Rape isn't funny - but neither is a lot of comedy.
War isn't funny. In fact, it's... one of the worst things ever. WWII is especially unfunny, given that.... you know.... 60.... million.... people kinda died during that war.
Yet, Catch-22 is one of the best, funniest books I have ever read. I have read up on the Horrors of Warfare (Antony Beevor's books are something everyone should read by the way), but Catch-22 is still funny.
WW1 Trench Warfare wasn't funny at all. Having to obey ludicrous commands from the higher-ups, having to endure gas-attacks, diseases, mud and bullets and barbed wire and the constant shelling isn't funny. Yet did people really object to Black Adder's WW1 episodes? No, not really.
Rape isn't funny. The PA comic doesn't endorse Rape and doesn't say "hey it's cool to rape people!" - the joke was about how in many MMOs and other games, the immersion can be broken with the idea that saving X amount of people completes the quest, instead of all of them. It was a satire of gaming mechanics, not rape.
Could PA have been more tasteful? Sure. Was the use of rape in the comic unwise? Given the anger felt by many, absolutely. Could they have found a better way to communicate the joke without including Rape? Yes.
Are they monsters who are endorsing/trivializing rape, and who have no sympathy for rape victims? Surely not.
Anti-rape activists are good people, who serve a good purpose. Rape is still a horrific crime which still exists in the modern world, and needs to be fought. The Good anti-rape activists campaign to have rape laws revised, to enhance woman's rights over the world, to set up women's shelters and give resources to rape victims. The good anti-rape-activists work damn hard and make a difference.
But that's HARD WORK! Field-workers and hard-working liberals might have time for that, but Arm-chair liberals don't! We'd have to leave our arm-chairs! So let's make a fuss about one measly web-comic and pretend we're fighting the good fight.
From our arm-chairs.
EDIT: We all know that the rights of women, around the world and at home (no matter where you live) need to be protected and enhanced. I work in the field of biological sciences. While that field is more friendly to women, I still see sexism rear its ugly head from time to time (mostly from the older members of the staff). Rape is still a major crime, and a lot of it isn't reported. There are some countries in which rape is almost sanctioned by the authorities. I stress the importance of fighting for women's rights at home and abroad, and there are many ways we can do that - donate to a woman's shelter. Campaign for a change in rape laws to make punishment more severe. Introduce anti-harassment measures in your workplace or school. Educate people from a young age about the rights of women and try to get men to realize that women are.... well, HUMANS just like them, but also get women to stand up for their own rights. It's a hard battle, a battle that takes up a lot of time and effort and money, and as a society we can do more to encourage the dignity and respect of women.
But making a fuss over one comic isn't the way to do it.
I didn't find the comic funny. I was mildly disturbed by it. I can imagine how a rape sufferer would be incensed by it, appalled by it. And they have the right, every right, to feel angry and to boycott PAX.
But everything is offensive to someone. Intentions matter. PA could have easily avoided this whole mess and they should have been wiser about this. But to all those people who think they are fighting the good fight by spitting righteous indignation at your computer monitor..... you're not. PA aren't endorsers of rape. The comic wasn't about rape at all. And intentions do matter.
I don't know. Maybe I haven't suffered from rape, and I'm not an web-comic artist either, so I don't have a right to wade into this mess. But I'd wager that most of you haven't fought in a war either. So if a veteran wants to ban Catch-22 for being disrespectful to the military he served (and Catch-22 is fairly disrespectful to the military order), and if a veteran feels incensed, absolutely enraged by the portrayal of a soldier in a film like, say, "Barbarians at the Gates", does he have a point? Maybe so. Maybe so.
But I would wager that there is something you find funny, that somewhere, at sometime, has caused heart-break to someone else. Rape isn't funny. I don't like rape jokes. I don't like slapstick humour or jokes that involve people falling down (so you can imagine how Australia/America's Funniest Home Videos doesn't appeal to me). But neither do I say that anyone who makes a tasteless joke is in favour of what the joke is about. As stupid as AFHV is, I don't think the host endorses babies falling over or old folk tumbling down stairs or people falling backwards into tables. I don't think the watchers of AFHV would actually laugh in real life if someone did fall down and hurt their back.
The PA comic was tasteless. I agree. But Jerry and Mike aren't monsters, and by screaming abuse at them, you don't open up dialogue.
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