As I write this, comedian Frankie Boyle is still in the High Court. He is suing the Daily Mirror for libel after they called him a "racist". His barrister says it is perfectly OK to call him "vile" but not a racist.
His barrister told the jury that, during his Channel 4 Tramadol Nights show, Frankie had told a joke which contained the word 'n****r'. The thrust of his argument was that racist words do not necessarily mean racist thoughts. Frankie Boyle, his barrister said, was attacking racists in the joke. Context is everything.
Almost a fortnight ago, I wrote in the Huffington Post a blog headed InDefence of rape jokes though, in fact, it said that I do not like rape jokes, as I have known and worked with three women who were raped as children and, by and large, the people who tell rape jokes are bad comedians going for a cheap (shock) laugh.
I wrote: "Trying to ban rape jokes is like trying to put sticking plaster over a symptom to hide an unsightly abscess, not cure the problem. It is the wrong target. The aim, surely, should be trying to stop audiences laughing at rape jokes."
In response to that Huffington Post piece, I got this e-mail from the people at 'Rape Is No Joke' (whom I had not named):
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Dear John Flemming, (sic)
I am writing to correct a number of inaccuracies in your article 'In Defence of Rape Jokes' regarding our campaign 'Rape Is No Joke'.
We are not advocating a ban on rape jokes and we do not believe a ban on something will fundamentally tackle an issue.
We are not calling for the subject of rape to become a taboo that is never mentioned in comedy. We are against jokes that trivialise the issue and the victim (which the vast majority of jokes about rape do).
Our pledge is asking comedians and venues to voluntarily sign up to say they won't tell rape jokes or have them told in their venues as part of our campaign.
Our aim is to educate and tackle the, increasingly common, attitude that rape is something to be laughed at.
Obviously comedy isn't the biggest offence facing women. However, comedy doesn't exist in a bubble, it often reflects and has an effect on attitudes in wider society. Rape jokes add to the culture of dismissal and trivialising of rape that exists all too often in wider society. Whilst 80,000 women in the UK are raped every year, only 15% of them report it. Many of the other 85% are scared they won't be believed or taken seriously. We want to start to tackle that culture. And we want to be able to enjoy comedy without misogyny.
We would be grateful if you could edit your article accordingly and remove the claims we want to 'ban' rape jokes.
Yours Sincerely,
_________
Now, far be it from me to criticise well-intentioned people, but this e-mail says: "We are not advocating a ban on rape jokes... Our pledge is asking comedians and venues to voluntarily sign up to say they won't tell rape jokes or have them told in their venues"
If that ain't advocating a ban on rape jokes, then daffodils are fish.
Good intentions. Bad idea.
The problem with banning any joke about anything is that who defines what the subject or the object of a joke is? No rape jokes would, presumably mean no jokes - or sarcastic comments - about some of the late Jimmy Savile's appalling activities. And, as I said in my original blog, where does it end? If rape jokes are banned then, surely, you must also ban jokes about murder. And, if you ban jokes about certain subjects told live on stage then, logically, you have to ban those same jokes on television and ban them in books, magazines and newspapers. Pretty soon, you will be trying to avoid people reading unacceptable comments previously expressed by burning books.
Today, comedian Rowan Atkinson is in the papers attacking the Public Order Act and "the creeping culture of censoriousness" and the "new intolerance".
According to today's Daily Mail - not a publication known for criticising the police - a 16-year-old boy was recently arrested under the Public Order Act for peacefully holding up a placard reading 'Scientology is a dangerous cult', on the grounds that it might insult Scientologists.
In 2005, the Daily Mail points out, an Oxford University student was arrested for saying to a policeman: "Excuse me, do you realise your horse is gay?" Thames Valley police said he had made "homophobic comments that were deemed offensive to people passing by". And a 16-year-old from Newcastle who growled and said "Woof!" to a labrador within earshot of police was prosecuted and fined £200 (later over-turned on appeal).
If the policing of public morality is happening at this unimportant level to this ludicrousness, then how much more oppressive would be the policing of any ban on more serious things - like jokes about rape?
Frankie Boyle's barrister has been saying in court that the comedian has been called "racist" for telling jokes which were actively aimed against racists.
In a comment on my Facebook page about the Frankie Boyle court case, comedian Richard Herring observes:
"In none of the examples I have seen is Boyle using the words in a context other than to highlight other's racism. If he is racist for just using the word, then anyone saying, 'saying the word Paki is racist' is racist. So presumably everyone involved in the court case can now be called racist."
Rowan Atkinson said yesterday: 'The clear problem of the outlawing of insult is that too many things can be interpreted as such. Criticism, ridicule, sarcasm... can be interpreted as insult."
The same can be said of jokes about rape. In my original blog, I linked to a superb piece of comedy by Janey Godley in which she referred to the fact that she herself was repeatedly raped as a child. This could, very clearly, be labelled a 'rape joke' though, in fact, it is not in any way making a joke of rape.
Banning any jokes about anything is a bad idea. Trying to get comedy club owners to ban comedians who (they believe) tell or have told or may tell 'rape jokes' is not just a bad idea, it is actively dangerous. Where does the censorship end?
Freedom of speech includes the right to be offensive.
The road to totalitarianism - to a police state - is partially paved with the good intentions of well-meaning people.