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The Joke That Never Gets Old

Cara

Via Melissa at Shakes comes this video from Will Ferrell and some of his moron “comedy” buddies (no, I’m not a fan) that is so bad I couldn’t bring myself to use the “humor” tag. The whole thing is ridiculously stupid, but if you can sit through the first two and a half minutes of non-jokes about people who are eco-friendly, you’ll be rewarded at the end with a completely random and blatant joke about gang rape — and who doesn’t love one of those? Enjoy:

[Okay, for some reason it will not let me embed the video no matter what I do, so I just have to link to it instead.]

I take back everything I’ve said. Will Ferrell could in fact get less classy.

30 thoughts on The Joke That Never Gets Old

  1. Why?

    I know some of them have to have mothers, daughters, nieces, sisters, or wives they care about. How could they possibly think this is funny?

    Reminds me when I used to go on gamers forums and the guys would say things like “a really raped b during that round”. And when I protested, I was told to lighten up.

    You know what? Fuck you. Rape isn’t fucking funny

  2. Oh, by the way folks, if your comment gets stuck in moderation and it’s defending the gang rape joke, I’m not going to let it through. And if you leave such a comment that doesn’t go to moderation, I will probably delete it.

    I thought that was obvious, but clearly it needed to be said.

  3. Wow. That may be the least funny “comedy” sketch I’ve ever seen. I’d like to see the Kids In The Hall walk up with baseball bats at the end and beat them senseless. Now that would be funny.

  5. This depresses me— I actually do like Will Ferrel. He makes me laugh. Nothing could brighten my day quite like his “Pearl the landlord” sketch. This is just so sad. WHY!!?

  7. Wow, nothing in that was even remotely funny. Not that that would make that joke OK, but I don’t even know why anyone thought any of it was funny.

  8. But guys, they were about to rape a fat girl. They were showing us that they don’t discriminate! Shouldn’t we be happy about that, since finally, we can see that someone finally loves us, since we’re all either fat, hairy, or cat-loving spinsters (feminists are never something other than one of those)?!

  9. It’s a funny concept ruined in its execution. The idea of a helpful bunch of do-gooders has been mocked forever, but this sketch totally shits in the punchbowl. There’s no buildup, just a full-bore discomfort from the get-go. I like the uniforms, the silly hardhats almost make it plausible, and the concept of vigilante do-gooders certainly has potential. The theme music is even perfect. But the thing goes straight to violence and sexism when just a little violence would have been enough to obtain the desired level of humor. And the ending? Awfully unfunny. Those guys need an editor. It could have been funny if they half-heartedly accosted the smoking woman while trying to hit on her, but they went with rape. They really needed an editor.

  10. I agree with Jon. Still so mad. I was a Will Ferrel fan and a John C Reilly fan! Now I just look at them and think– wow, you think rape is funny? Really? How did they possibly think that was a good idea?

  11. Will Ferrel’s humor is totally unfunny. It’s bathroom humor a seven year old could write.

    Roxie, I’m sure they have females they care about, but when stupidity gets into that mentality, it just overrides anything else.
    Dissappointing.

  12. I’m glad to see that somebody else recognizes what a huge jerk Ferrel is. This just reaffirms some of what I already knew: Will Ferrel is the most unfunny “funny guy” I’ve ever seen. When he dies, the net funny of the planet will actually increase.

    What an asshole.

  14. Oh my gosh– I’m surprised there are no other (possibly former) will ferrel fans out there??? No one remembers fondly the SNL cheerleading skits? Or his hilarious George Bush impersonations??

    I’m not defending that deplorable rape joke but come on– I have laughed at SOME of Ferrel’s past work! Am I totally alone?

    I don’t think he’s the most hilarious thing ever but I don’t get the overall “worst comedian ever/asshole” comments. This was just one horrible, horrible joke (for which he should apologize).

    Maybe it’s cause I’ve worked in TV news and just found anchorman hilarious– NEWS TEAM- ASSEMBLE! Come on, no one chuckled there?

    *sigh*

  15. I admit I have found his Bush impersonations funny — though not much else that I’ve seen of him.

    Besides the rape joke, I found the overall tone of the sketch insulting; it basically mocks people who care about the environment in any way as though they are stupid, misguided, and (of course) “pussies.” Seriously, sometimes I have to check my calendar to remind myself that this really is the 21st century.

