you can skip to almost the end.
if you are displeased like I am please send an email with this link:
http://www.comedycentral.com/help/questionsCC.jhtml
OR you can call one of the phone numbers below to complain like I did.
this is what i wrote in my email:
"I want a personal apology from Mr. Stewart in regards to his "joke" he made about diabetes and blindness. He has no right to speak about a disease he knows nothing about. He is spreading rumors about the disease that tarnish the image of diabetics like myself. If he made fun of cancer more people would be angry at him but just because type 1 diabetes is in limited numbers does not mean he is not angering anyone. If this was cancer he made fun of, he would be getting harsh backlash from news agencies and the public. Cancer is curable in some cases while type 1 diabetes is NOT. You are the reason that the general public thinks we can not eat certain things or do certain things because we have type 1 diabetes. You should be ashamed at jokes like these. I can poke fun at diabetes and laugh at some of the jokes but when they spread false images of what diabetes is I will not stand for it."
I personally never find diabetic "jokes" offensive but thats just me, and Ive heard things said much worse then this. If anyone has every watched family guy, they have a diabetic joke every other week. I would agree though that if it were a joke about another disease or ailment there might be more uproar about it. I've found the few diabtics I do know to be pretty laid back about it all, no offense to the original poster. I would be very curious to see how many other people acted on this, and to see if he makes any statement tonight.
This does bring up the VERY good point though of why so many people have misconceptions about diabetis, if they get their information from sources like this its not a surprise. Speaks to the ignorance of people to actually go out and learn something.
im not hugely upset, im pretty laid back. It's like you said the misinformation people get that bugs me the most. So far I've talked to 6 diabetics who have been offended by it so I wanted to make it known to more that there were others out there that feel the same way and give them an option to do something about it if they wanted to.
It's Stewart and he's a funny guy either way. I have no complaints...I wouldn't care if he made fun of me personally. I love the guy.
Just remember that he's a performer and diabetics aren't the only group/people/person/issue that he picks on.
I like Colbert too
Diabetic jokes don't bother me. I just wish Jon Stewart could have come up with something a little more clever.
I think you read far too much into this. He wasn't completely incorrect in his punchline. Diabetics do have a greater risk to become blind due to complication from the disease. It really had nothing to do with the general public and perception of the disease. For the sake of the joke he couldn't go into detail. He makes jokes like that all the time, even at the expense of his own religion, it is a satirical show not CNN This Morning.
like i said im just giving people options :-/
I like your options Greg. I have personally been affected by eye disease and my diabetes and its been a nightmare for me day in and day out. Its a reality that is insanely scary. Do I think Jon Stewart is funny?YES. Did I find that completely out of line? COMPLETELY. I don't think you can really know if you would be terribly offended unless you are going through what it was he made his punchline about. It wasn't funny and he hit below the belt. I've lived with this damn disease for going on 16 years and I've not had any complications except for my vision. So, again, thank you Greg for posting this because it does make me feel better knowing others may be offended.
P.S. diabetic jokes can be funny...trust me...there was a Jimmy Fallon thing the other night that got me tickled but this one went too far.
Sincerely,
Alayna D. Strickland
I saw it this morning, honestly, I flicked off the tv, but laughed after I let the let the joke sink in. The punchline was "Over time there is a much greater chance, that justice, would indeed be blind."
What he said is absolutely true and it hurts painfully and scares me to my core.
All the jokes on his show are hurtful, but that tends to be the nature of laughing. We laugh because it hurts so much. "I had thought — I had been told — that a 'funny' thing is a thing of a goodness. It isn't. Not ever is it funny to the person it happens to.... The goodness is in the laughing itself. I [understand] it is a bravery . . . and a sharing… against pain and sorrow and defeat."-Robert A. Heinlein
However... Check out these "people" The Parents of Children of Type 1's are rallying against. http://juvenation.org/groups/parents_of_children_with_type_1/forum/t/2964.aspx These TV hosts are much more aggravating then a comedian.
Better yet, We should send him with emails telling him to donate to JDRF as penance.
I think thats a fantastic idea!!!!
