Have you ever felt offended or uncomfortable while someone was telling you a joke? That’s not a rare feeling, right? It is widely known that comedians usually tend to discuss polemic and controversial subjects, such as obesity, mental illness, and religion. If they don’t want the public to make misconceptions, timing and context are extremely crucial. It is what separates a funny line from straight up aggression, for instance. Comedians are constantly walking on eggshells: one false step and their reputation and career can go down the drain.
Kathy Griffin went through an experience just like that in 2017. She is the living proof that a joke can be interpreted in the wrong way on social media and, as a result, change your life completely. The comedian alongside with the photographer Terry Shields posted a photo of her holding a mask with the face of Donald Trump covered in ketchup. After publishing it, she received a massive backlash. Some people thought she had joined the ISIS, others believed that it was a threat to the president. Some even believed it was an actual head covered in blood. Correspondingly, Griffin was fired from CNN’s annual New Year’s Eve coverage with Anderson Cooper, received several death threats and was even investigated by the United States Secret Service. Furthermore, the president himself responded to her on twitter claiming that she “should be ashamed of herself” and calling the image “sick”.
“Https://Ew.Com/.” EW.com. N. p., 2018. Web. 1 Oct. 2018.
The comedian, who had performed before in Iraq and Afghanistan, never imagined that people would make that connection. She confessed that the photo was taken with the intent of provoking him. Griffin said that she “wanted to shame him for his acts against woman and the LGBT community”. She admitted she thought some people wouldn’t like the picture, as it portrays a touchy subject. However, she didn’t predict that people would take such a dark turn.
Art is subjected to the public’s interpretation. Stuart Hall, in his publication “Encoding, decoding”, claims that “what is called ‘distortions’ or ‘misunderstandings’ arise precisely from the lack of equivalence between the two sides in the communicative exchange.” Most of the times, what the author encodes in his artwork is not what the public decodes. Once you publish something on the internet it is forever there, open to new interpretations every day. Maybe Kathy Griffin was unreasonably audacious when publishing the photo. Or maybe the public was too harsh. Independently, all people should be careful when broadcasting something to the media. All three hypothetical positions must be considered: Some people may see eye to eye with your point of view, some may agree to some extent and disagree to other, and some may look at it and interpret it in a completely different way.
Citations
“Kathy Griffin Addresses The Severed Trump Head Photo Controversy.” YouTube. N. p., 2018. Web. 1 Oct. 2018.
Chen, Joyce, and Joyce Chen. “Kathy Griffin On Trump Photo Scandal Fallout A ‘Double Standard’ – Rolling Stone.” Rollingstone.com. N. p., 2018. Web. 1 Oct. 2018.
“Https://ew.com/news/2017/05/30/kathy-griffin-apologizes-decapitated-trump-photo/.” EW.com. N. p., 2018. Web. 1 Oct. 2018.
“Https://ew.com/news/2017/05/30/kathy-griffin-trump-head-photo-tyler-shields/.” EW.com. N. p., 2018. Web. 1 Oct. 2018.
“Https://ew.com/news/2017/05/31/donald-trump-blasts-kathy-griffin/.” EW.com. N. p., 2018. Web. 1 Oct. 2018.
“Kathy Griffin Speaks Out One Year After Donald Trump Photo Controversy: He Didn’t Win In The Long Run.” E! News. N. p., 2018. Web. 1 Oct. 2018.