More and more recently, more and more rape and sexual assault allegations have been surfacing in Hollywood. The new light shining on these investigation aren't from journalists or detectives. Rather, they came in the form of jokes from ballsy comedians with something to say. One of my favorite comedians, Hannibal Buress ("The Eric Andre Show" and "Spiderman Homecoming") joked at a Philadelphia Comedy Club about how high and mighty legendary actor Bill Cosby makes himself seem by telling black people to "pull your pants up." Meanwhile, Cosby was raping women. This joke opened the floodgates and gave over fifty women an opportunity to speak up about their alleged encounters with Cosby.

Now, in 2017, a whole new wave of Hollywood sexual assault and harassment allegations are coming to light, with an overwhelming number of actresses and industry women coming out with their experiences with Harvey Weinstein.

Acclaimed actor Kevin Spacey is also under fire for an allegation from "Rent" star Anthony Rapp pertaining to an incident that took place a little over 30 years ago, where the then 26 year-old Spacey sexually assaulted then 14 year-old Rapp. While speculation on both men have been circulating Tinsel Town for years, the strongest hints of public insight came from jokes made by "Family Guy" and "Ted" creator, Seth MacFarlane.

Shortly after news of Weinstein broke, a clip from the 2013 Oscars, in which MacFarlane, presenting the award for "Best Female Actress in a Supporting Role" with "La La Land" and "Birdman" star Emma Stone, joked, "Congratulations, ladies. You no longer have to act like you're attracted to Harvey Weinstein," spread like wildfire. Rewind all the way back to 2005, and you'll find a scene from the "Family Guy" episode "Don't Make Me Over," in which Brian dares Stewie to run through the mall naked and scream, "Help! I just escaped Kevin Spacey's basement!"

This leads to the question: Should comedy be taken more seriously? Sure, satire is meant to poke fun at a wide range of topics, ranging from lighthearted pop culture icons to hefty political phenomena, but when should we separate "jokes just being jokes" from jokes used as subtle ways of saying something much larger?

This goes back to the old notion that comedy is merely drama disguised with humor. The negativity that mainstream news media spews out to fill their pockets in ad revenue is a bit of a detractor for me and a reason I rarely watch national or local news stations. I, like many of my peers, have turned to online news sources and political comedy talk shows.

I've recently fell in love with "Last Week Tonight With John Oliver," watching many of his past episodes on YouTube. What I really appreciate about Oliver's series is the extensive researcher that him and his team put into each topic discussed. For instance, in an episode about the Ms. America beauty pageants, Oliver looks into a very skeptical claim that the Ms. America organization is the "largest scholarship foundation for women in the United States." The Last Week team called the organization and collected tax forms from all of the pageants associated with Ms. America.

The fact that more and more comedians are becoming socially conscious and putting in substantially more effort than some "serious" news reporters speaks volumes. They know that people want to escape the weight of the world by watching something that will make them laugh. In the process, these comics are addressing issues that the public needs to know about. They are opening up dialogues that don't just affect actors and Hollywood executives but everyone. And everyone should, too.