That is so mean!!!! Screw him!!! Sorry for the language but I'm serious. That pisses me off.
I thought it was a brilliant and hilarious joke. Not sure how it could be seen as offensive, but to each his own I guess.
I'm not real sure where I come down on this. On the one hand I'm not really that concened. All jokes have a butt and we laugh, unless we're the butt, then we think it's not funny and in fact cruel. I mean look at jokes like "Why does a fireman wear red suspenders?" "Too keep his pants up". Could be insensitive to fireman. Or "Why did the punk rocker cross the road?" "Because he was safety pinned to a chicken". Could be offensive to punk rockers and their choice in jewelry.
A few weeks ago I swore off of another forum because they said that some videos they found on expertvillage were made by the people that rode the short yellow shool bus (school busses that take special education children to school). My son rode a bus like that to school. I didn't think it was funny and in fact cruel and insensitive and they said I was being too sensitive and it was funny and in the popular lexicon and they even used it on the movie "Dumb and Dumber". Makes it OK I guess. So, I don't frequent there anymore. Besides they were a bunch of Gassholes (see if this gets past the profanity filter) anyway.
Anyway, like Alayna said, if you're not affected by what the butt of the joke is, you can laugh. If you are, it's not funny. I wish he hadn't done it. But I don't watch his show anyway. Just don't think he's that funny. Now Colbert, that's different.
On a side note, that congressman who was speaking about how diabetes had made his friends s better people sounded a lot like Alyssa!
I see the pun in the joke....blind justice??? HaHa, blah, blah and whatever to that. I guess because I am hypersensitive in this case because everyday I live with the fact that I need to keep on my toes to protect my sons eyes and kidneys. I guess it is P.C. to incorporate JUVENILE DIABETES into political humor or uneducated talk show hot topics because we make the worst poster children for empathy due to the fact that T1's are beautiful, strong and healthy on the outside. They can't see whats going on internally. Lastly, I am a huge Family Guy fan and I do laugh at the Alfred Brimley bits.......just a little. Thanks for all the above info to make it easier to find a place to make our voices heard. I understand how p.o'd you are.
i LOVE the family guy diabetic jokes. i laugh my ass off everytime i think of them. i think if you can laugh at family guy, you should be able to laugh at what jon stewart said. its the same thing. SOMEONE wrote that joke. and i thnk more people watch family guy than jon stewart anyways...plus people know Jon Stewart is a comedian..what about family guy? i know people who watch that show religiously and take it much more serious than they take even the nightly 6o'clock news reports!
I don't watch Family Guy and dont' plan to start. Not because of this, but just because I think it's dumb.
Another reason why type 1 diabetes is safe to pick on is we are, and I think we sometimes forget this, a VERY SMALL minority of the population. I've seen stats anywhere from .3% (1 in 300) to 1% (1 in 100). I think that plays into it too and also why it's so misunderstood. That and another disease that a lot more people have has the same name!
You gotta have thick skin just as much as you have to have good math in your head skills to live with this. It's not for wimps!
[quote user="Greg Borkman"]
like i said im just giving people options :-/
[/quote]
I can understand that point of view but your email was filled with accusations that were incorrect. His joke was based upon fact. It had nothing to do with the public's general ignorance and inability to differentiate between Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes. You insuiated that he, along with other media outlets, are responsible for this. While I agree that it does not help that all tv ads and whatnot do not make the distinction, he is not part of this routine. Also, you mentioned he knows nothing of the disease and he is spreading rumors. You aren't privy to his diabetic knowledge and that wasn't a rumor. It can happen.
I think some people need to develop a sense of humor. The joke was not bad. It wasn't as if he got up there and said diabetics are fat and lazy or something of the like. He made a joke that can become reality for us. He wasn't picking on anyone other than the genius gov't officials inserting their foots into their mouths.
Batts,
I go to school with a girls who get all her news ONLY from Stewart. When I said "he was a comedian" she looked genuinely confused. Not everyone realized that he is 1) telling jokes and 2) speaking from his personal opinion. I personally think he's hilarious. Just scared that not everyone get it.