Moment of Observation: Why Tosh.0 Sucks
There are a great many reasons to not like Tosh.0. I need only one.http://tosh.comedycentral.com/segments/video-breakdown/uncensored---video-breakdown---kid-breaks-armHA HA! HA HA! HA HA! HA HA! Did you GET IT?? Do you SEE WHY THAT WAS SO OMFG FUNNY??!?!?!?Because quite frankly, I don't.What is it about this clip that's theoretically funny? Is it the...fact that a chubby kid is outside playing? Because I was thinking, hooray for this kid for engaging in a more active lifestyle if even just for a short time, for doing something more than sitting in front of the TV with his X-Box and a soda, and that it was really too, too bad that he ended up getting hurt, and I hope that doesn't turn him away at a young age from getting outside and moving around.Or is it the actual broken arm? Was it funny to see a bend in the forearm, where no bend should be? I have also sort of spectacularly broken a bone--my leg--in a very public setting. And while I do admit thinking it was academically interesting to see my ankle bent sideways, that was the last thought I had before I started to go into shock and the paramedics did everything in their power to keep me conscious. It hurts. A lot. And chances are good that since he's young and his bones are resilient he'll only have suffered a simple break to fix and after a few weeks in a cast he'll be right as rain, but maybe he'll need surgery. I mean, that arm is really broken. Which extra-sucks. We don't know, since there's certainly no caring or follow-up on how he's doing.Or was it Daniel Tosh's comedic stylings? Was it his witty repartee as he discussed the incident? Was it when he said (and I quote), "Something tells me today's not the day he stops getting teased and finally wins the respect of his peers."No, Daniel. Apparently, it's not the day he stops getting teased, especially by you. Here's the thing: if you saw a 36-year-old man standing over a 12-year-old boy who had clearly hurt himself, saying this stuff? You'd think he's an asshole. What makes this any different? What makes his words less hurtful? Do you think that kid hasn't seen this yet? Do you think his classmates haven't given him shit about his fifteen minutes of unsavory fame thanks to Daniel "I have no fucking empathy and pick on little kids" Tosh? He claims to suffer from social anxiety which, according to the Mayo Clinic, involves
- Intense fear of interacting with strangers
- Fear of situations in which you may be judged
- Worrying about embarrassing or humiliating yourself
- Fear that others will notice that you look anxious
- Anxiety that disrupts your daily routine, work, school or other activities
- Avoiding doing things or speaking to people out of fear of embarrassment
- Avoiding situations where you might be the center of attention
- Difficulty making eye contact
- Difficulty talking
- Believing that you're better than others
- Fantasizing about power, success and attractiveness
- Exaggerating your achievements or talents
- Expecting constant praise and admiration
- Believing that you're special and acting accordingly
- Failing to recognize other people's emotions and feelings
- Expecting others to go along with your ideas and plans
- Taking advantage of others
- Expressing disdain for those you feel are inferior
- Being jealous of others
- Believing that others are jealous of you
- Trouble keeping healthy relationships
- Setting unrealistic goals
- Being easily hurt and rejected
- Having a fragile self-esteem
- Appearing as tough-minded or unemotional
structure (hence the power of political satire), and highlighting the imbalance or weird logic in a situation. George Carlin says, "It's the duty of the comedian to find where the line is drawn and cross it deliberately." But he generally crossed the line to poke at the power structure--he poked fun at censorship with the seven dirty words you can't say, and went after things like religion and airport security. What he didn't go after? A little kid who hurt himself. And it's not like you can't make fun of injuries. Jerry Seinfeld had a bit that went:
What Seinfeld doesn't say, what Carlin doesn't say, what anyone with a secure sense of self and a grasp of legitimate comedy doesn't say, is, "Uh-oh! I hope it's not his ice-cream sundae-eating arm. Do yourself a favor, get a black cast so it's not so obvious when nobody signs it." The kid is already at the low end of the power structure, so why kick him when he's down? Why imply that he's friendless and unhappy? I have to reiterate, if he said this to the kid, to his face, when he went down, most non-sociopaths would think he was an asshole. Is it the ONLY way Tosh can think to try and make himself feel like a bigstrong man? Because that seems like he's projecting the boy's (supposed) weaknesses in order to camouflage his own insecurities, to me. I hope that kid find where you live and poops in your mailbox, Danny. It's not funny, but you've got it coming.