This is another one of those ridiculous pop culture controversies (see last year’s faux-outrage over Barbie) that I feel almost embarrassed to discuss, but choose to because it still fits into a larger narrative. If you somehow missed it, comedian Jo Koy was asked to host the Golden Globes on short notice, and a lot of his jokes did not land. One was about the NFL’s excessive coverage of Taylor Swift. According to the comedian, it had been rewritten a lot (by him and a team of others) and he hadn’t practiced the latest iteration before going on stage. A week later, and people are still talking about Swift’s overreaction.
Did she run on stage and slap him?
No.
She drank her wine. Nobody else laughed, either, not because it was divisive (it’s not). It just wasn’t funny. I never saw any uproar over the joke, only the reaction to the media’s overreaction of Taylor’s underreaction. And now this non-moment that should be overshadowed by, I don’t know, literally anything else that’s actually wrong in the world, has been blown out of proportion to perpetuate the same old tired narratives I’ve been rolling my eyes at for years.
The hypocrisy…
The double standards…
It’s as tired as…well, a lot of stand-up routines.
A blank-faced woman gets accused of being over-emotional while men can lose their metaphorical poo, and still get hailed as the more rational sex. People in general are driven by emotions irrespective of biology, but that’s a blog post in and of itself. Of course, race, neurology, gender identity, etc. complicate matters (which could also be another blog post).
This non-moment on TV has also reignited claims that people – not just Taylor Swift – are too sensitive, and have grown soft from participation trophies. Yes, the same people making the same tired complaints about participation trophies say Swift should have laughed even the joke wasn’t funny because it takes a lot of courage to get out there. And no, I don’t think they’re being ironic. Others blame the alleged decline of comedy on women exclusively – I’m sorry, females – and our inability to take a joke. I’ve laughed out loud at some of the inappropriate things my kids have said, even at my own expense, because…get this – they’re actually funny (sometimes even insightful).
Personally, I don’t remember a time when people didn’t look for reasons to take offense. I grew up with undiagnosed ADHD and dyspraxia so most of my childhood was defined by walking on eggshells because people picked apart everything I did or didn’t do, up to and including my – you guessed it – facial expressions. It’s super easy to provide people with ammo when you’re clumsy, awkward, and forgetful – and it’s exhausting trying to anticipate every possible reason they might take offense, which only leads to more slip ups. I had a hard enough time navigating the physical world let alone the social world. So, yeah, most people aren’t bothered on behalf of Swift, but we connect it to our own experiences of people reading too much into innocuous moments.
And now that innocuous moment has been woven into a toxic metanarrative that drives everything from internet clicks and tabloid sales to political campaigns. I’d say future historians will have their work cut out for them trying to ascertain how a bored singer and unfunny comedian became poster children in the war between left and right, but I’m not sure humanity will survive the lunacy. Can we stop this madness in the here and now?
Look. Comedy is hard. Some comedy – most physical comedy – is eternal. Other comedy doesn’t age well – not because people are any more or less sensitive – but because circumstances change, and it’s no longer relevant or relatable. Some crowds are tougher than others. Some jokes don’t land, especially if you still haven’t found a punchline after numerous revisions. Crickets are an occupational hazard. And nobody is above criticism, including comedians. Everyone else is too soft, but they want a safe place for comedy?
Now that’s funny.
As for the elephant in the room, the personal beef made public between Chris Rock and the Smiths was an anomaly. The manufactured “drama” between Swift and Koy is just another made-up battle in a bogus culture war designed to keep people fighting over petty issues instead of working together. Ragebait sells, but it also erodes social connections, and I doubt that’s an unintended consequence. Swift and Koy will be fine. Society en masse, not so much.
