Can We Take a Joke?

2016 "When outrage and comedy collide."
7.3| 1h14m| NR| en| More Info
Released: 29 July 2016 Released
Producted By: Korchula Productions
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website: http://www.canwetakeajoke.com/
Info

In the age of social media, nearly every day brings a new eruption of outrage. While people have always found something to be offended by, their ability to organize a groundswell of opposition to – and public censure of – their offender has never been more powerful. Today we're all one clumsy joke away from public ruin. Can We Take A Joke? offers a thought-provoking and wry exploration of outrage culture through the lens of stand-up comedy, with notables like Gilbert Gottfried, Penn Jillette, Lisa Lampanelli, and Adam Carolla detailing its stifling impact on comedy and the exchange of ideas. What will the future will be like if we can't learn how to take a joke?

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Can We Take a Joke? (2016) is now streaming with subscription on Prime Video

Director

Ted Balaker

Production Companies

Korchula Productions

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Can We Take a Joke? Audience Reviews

Odelecol Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.
Siflutter It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.
Erica Derrick By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Roxie The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
framptonhollis In the wake of recent controversies dealing with free speech, I decided it was fitting to at last watch this documentary that has been heavily appealing to me for quite some time. As a fervent supporter of free speech, the messages contained within this film play a heavily important role in our modern day society. There is still hope for comedians despite the ridiculous cries of outrage that seem to pointlessly be sweeping the county day by day. Hypersensitivity does no one any good, and this film knows that and begs for our society to rethink the path they are going down. A disturbing amount of people refuse to oppose hate speech laws, and universities thrive on tearing down the values that made them respectable to the liberal minded in the first place. Liberals were once the great free speech figures, but the road they have followed has led them to the polar opposite of such a reputation. This documentary does have its technical flaws, but it is still entertaining as hell, its messages are brilliant and well spoken, its hilarious at times thanks to the cast of comedians, and its also a shed of light for the future of free speech.
joe-73407 The DVD finally came up in my Netflix queue. It was so on point that I watched it twice. Outrage culture has gone off the rails. In a bit over an hour, this documentary examines in part the history of censorship of comedy and where we have arrived in the last few years as the cry-bullies virtue signal their disapproval of anything that offends them or might offend someone else. So off the scale is the Social Justice Warrior need to control everything, that they are sucking the life out of the world. Comedy tells the truth, like it or not. And the truth is that people like to laugh.
mooohala OK. so there is a part in this doc where lenny bruce is talked about as having gotten pardoned after his death. a plaque is shown. in my mind.. what this shows is this. oh.. what he did was OK, so we can do this and we can do that and it will be OK too. and what they want is for it to be OK. everyone wants what they do to be OK. they can't get around it. but God's laws, Jesus words are still totally the measuring stick. and if you break them it is called sin. so it is not OK. and if you don't repent and obey Jesus.. then hell is the result upon death. so if you think it's safe, but it's not.. it.. is hell.
jake_fantom This is a one-note documentary, the sole point of which is that people are too easily offended by edgy humor, and that college campuses have become bastions of intolerance for free speech. I think these thoughts are probably essentially correct, but that's really not enough to make a film about. The usual suspects (edgy comics) are rounded up, or rather, filmed in their own homes, clubs and studios so they don't have to put forth much effort, and asked a series of perfunctory questions which lead to an affirmation of the film's not very controversial premise. There is a de rigueur homage to Lenny Bruce, and a lot of anecdotal storytelling about offended customers at comedy clubs. And there is plenty of predictable stuff about how the internet enables instant mass outrage at offenders du jour. Yet the documentarians never get at the essence of their issue. Despite a brief segment about the nutjobs at the Westboro "church," there is no real examination of hate speech as espoused by neo-Nazis, racists of various colors, propagandists for causes like ISIS, or presidential candidates like the short- fingered vulgarian. We are left with Penn Jillette's not very comforting reassurances that this will all be "cleaned up" pretty damn quick. I managed to make it to the very end of this piece of intellectual fluff by watching in brief installments. Unless you are similarly prepared, I suggest you seek entertainment and enlightenment elsewhere.