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A recent controversy about an edgy comedy act may have some lessons for the closed-minded.
All India Bakchod is a popular comedy channel on YouTube with a slightly provocative brand of humour. They did a Roast of Bollywood stars Ranveer Singh and Arjun Kapoor. The duo were on stage and a number of celebrities got together to fling insult-jokes at them, and each other. The proceeds went to charity.
Then the cultural cavalry got involved. They claimed all manner of violations, including according to one news report, suggesting that the whole event must have been illegal because the tickets were sold online and not advertised in the papers.
They are upset, and they have a right to be. Just as others have the right to be offended by mythology propagated as science. But, as AIB shows so admirably in its sketches, the best way to avoid offence is to shrug it off. Nobody can insult you without your permission. This applies to individuals but ideas too; and especially to ideas of what is right, appropriate or moral.
If everybody who had differences with a certain opinion escalated it, the world would descend into violence very quickly. The battle of ideas must be fought through debate, not intimidation.
If you believe in a certain ideology, subscribe to a world-view or way of thinking; you are free to defend it. There may be others who subscribe to a different world-view, you must also defend them; or at least their right to an alternative viewpoint.
Some people believe AIB ventured into territory which is off-limits. There were jokes about skin colour and gender.
Another point of view is that by joking about their so-called shortcomings, or allowing others to joke about them in their presence; they were saying it does not matter to them. That they can shrug off what the world believes is a sore point for them.
The guardians of culture believe that this sets a bad example. That the youth will be 'misguided'. Presumably this means that young people would watch the show and believe that profanity and off-colour jokes are ok. So what? The way to combat such influences is not through a probe, police complaint or threats of any kind. It is by articulating your own point view well enough that people can see it for what it is, and subscribe to it if they want to.
One must not fall into the trap of believing that there is only one true path. Imagine if AIB followed a similar model. Filing a police complaint every time they came across an unfunny politician, or self-righteous bigot.
It would be interesting if they did. The world would be a funnier place.