  16. Will Ferrel shone on SNL only because the rest of his cast members and the writing was so absolutely lame, his slapstick antics added something to it. I wouldn’t necessarily call it funny either, I prefer humor that draws upon adult events in real life and adult perspective. Sadly, I am old enough to remember a time when SNL had some relevance, that was long gone by the time Ferrel got there and he added no elevation in that area.

    I’ve seen some of his films as well and the only thing I’ve ever been able to observe about him is that he’s making a living, making funny no, making sense, no, making any meaningful observation of anything meaningful or pertinent, no.

    He is for those with the apparent maturity of thirteen year old suburban white boy which the movie industry can’t seem to pander to enough. I guess they’re the ones with the money, its all about the money.

  17. Besides the rape joke, I found the overall tone of the sketch insulting; it basically mocks people who care about the environment in any way as though they are stupid, misguided, and (of course) “pussies.” Seriously, sometimes I have to check my calendar to remind myself that this really is the 21st century.

    Not to mention they’re pro-abortion people who just want to throw babies in the trash. How original.

    Wow, that was the most right-wing and reactionary “comedy” sketch I’ve ever seen. I feel sick now.

  18. Ferrell has been funny.
    I really didn’t see it in Anchorman though. I didn’t crack a smile for nearly two hours.

  19. I liked Farrell and Reilly, but now I’ve totally lost respect for them.

    Farrell’s brilliance was depicting the guys who think they’re the shit when they’re the most completely disenfranchised fucks on the block, while Reilly embraced the disenfranchised characters and made them sympathetic. Both of them completely lost the ball on this one. I can’t believe they planned this one out, rehearsed, shot, edited, and released this movie without thinking, do random killings and gang rape cross the line? no!

    Rape: not funny. Take it from us.

    Please let the writers’ strike end immediately.

  20. “Oh my gosh– I’m surprised there are no other (possibly former) will ferrel fans out there??? No one remembers fondly the SNL cheerleading skits? Or his hilarious George Bush impersonations??”

    I hated him until he started doing movies. His SNL skits were like nails on the freakin’ chalkboard for me. His movies I find really funny. The really pathetic part about this is that he seems like a fairly gifted improver, so I doubt he was just working off somebody else’s ridiculously offensive script.

  21. the joke of the video is that environmentalists today are enjoying a very high profile as moral defenders of the planet. thus, when we see a slightly overzealous group of defenders of the earth, we think, “they’re a bit nutty… but i am sure glad they’re doing this for the environment!” add to that the child-like enthusiasm, and we have a set of persons all set to be placed on a pedastal, but distanced from us at the same time. (we tend to valorize by proxy persons who take upon themselves what we should be doing. here, it’s caring about the planet.)

    however, the paragons of virtue end up being horrible people who do horrible things.

    now, this video is definitely over the top in its painting of that portrait, but i, for one do see its humor. this may be due to my penchant for absurdity and even potty humor.

    now, all that being said, i will bring myself in line with the gospel of this thread: the rape bit was not necessary and put a bad taste in my mouth.

    THAT having been said, this video utilizes one of the key strategies of comedy: heightening. you start out with a premise, and you make it more and more extreme as it goes one. so, at least they consider rape to be the worst thing ever.

  22. How is a girl screaming for help because she’s been sexually assaulted funny? I guess the overall joke was about people who are self righteous about the environment but otherwise horrible human beings, but it just wasn’t necessary.

    I thought better of John C. Reilly.

  23. now, all that being said, i will bring myself in line with the gospel of this thread: the rape bit was not necessary and put a bad taste in my mouth.

    THAT having been said, this video utilizes one of the key strategies of comedy: heightening. you start out with a premise, and you make it more and more extreme as it goes one. so, at least they consider rape to be the worst thing ever.

    Yeah, except that the video should “put a bad taste in your mouth” — it should really fucking offend you.

    And clearly they DON’T think that rape is the “worst thing ever” OR THEY WOULDN’T WRITE RAPE JOKES. You know what I think is the worst thing ever? Genocide. You know what I don’t make jokes about? Genocide. Funny how that works.

