PUGinaRUG
Bluelighter
- Joined
- Aug 4, 2019
- Messages
- 193
This is old news now but I'm interested to hear what you all think. I'm sure lots of people have seen the video and the subsequent outrage, court case and conviction of Markus Meechan, or Count Dankular as he is known on YouTube.
If not here is the video:
So personally I found the video funny, I viewed it as a joke, an offensive joke but a joke nonetheless. In fact I cant see how this could be viewed as anything but a joke; he basically spells out at the end of the vid that he's not racist but just trying to annoy his girlfriend. He says he's trying to turn the pug into the least cute thing he can think of; a nazi. So to me it seems he isn't pro nazi's/Hitler/the holocaust.
But a scottish court obviously felt differently as he was arrested and later convicted following a trial, of being "grossly offensive" under the Communications Act 2003 in March 2018. He was facing Jail but ended up recieving an £800 fine.
Some prominent comedians came out in his defense including Ricky Gervais. There was a lot of backlash and the whole thing turned into a debate about free speech.
I find it pretty scary that for making an obvious joke (imo) video, this could happen to the bloke. I actually fell out with a mate a bit over this. He was adamant Pug Guy was an antisemite and spreading his hateful ideology online to millions (something I have seen no evidence of.) My mate thought the court was right to have convicted him, and he should even serve jail time, if the court decided it. I was pretty shocked and vehemently disagreed with him. Perhaps I'm missing something?
Another example of a conviction for being 'grossly offensive':
That one seems like an even more clear cut, disgracefully unjust conviction.
There are other examples too. Just go to the Notable Prosecutions section on this page:
en.m.wikipedia.org
I think it's the government overreaching yet again (much like the porn licence) It's a waste of police time, tax payer money, its criminalizing innocent people and potentially effecting the rest of their lives, such as their job prospects, due to recieving criminal records.
I have a very dark sense of humor. I wouldn't post any joke on any platform where I could be identified anymore. I use a vpn and email which is untraceable now. Not worth the risk imo. Yes I'd rather do that than censor myself
So what's your view on this? I find this law pretty scary personally. It's far too open to interpretation. Who deems what is 'grossly offensive'? Anyone could be offended by anything surely? Why is it okay for comedians to make offensive jokes and not the public? Have you seen some of Frankie Boyle's, Ricky Gervais', Jimmy Carr's jokes? Surely we have a right to offend others? I'm not talking about overt, obvious targeted harassment, racist/homophobic abuse, threats etc.
But this is the problem I guess. Where is the line drawn between comedy and abuse? Doesn't dark comedy have to cause offense to be funny? That is the joke, we're laughing because it's so offensive/outrageous and we recognise it as such, a bad thing, that it's okay to laugh about. Dark humour diffuses the power of negative events surely? (Hitler, the holocaust etc.) It can be a sort of coping mechanism? Some things are so horrific in life, if you didn't laugh you might cry... Or is it just normalising and promoting antisemitism (the nazi pug video) Is it inciting abuse towards Jews?
Have we as a culture become too easily offended? Maybe certain jokes/topics just aren't as socially acceptable anymore? If so will new comedy stand up routines suffer as comedians self censor; out of fear of causing offense or committing a crime?
Maybe you feel the nazi pug guy should have gone to Jail? Or at least agree with his conviction and fine? Why?
I won't be showing this thread to my mate by the way. I just thought the disagreement we had was an interesting premise for a topic... Hopefully... this is my first thread on Bluelight!
Thoughts?
If not here is the video:
So personally I found the video funny, I viewed it as a joke, an offensive joke but a joke nonetheless. In fact I cant see how this could be viewed as anything but a joke; he basically spells out at the end of the vid that he's not racist but just trying to annoy his girlfriend. He says he's trying to turn the pug into the least cute thing he can think of; a nazi. So to me it seems he isn't pro nazi's/Hitler/the holocaust.
But a scottish court obviously felt differently as he was arrested and later convicted following a trial, of being "grossly offensive" under the Communications Act 2003 in March 2018. He was facing Jail but ended up recieving an £800 fine.
Some prominent comedians came out in his defense including Ricky Gervais. There was a lot of backlash and the whole thing turned into a debate about free speech.
I find it pretty scary that for making an obvious joke (imo) video, this could happen to the bloke. I actually fell out with a mate a bit over this. He was adamant Pug Guy was an antisemite and spreading his hateful ideology online to millions (something I have seen no evidence of.) My mate thought the court was right to have convicted him, and he should even serve jail time, if the court decided it. I was pretty shocked and vehemently disagreed with him. Perhaps I'm missing something?
Another example of a conviction for being 'grossly offensive':
That one seems like an even more clear cut, disgracefully unjust conviction.
There are other examples too. Just go to the Notable Prosecutions section on this page:
Communications Act 2003 - Wikipedia
I think it's the government overreaching yet again (much like the porn licence) It's a waste of police time, tax payer money, its criminalizing innocent people and potentially effecting the rest of their lives, such as their job prospects, due to recieving criminal records.
I have a very dark sense of humor. I wouldn't post any joke on any platform where I could be identified anymore. I use a vpn and email which is untraceable now. Not worth the risk imo. Yes I'd rather do that than censor myself
So what's your view on this? I find this law pretty scary personally. It's far too open to interpretation. Who deems what is 'grossly offensive'? Anyone could be offended by anything surely? Why is it okay for comedians to make offensive jokes and not the public? Have you seen some of Frankie Boyle's, Ricky Gervais', Jimmy Carr's jokes? Surely we have a right to offend others? I'm not talking about overt, obvious targeted harassment, racist/homophobic abuse, threats etc.
But this is the problem I guess. Where is the line drawn between comedy and abuse? Doesn't dark comedy have to cause offense to be funny? That is the joke, we're laughing because it's so offensive/outrageous and we recognise it as such, a bad thing, that it's okay to laugh about. Dark humour diffuses the power of negative events surely? (Hitler, the holocaust etc.) It can be a sort of coping mechanism? Some things are so horrific in life, if you didn't laugh you might cry... Or is it just normalising and promoting antisemitism (the nazi pug video) Is it inciting abuse towards Jews?
Have we as a culture become too easily offended? Maybe certain jokes/topics just aren't as socially acceptable anymore? If so will new comedy stand up routines suffer as comedians self censor; out of fear of causing offense or committing a crime?
Maybe you feel the nazi pug guy should have gone to Jail? Or at least agree with his conviction and fine? Why?
I won't be showing this thread to my mate by the way. I just thought the disagreement we had was an interesting premise for a topic... Hopefully... this is my first thread on Bluelight!
Thoughts?
