Like
everyone else I am stunned and pained due to the outburst of violence in France
this week but I cannot deny that there are certain aspects on the matter that
have left me with ambiguous thoughts.
First I
want to make it clear that I condemn the violence that took place at
"Charlie Ebdo" and during the subsequent manhunt completely. What
happened there is terrible and makes me want to return my membership as part of
the human race. It is a senseless crime that has no excuse.
On this
blog I published an article where I stated that I believed that a joke is just
a joke and people should simply laugh at it for the fun and not feel offended.
I am not so sure anymore because where does a joke end and racist comment
start? Is it clearly defined line or is it merely defined by a person's
perception?
I have
never read "Charlie Hebdo" but I have seen enough offensive cartoons
and jokes to get an idea. While I have found a lot of them extremely tasteless
and unnecessary I have never found any really offensive to me. I wondered why that
is, considering that I am usually very sensitive to being offended and being a
woman, single at 36 years and having grown up abroad, there is plenty material
for offensive jokes. So why do I not feel offended?
After
some time it hit me: Because I don't relate to the "people" in the
jokes. Jokes are a distortion and exaggeration of reality. That is the simple
truth and therefore people shouldn't feel offended by them.
For
example: A common impression is that most women love buying shoes, which at
least in my case is true. So imagine a cartoon, where someone holds a pair of
Manolo Blanik shoes over a cliff and dozens of women fall down the cliff trying
to chase the shoes. Does that offend you because it depicts women as stupid and
materialistic lemmings? Most likely it doesn't because in reality you won’t
jump down a cliff trying to get a pair of shoes. But show this to a few die
hard feminists and they will go berserk!
I
believe many people are looking to be offended as an excuse to lash out at
others, which in this case has had the most tragic consequences.
Another
recent case that comes to mind was the scandal over the Sony hack and the movie
“The Interview”. Luckily in this case the result was harmless in comparison to
Paris but the world was still in turmoil because of it.
In my
opinion what both cases have in common is that the perpetrators felt that they
and their culture had not been respected. The truth is that it is hard to argue
against it. Maybe if we try to think how we would feel if the situation was
reversed we will understand:
How
would Americans feel if it was known that North Korea had shot a movie about an attempt to kill President Obama? How would we Europeans feel if it were Angela
Merkel, Queen Elizabeth or King Felipe? Honestly I guess we would at least
think: No funny at all!
Maybe
this is exactly the line we have been looking for: How would we feel if we were
on the other side of the joke? Maybe this thought can help us to understand
others.
Many
anti-Islamic groups such as the German Pegida are using the incident at Charlie
Hebdo to fan the flame against the Islam, which is just as disgusting as the
attack itself.
I have
spoken to many people about this and the fact is that the people condemning the
attack the most are in fact Islamic people and it makes sense because they are
being blamed for the actions of a few, when people generalize the matter.
The
attacks in France were cruel and ruthless and I fear that their impact in the
world will be significant. A lot of people stated that it was an attack on free
speech; this is however something I cannot completely support, for me
this was an attack on people. The freedom of speech is not only a right but privilege
and it should be used wisely and with respect to others. I believe freedom of speech should not be misused to offend, humilate or hurt others. Where the line is to be drawn, I honestly can't tell.
Nobody
should think of the attack on “Charlie Hebdo” as an Islamic attack but as a
terroristic attack. I believe people prone to violence will always find an
excuse to attack others and we shouldn’t blame it on all people sharing the same religion.
