September 9, 2002

11:59 AM

Why didn't Superman save the World Trade Center? Because he's a quadriplegic.Thank you, I'll be here all week! But seriously folks, where are all the WTC jokes? I remember hearing Challenger jokes with 24 hours of the explosion (Why did NASA use Pepsi as a sponsor? Because they couldn't get 7-Up.), but so far I've only heard one September 11th gag that wasn't an Osama-as-urinal-cake bit. Has anyone out there heard any jokes about the actual disaster itself? Can humour be a therapeutic tool? Am I totally callous because I giggled when someone started whistling "It's Raining Men" while watching footage of leaping office workers that morning? Discuss...
posted by Polo Mr. Polo (19 comments total)

You sick fuck.

Lots of people died, were committing suicide by leaping to their deaths so as to avoid an equally-horrific death by immolation, and you were giggling at some sophomoric joke.

Humor can be a therapeutic tool, but I think you need a different kind of therapy.
posted by rocketman at 12:03 PM on September 9, 2002

"Am I totally callous because I giggled when someone started whistling "It's Raining Men" while watching footage of leaping office workers that morning?"

Yes.
posted by mr_crash_davis at 12:06 PM on September 9, 2002

That makes me want to vomit.

What is it like to have no soul?
posted by Steve_at_Linnwood at 12:07 PM on September 9, 2002

If the Titanic was any indication, we've got about 80 some years and a major motion picture before we can start making jokes about a horrible tragedy. Basically, after mostly everyone who had experienced it passed on. Doesn't always work (see: Holocaust jokes).
posted by Stan Chin at 12:08 PM on September 9, 2002

Evan! Here is your chance! Say it with me: Get your own blog, fuckwit!
posted by McBain at 12:08 PM on September 9, 2002

Amen, Rocketman. Whistling and laughing at "It's raining men" as people are choosing between leaping a thousand feet to their deaths or being roasted alive isn't funny, it's fucking socipathic.

I feel sorry for everyone who knows you.
posted by KiloHeavy at 12:08 PM on September 9, 2002

Hey, my post is attributed to "mr_crash_davis". Bizarro. Unless you won the tie?
posted by ethmar at 12:09 PM on September 9, 2002

What rocketman said. Maybe people aren't making jokes because they wouldn't be funny?

Let's not contrive some reasons why we're Supposed to Be Able to Laugh About It Now For Therapeutic Reasons. That kind of logic is so tiresome and pop-psychological. Making 91/11 jokes is not dark, it's not edgy, it's not darkly edgy, it's not envelope-pushing. It's just fucking dumb.
posted by dhoyt at 12:11 PM on September 9, 2002

"Am I totally callous because I giggled when someone started whistling "It's Raining Men" while watching footage of leaping office workers that morning?"

Yes. Tosser.
posted by danhon at 12:11 PM on September 9, 2002

Come to think of it, I haven't heard any Holocaust jokes lately.

Must be a reason, eh? Even after all this time. It must be a conspiracy of respect at the highest levels of world governments.
posted by WolfDaddy at 12:13 PM on September 9, 2002

Gah. Go to hell, Polo. I hope your ass gets banned.
posted by SpecialK at 12:14 PM on September 9, 2002

Maybe not. Still, I would lean towards yes.
posted by Fabulon7 at 12:15 PM on September 9, 2002

I'd say you would be smart to pick your audience carefully (probably more carefully than picking metafilter, lol...), but with time I'm sure jokes will spread around. ( I also used to keep track of how long after some tragedy or accident that you would start hearing jokes about it. ) If you happen to be someone that laughed at other tragedy-based jokes, but then felt that WTC jokes were "out of line", that would be kind of hypocritical.
posted by stifford at 12:16 PM on September 9, 2002

PS: The fact you ended your post with "Discuss" reinforces my feelings of wanting to reach through the computer screen and throttle you. And if you must know, I had an acquaintance die in the second tower collapse. Hearing jokes is not therapeutic.
posted by dhoyt at 12:17 PM on September 9, 2002

PS: The fact you ended your post with "Discuss" reinforces my feelings of wanting to reach through the computer screen and throttle you. And if you must know, I had an acquaintance die in the second tower collapse. Hearing jokes is in no way "therapeutic."
posted by dhoyt at 12:17 PM on September 9, 2002

I'm with everyone else... it just isn't funny.
I grew up in various parts of Fla. I was also outside on my school lawn with the rest of my school, watching the Challenger go up. I saw it explode, I saw the smoke trails split, and I remember it vividly, in living color.

Challenger jokes aren't funny to me, either.

Perhaps people on the west coast, or in other countries would find the joking thereputic on events of 9-11, but I think it is so... I dunno... "Real" to a lot of us, there just isn't humor.
posted by niteHawk at 12:17 PM on September 9, 2002

Yeah, I don't think it's funny to joke about this. We should really be concerned with preventing this kinda of shit. People jumping out of windows is just plain too disturbing. Being in such a dire situation that the only option is to jump?

I'm surprised that there is no push for some sort of helicopter fireline device. Like some sort of line or something they can hook up to a helicopter from maybe another building or something where they could have tried to stop the fire.

And better rescuing efforts in high rises. Seems like there should have been some sort of helicopter effort to get help in there.....
posted by ericdano at 12:18 PM on September 9, 2002

There can be some therapy to laughing at tragedy, but I don't think you're quite there, Polo. An analogy: Comedy is typically shot in long shot (you can see the actor's entire body) because the closer you are to slapstick, the less funny it is (i.e., the more it hurts). I'm not saying that temporal distance makes it better, or even geographical distance (i.e., it's funnier to Californians than to NYers), but that only on the macro level can tragedies evoke jokes. In the details -- like people jumping off buildings to keep from being burnt alive -- there's no possibility of humor.

Humor is also useful as a way of underlining the absurd nature of tragedy. Life is Beautiful is an example. It sounds like Songs from the Second Floor is another.
posted by blueshammer at 12:18 PM on September 9, 2002

I see the point of this. The difference is in magnatude and proximity. The Challenger disaster was bad, but not quite this bad. Also, most people couldn't envision it happening to themselves, a friend , or loved one. I did chuckle at the "It's raining men" bit, but I know it's not really appropriate and wouldn't have made a comment like that.

The two word responses of people just saying "toss off", or something to that effect, miss the point entirely and are purely emotional. They are only contructive in that they illustrate the emotional level that still hangs on this event.

Have there been WTC jokes? I've heard some. but most revolve around people who avoided the disaster in some humorous way. Will we ever be ready for jokes about people IN the disaster, probably not for quite some time. Maybe our kids might, or our grandkids.
posted by Dillenger69 at 12:22 PM on September 9, 2002