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Jokes about pedophilia are made at a comedy show on WDR. It should be fun. The echo embarrasses the WDR.
The entertainment program of West German Broadcasting (WDR) includes cabaret and comedy. Artists humorously criticize society and politics. The boundaries between satire and shamelessness are not always sharp.
An appearance is currently the subject of controversy. It is the latest show “Lustig” by the German comedian Moritz Neumeier. During his performance, he provided black humor on the subject pedophilia and short stature to mixed reactions from the audience and on social media.
Topic pedophilia: Those were the jokes
In its comedy show Neumeier tries to address in a funny way that people with a pedophile tendency cannot talk about it in their social environment: “If you tell that to your friends, you will soon no longer have any friends”. This is followed by jokes about possible reactions from parents: “Well, at my house you don’t need anymore…you…I have two children.”
His expression about: “Where I think: Jürgen, look at them! As if he wanted to fuck them, seriously. As if he didn’t have a type. Well, that’s still a matter of taste. They look like you. What’s wrong with you ? You can be happy when someone looks at you, Jürgen.”
“There is no simple remedy for pedophilia, except, of course, midgets,” he continues Course and adds: “Oh, no, it’s not a drug. It’s more like methadone. So that they can slowly get off the children. And you have to do it really slowly when you get down there. No, if you do that too quickly… then the children get frightened”.
Appearance on WDR: Comedian talks humorously about pedophilia
Under the motto “His whole program a trigger warning. Brutally funny. Honest.” Neumeier is “funny where it hurts,” writes WDR on its website. This case was about the mental disorder of pedophilia. The comedian tried to create awareness of the issue in a funny way.
But not all viewers are excited about it. The comedy show caused polarization on Twitter. “Not funny,” writes one user under the video and “just disgusting” another. “The border is being pushed more and more,” says the comment.
But that’s okay too other opinions opposite: “Great humor with a progressive attitude,” reads one comment. “This is an extremely thankless area for jokes,” it continues. “Jokes often show the complexity of things,” writes a Twitter user.
Moritz Neumeier: That was his intention behind the comedy show
At the request of the editors, Neumeier commented in one opinion on his comedy show and the criticism: “This in no way means that living out these tendencies should be normalized or played down”. The comedian chose the topic of pedophilia knowing that it was “complex”. “Nevertheless, I think the discussion itself on this topic is important,” says Neumeier.
One taboo According to the comedian, addressing the topic of pedophilia ensures “that people who have this tendency do not confide in anyone. And I think that is dangerous. If people become perpetrators, they should be punished and looked after consistently. But it is even more important Giving people the opportunity to ask for help before they become abusers.”
Regarding the criticism of his choice of words says Neumeier: The discussion on the subject of pedophilia and short stature “should in no case be conducted at the expense of those affected and I am infinitely sorry that I hurt and triggered those affected with my statements on the subject.” He also emphasized: “Because it happened, it doesn’t matter what my intention was. Then it was a mistake to say what I said.”
More about German comedians:
Pedophilia in comedy shows: criticism of public service broadcasting
Opinions on the subject of Neumeier’s comedy show are divided. the WDR, public service broadcasting in general (ÖRR) is increasingly being criticised. “You don’t know what a sadder event is: German comedy or ÖRR,” says a tweet.
At the request of the editors, the WDR also took part in a opinion commented on Neumeier’s comedy show and the criticism: “Moritz Neumeier has long and continuously spoken out against hate speech and prejudice in his stage programs and his publications and advocates respect and tolerance. In the program in question he deals with dealing with pedophilia and the subject of vigilantism . However, the reactions have shown that his approach is perceived as hurtful and trivializing.”
WDR takes this criticism very seriously. That’s why the broadcaster decided“to edit the program and to cut out the relevant passage and to make this transparent.”
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