So, I’ve started a new category called Outspoken Sources. I’ve always wanted to share my blog with others, so that I can see topics from different perspectives. And what better way than to open up my blog to 2-way communications? I’ve tried to do that in my comments, but it’s not going well since I can hardly tell honest comments from spam any longer. There are days when I really despise this obsession with marketing ourselves at any cost. I want honest communications.
Well, here’s my first outspoken source who’s work I follow as he’s a writer like me. But he’s strong in a way that I wish I were. Jesse Abundis is a writer of a style that reaches for brutal honesty. He’s an indie artist and proud of that fact. And he’s fast becoming an online friend who reminds me to stay honest to my true self as well. For that alone, he’s someone to connect with. But if your mind hates the leisurely stroll, then you’ll love connecting with his writing. I know that my mind appreciates what he has to say.
So, without further ado, Jesse on handling taboo subjects (or any subject you want to tackle) creatively:
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A few days back, comedian Daniel Tosh was doing stand-up at the Laugh Factory. He was starting to make a “rape joke” when a women in the crowd began to shout at him “rape isn’t funny, you shouldn’t say that, it’s wrong!” Of course if you’ve seen Tosh’s standup, then you know that he fires back at people who want to ruin the show as all stand-ups do, so he turned to the women and said “Wouldn’t it be funny if five guys raped you?”
That comment alone sent this woman into a fit of rage, so she took to her blog, Twitter, and everything she could to bash Daniel Tosh.
We know rape is a sensitive issue for any artist that takes on the matter, and sometimes one wrong move will get a you fire storm. Now, should’ve Daniel Tosh just not make a “rape joke” at all? No, he has the right to crack a joke at any subject. Should he apologize for what he said? “FUCK, NO!”
First, he did nothing wrong. Everything done in film, music, writing, comic books, and even stand-up is fiction. No one gets harmed, though I’ve heard the argument “You applaud rape when you create things in that nature.” If that’s true, then every movie you watched that contained “action, blood, sex, gore, suicide, cheating spouse, killing of children, killing of animals, racist joke, racist joke against gays” are things you too are in favor of: See how stupid that sounds?
Artist aren’t monsters for creating the dark side of life. In fact, it shows how open we are to take on the matter, that we’re not narrowed minded, and we can take a joke. Will people embrace it? Some might and some might not, but that’s how it goes and you can’t change that.
Now, should’ve Daniel Tosh joked about “five guys raping you” to the women? No, you just don’t give people like that fuel to burn. It’s a big ‘no no’ because I’m not quite trusting of the woman’s own actions, such as why did she have to make a scene? Couldn’t she just simply walk out and then blog? No, she had to make this big scene to get everyone looking at her. That just screams 15 minutes of fame and a bitter hate for Tosh.
With people like that, you just can’t win because they’ll hound you to the bitter end. It happened to me with one of my stories, FAIRY GODMOTHER, but did I apologize? Hell, no. My art, my rules. If it bothers you, then turn around and walk away.
And this is a lesson all artists need to learn: Create what’s in your mind, and don’t let others censor your creativity. If they bash, then so be it. But they’ll be others who’ll love your work, no matter what. Don’t let one asshole spoil your creation. Let them shout at what you create, because that’s all any of us can do.
Find out more about Jesse here:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/jessenovels
Jesse’s blog: http://jessenovels.wordpress.com
Jesse’s videos: http://www.youtube.com/user/jessenovels2010/videos
