Request: Please share your comments, but don't go this into a rant against PETA or a discussion on rap artists. This situation is look at free speech, what's funny, what's tasteless, and what's downright harmful.
Rap star 50 Cent posted a photograph to his twitter account depicting him holding a knife up to his dog.
It was meant as a joke, but animal rights group PETA responded immediately on their own twitter page:
"Sorry 50 Cent but that pic is not funny considering how many calls we get from ppl alerting us to dogs who actually have been stabbed."
Predictably, the rapper shot back at PETA with a few choice words consisting of 140 characters or less.
I didn't believe the picture was funny, partly because I don't see the issue of cruelty at all humorous, and partially because the project wasn't particularly clever or inspired. Maybe thought bubbles just don't do it for me (in the photo, a thought bubble coming from dog admonishes 50 Cent to cool out).
So is this a subject of someone making light of animal cruelty? Or is this but one instance of one person's lack of discrimination when it comes to joking about sensitive subjects? Would the rapper be as ready to joke about genocide or child pornography?
A fast read of 50 Cent's twitpics pages seemed to mean that he would. Children in "inappropriate" positions and photoshopped images of the-rapper-as-brutal-dictator are among his favorite subjects. Ok, not my particular mark of comedy, but obviously this stuff resonates with his over 3 million followers.
My verdict, in the grand strategy of things, is that this picture is a misdemeanor, not a crime. While the message absolutely stinks, no real harm was inflicted, and far more offensive acts occur on a casual basis. Still, I'm not laughing. Animal suffering already receives an alarming want of grave consideration, and the subject of cruelty is inherently un-funny.
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