Last week, a video was put up on YouTube by YouTube comedian Nicole Arbour that caused a massive outcry on social media. The video which was highly offensive talked about how she does not believe that "fat shaming" is even a "thing" anymore. She went on to say some highly offensive things in the video as well. The video caused such an outcry that YouTube deleted the video and suspended her YouTube channel. She has also lost a few movie roles and other jobs because of her comments. This whole controversy raises an even bigger question, when is does comedy step over the line and when does it need to be censored.
Nicole Arbour has refused to apologize for her comments and says that her video was purely satirical. However, this has not dissuaded the public outcry that seems to get more angry every time she releases a new public idea. Comedians offending people or stepping over the line on jokes is not new. The conversation about offensive comedy has been one that has been brought up by many comedians. In today's world where everything has to be politically correct one has to wonder about what can be talked about and what can't be.
This however doesn't make what Nicole Arbour said in her video OK in the slightest. What Arbour talked about in her video was mean and cruel to a group of people who already have to worry about being criticized by the general public. There is a massive stigma against people who are overweight and to make a video that denies this truth is in very poor taste. Even if she is joking the way she delivered her video was just downright mean.
The thing about comedy is that it give a few people the right to poke fun at our society. To find humor in the most trivial things in our society. I do not believe that comedy should be censored so heavily because we do live in a country where freedom of speech is one of our god given rights, but we have to remember that there is a line for what is acceptable to joke about and what is not.
As our country grows more politically correct and censorship finds its way into more and more comedy's you have to wonder where the line will be drawn. Although Arbour is completely in the wrong with the things she said, you have to wonder where the line will be drawn in censoring comedy.
