CAN WE LAUGH AT THAT?

A study of troublemaking comedians around the world in the online era.

This book by Georgetown professor Berlinerblau (The Philip Roth We Don’t Know, 2021, etc.) is premised on the recent erosion of what he calls the “pre-digital liberal free-speech consensus”: the notion that suppression of speech, even offensive speech, should be “avoided to the greatest extent possible.” Social media, which gives problematic humor wider reach now, means a greater impact, a greater likelihood to offend—and for punitive governments, greater incentive to crack down. In the United States, Berlinerblau considers Dave Chappelle’s digs at the LGBTQ+ community, Sarah Silverman’s cracks about Jews, and Kathy Griffin and Shane Gillis facing public backlash for offensive remarks to show how each pushed through the criticism through a variety of strategies, from outright apologies to candid “persona drops.” In other democracies, the fallout can be more fraught: Vir Das in India and Dieudonné M’bala M’bala in France each faced the threat of government censure, and the deadly 2015 terrorist attack on the offices of French humor magazine Charlie Hebdo opened questions around state censorship and double standards around treatment of religious difference. Further studies of comedy in Egypt and Zimbabwe, and the strange case of the North Korean-mocking film The Interview, reveal the limits of poking at verities and authorities. Berlinerblau raises interesting questions about the nature of censorship, and how the “consensus” will likely have to be revised in a more viral, more dangerous world, though he also knows his academic reach has limits, focused on a handful of examples. Even liberal governments strive to control comments in the name of free speech, though such pushback doesn’t necessarily erase the comic; if there’s any consistent lesson, it’s that even the canceled get to press on. (Understandably if uncomfortably, Berlinerblau quotes examples of offensiveness in full.)

A thought-provoking portrait of the consequences of contemporary offensive humor.