So over the weekend, foremost Nigerian comedian Bright Okpocha, better known as Basket Mouth suffered a lot of backlash over a joke he posted about rape on social media.
See the said joke here.
Unfortunately, a lot of his followers/audience were not laughing about this. Rape is a very sensitive issue with members of our society; especially since people are beginning to speak out against this very inhuman act, particularly against women who are usually victimized and stigmatized after the ugly incidence. A lot of people called him out on the issue; some even went as far as requesting that Globacom remove him from being one of their brand ambassadors.
After some sarcastic tweets, he posted an apology to his fans. See the apology below;
Even the apology is yet to douse the flames, as it is still a raging issue on social media; sparking off all sorts of debates and group discussions.
EKY's 2 Cents.
I do not believe Basket mouth intended it the way it came out. Unfortunately, it was one joke gone too far. For a long time, we have laughed at and swallowed the ethnic jokes, physically challenged people's jokes and all other manner of brouhaha that has been spouted at us by most of our comedians.
We as a society have had a 'laissez faire' attitude to a lot of things that should not be. Our stance has been 'as long as it doesn't affect me directly, why should I bother?' I happen to have observed physically challenged persons at close quarters; while I can't claim to know what pain they and their family members go through, it bugs my mind that we can joke or laugh at those jokes without stopping to put ourselves in their shoes.
Crassly as it came out, there are a ton of young men who think the way Basketmouth's joke came out. In their heads, they should force a woman to have sex and 'pay for whatever they have given her'. Shameful isnt it? Especially since we pay so much attention to the training of our girl children; they should be submissive, respectful and homely. Sadly, we leave our young men's training with a lot to be desired; they run amork with their peers and grow up with a 'beastly disregard of their female contemporaries'.
Until, we re-write the foundation of young persons and re-orient our young men to think correctly, many more such jokes will occur; if not as publicly as BM's, but everyday on the streets. We all are culpable and have a role to play in this behaviour modification.
N.B.
About Bright's apology, it sounds too much like paying lip service. Or is it just me?
See the said joke here.
Unfortunately, a lot of his followers/audience were not laughing about this. Rape is a very sensitive issue with members of our society; especially since people are beginning to speak out against this very inhuman act, particularly against women who are usually victimized and stigmatized after the ugly incidence. A lot of people called him out on the issue; some even went as far as requesting that Globacom remove him from being one of their brand ambassadors.
After some sarcastic tweets, he posted an apology to his fans. See the apology below;
Even the apology is yet to douse the flames, as it is still a raging issue on social media; sparking off all sorts of debates and group discussions.
EKY's 2 Cents.
I do not believe Basket mouth intended it the way it came out. Unfortunately, it was one joke gone too far. For a long time, we have laughed at and swallowed the ethnic jokes, physically challenged people's jokes and all other manner of brouhaha that has been spouted at us by most of our comedians.
We as a society have had a 'laissez faire' attitude to a lot of things that should not be. Our stance has been 'as long as it doesn't affect me directly, why should I bother?' I happen to have observed physically challenged persons at close quarters; while I can't claim to know what pain they and their family members go through, it bugs my mind that we can joke or laugh at those jokes without stopping to put ourselves in their shoes.
Crassly as it came out, there are a ton of young men who think the way Basketmouth's joke came out. In their heads, they should force a woman to have sex and 'pay for whatever they have given her'. Shameful isnt it? Especially since we pay so much attention to the training of our girl children; they should be submissive, respectful and homely. Sadly, we leave our young men's training with a lot to be desired; they run amork with their peers and grow up with a 'beastly disregard of their female contemporaries'.
Until, we re-write the foundation of young persons and re-orient our young men to think correctly, many more such jokes will occur; if not as publicly as BM's, but everyday on the streets. We all are culpable and have a role to play in this behaviour modification.
N.B.
About Bright's apology, it sounds too much like paying lip service. Or is it just me?