybe it’s the years of browsing 9gag and Twitter that has made me develop a palate for it.
In a period filled with grim tragedies and a wave of 'wokeness', it's hard to know where to draw the line of the things which are considered humor. Things which might have been considered harmless fun before have now become taboos to talk about. Once you're in the public eye, anything you say is dissected with microscopic precision. And once someone gets offended, cancel culture kicks in and suddenly, you pelted with so many petitions that you get cancelled— sometimes, for life.
So where do we draw the line? Most times, I feel we’re just being bitches about the whole thing; the inability to take a joke. No one likes being the brunt of a joke. It sucks. But that’s what makes it hilarious.
I believe the rules of dark humor should not be on whether it's ethical or socially acceptable but on its intent and the subject. If it's not to intentionally cause harm or if the subject deserves the joke being meted out. If either condition is met, then the joke is fine. Otherwise, the person is just being an ass and cancel culture is free to have a field day.
But as with all other pieces of humor, its delivery is solely dependent on the timing and audience. Timing can make or mar the brilliance of any joke. Make all the school shooting jokes you want, just don’t do it in a town which, just some days ago, experienced one. That’s insensitive.
But hey, there’s no defined timing gap—every joke is perfectly timed if you’re brave enough. No one should curtail their expression for fear of blow-back.
I believe everyone should be able to enjoy all the dark jokes they want as long as they can separate the joke from reality.
So I leave you with this:
