When it comes to comedy personally I think nothing is off limits, but I see some really harsh responses to this. That doesn't fit with my approach to life.
I'm sure losing your brother was really painful and I'm sorry you went through that. 🙏
Discussion
I agree but text isn't really the most clear cut venue for comedy.
Text can be really ambiguous and people often lob venomous words from behind the shield of "I was joking". I'm sure some were just joking but others were not, and in either case, the potential for readers to misinterpret the joke or correctly interpret the venom exists, making the potential for the hate to propagate greater.
I've laughed my ass off at comedians making gay jokes. They were comedians and it wasn't comedy via text. There are so many facial and body language cues, vocal intonation, comedic timing, etc that go into comedy and text based stuff just doesn't have any of it.
Text based communication just probably isn't the best place for that humor.
To a large degree we create our own version of reality through the interpretations we asign to events.
If 100 people are at a comedy show and the comic tells a joke, you will have 100 unique emotional responses based on 100 unique life experiences. Some may result in laughter while others may be apathy, anger, sadness, grief, ect.
If the comic manages to trigger laughter in a majority of the audience he will be considered a 'good comic', but these determinations are not objective. They are entirely based on the interpretations of those who are reacting.
I developed this perspective after studying Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg and The Presence Process by Michael Brown. They helped me to clarify the difference between events and our reactions to them. I would recommend both of those books to every human on the planet.
Again, my condolences for your brother. I can only imagine the heartbreak and dispair you've been through. If you would like to talk about any of this further feel free to message me directly.