    And no, I don’t want to hear any “people deal with things differently” bullshit. The clip promotes gang rape as being 1. a punchline and 2. as absurdly ridiculous as everything else in the video. That’s what I got from this: rape is a ridiculous thing that doesn’t really happen, but if it did, damn would it be funny.

  24. Oh my gosh– I’m surprised there are no other (possibly former) will ferrel fans out there

    I was a quasi-fan until I saw this.Really liked Talladega Nights and I absolutely loved Elf. In fact I just watched Elf last night and now I read this. I’m not even going to bother watching the video it’ll just turn my stomach. What the hell is going on with popular comedians and rape jokes anyway? First Seinfeld, now Ferrell?

  25. It’s bathroom humor a seven year old could write.

    Trixie23,

    There is really no need to insult seven year old bathroom humor writers by comparing them to the writers of this dreck.

    I doubt they possess the degree of creativity impairment, utter desperation for ratings, and severe inebriation from downing too many alcoholic drinks required to write something this bad.

  26. I’m sending Ferrell’s a letter to let him know how dissapointed I am.

    Will Ferrell
    Mosaic Media Group
    9200 West Sunset Blvd
    10th Floor
    Los Angeles, CA 90069
    USA

    Seriously. I like some of his stupid humor. I even liked him playing “serious” in ‘Stranger than Fiction.’

    I honestly want to know why he did this and if he would consider apologizing.

    Maybe I’m naive but I’ve always had the impression that Ferrell’s a nice guy. Sad.

  27. I agree that the rape joke went way over the line and was unnecessary and not funny. The whole thing wasn’t all that funny… but I have to admit I probably would have found it funnier, until the end, if I hadn’t already heard that there was a tasteless sick joke about rape at the end.

    I tend to agree with invisible hand’s take on what the joke here is supposed to be — those who pride themselves on taking the moral high ground can spin out into creepy psychosis. It’s pretty clear to me that the “Green Team” are supposed to be despicable and insane, but Cara’s right that the absurdity and “what the hell?” feeling of the whole thing detract from that and make them more like clowns. That’s where the reprehensible “ha ha rape is funny” feel comes from. If it was more on the “these guys are creepy and going to hell” tip, it might have worked… but then again, I don’t really think you can effectively make a joke out of something like gang rape unless you’re doing a much more bleak kind of humor, where the characters suffer and die horribly at the end, or something. The whole tone here is too light and silly for it to work without being unforgivably stupid and making-light-of.

  28. I thought better of John C. Reilly.

    So did I. But I guess that asshat with the billboard about killing wives was right – the “mainstream” do think violence against women is hilarious.

    Violence against men too.

    just violence all around – hilarious!

    I hate humans sometimes.

  29. One of the top comments (from a woman, assuming the username and picture are real):

    LOL That HAD to have been consensual sex, I mean, who would yell rape on Will Ferrell & John C. Reilly. I’m pretty sure it was just Adam that she was yelling rape for. I mean, look at the way he was approaching her.

    …Right. Great. Women think this is funny too, because it’s oh-so-unrealistic that an attractive guy (personally, I say WTF to that, but okay), let alone a celebrity would ever rape a woman. I mean, come on! Sex with Will Farrell? Who wouldn’t want that?

    Ugh, ugh, and triple ugh.

    It’s not even executed as a joke. They sleazily approach a woman offering unwanted advice, then are shown running away while she screams rape. Am I just missing something, or is there nothing remotely creative or novel about that? Funny would have been the woman revealing she’s in Greenpeace and hitting them with a shovel. Come on, give us something unexpected. That whole skit was just tired attempts to shock and disgust, but it really fell flat. Pearl was funny because it was unexpected. This just set a tone and stuck with it for the whole horrible piece.

  30. I dont think they were trying to insult environmentalists, I think they were just juxtaposing the usual image of environmentalists with their complete opposite, antisocial psychopaths maybe? I also didn’t get the idea that they were making fun of rape, or making light of it, since if they were then you could also say that they were making fun of murder (when they ran that guy over with their golf cart) I Know that since alot of ‘frat boys’ types tend to like Will farrel that he gets thrown into the same genre of comedy as say Dane Cook, but I think we should give him more credit.

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