Is profanity lazy comedy?
There are some popular Indian standup comedians. Popularity doesn’t necessarily mean talent, though. It is like someone being a star or an actor. Many a time, these are two mutually exclusive sets. Is that why they resort to abuses in all of their videos?
I do not want to stereotype all the standup comedians. Neither do I want to make a sweeping generalization. There are some who speak the language that you and I use and still manage to evoke laughter out of the audience. The more talented ones even make people think and push them towards challenging the mainstream line of thought.
The moment anyone is questioned on anything, the phrase ‘freedom of expression’ pops up. It is a phrase that we use very loosely. It doesn’t mean one can say whatever comes to one’s mouth. One needs to apply mind also to the words before one speaks. Of course, this doesn’t mean one should think or speak only on the lines of what the popular narrative is. Anyone with a valid reasoning should and must challenge status quo and conventional thoughts. That is how we evolve as a society. But this doesn’t mean one can be a motor mouth. Anupam Kher once said that if you find the tone/content of conversation you use to be acceptable at your home, you can use the same language in public too. Do you think these comedians will be using the same language when they sit with their family? I think not. If that is the case, what gives them the liberty to do so with others?
At times, blurting out profanity is equated with being ‘cool’. To my mind, it is the sheer lack of vocabulary. In this case, it is lazy creativity and lack of talent. Most of the popular comedians are aware of the power of abusive words. The moment a four letter word is mentioned, they get the audience’s attention. It is merely because of the shock factor. In day to day lives also, we tend to turn our attention towards someone who abuses for it indicates a situation of extremity. But no one wants to spend a whole day listening to someone whose words stink. It is a short-lived trick to get more and more people to watch their videos.
The artists that we have seen over the years did not have a sense of entitlement. Many were vain, some of them were pompous and a fewer still were arrogant. But a sense of entitlement was absent. Alas! All we can see in today’s comedians is just that.
One of the comedians was so full of himself and his little circle of friends that he proclaimed that they were the most progressive minds in the country during an interview. This is exactly what the so-called regressive minds also think! The tragedy is that in their haste to portray themselves as apostles of free speech, they are unaware of how foolishly they imitate the tricks of those whom they call rigid and close minded.
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