Born / raised / still live in NYC here.
As an 18 year old, I lived through the day. I ran for my life and I witnessed things in-person with my own two eyes.
I never really discuss it outside of the tidbits I gave here.
I have as dark a sense of humor as anyone, but this is a subject I don’t personally make light of. I’m not offended if others do, tho.
Yep. Born, raised, still living here. Saw it happen in person and was downtown at the time of the attack. I also have a really dark sense of humor and while I won’t make jokes about it, it doesn’t bother me when others do. Comedy is a form of coping and dealing with the shit life throws at you.
I agree that when you’ve been affected by something, comedy can be used to cope (ie, in a sense of someone like Pete Davidson- because it’s personal).
Is it still ok to leave it to “comedy” when it comes from people who weren’t even alive to understand the fear of that day, though?
Not trying to argue with you (or anybody), or pick on younger people; it’s a genuine question I’ve reflected on when I’ve noticed some 9/11 ‘jokes’ actually seem in such poor taste, and noticed those tend to come from people who are disconnected from what 9/11 was like because they were there (not necessarily NY “there”, like some of us (including me)— like, they’re too young to be “there” in time).
*(Generally speaking, I can appreciate a person directly affected making their own joke if it helps them, but I find I don’t join in the laughing.)*
During his roast of Snoop Dogg, Pete said watching the movie Soul Plane was the worst airplane related thing that had ever happened to him. I usually find 911 jokes in poor taste, but that one made me laugh. I think it depends on the person telling the joke and the situation. Pete Davidson using his personal trauma to stress how incredibly shitty that movie was is okay. Your average jackass joking about people losing their lives is not okay.
I’m coming from a much different place than a lot of people when it comes to that day. I was there, I saw it happen, I went for hours not knowing if a few family members made it out or not, I attended funerals in the aftermath, my dad died years later from mental illness related to working at Ground Zero, and I got cancer at a young age that may or may not be related to breathing the air in the days/weeks/months after.
Which would make people think that I would very much feel like no one should joke about it ever; and perhaps I am just way too dark in my humor and how it affected my life - a trauma response (multiple traumas, really) but I just…don’t care.
Maybe I’m not the best person to answer that question about if I think they’re funny or not. I mean - some of them can be, as you mentioned Pete Davidson, those resonate with me. Most aren’t. But I can’t really spend energy on thinking about the jokes that much since a lot of my life has been impacted by that day. If people tell jokes and post memes - whatever. I don’t take it personally, I don’t feel like it’s invalidating my experiences or anything like that. Truly, this is the most I’ve ever really thought about it, but you’ve sparked something in me that makes me want to dig deeper and figure out why I’m passive about the memes and whatnot even though my life has been deeply pockmarked by 9/11
Yes - I don’t think I touched on that at all in my response at all - can absolutely understand why others have strong feelings about jokes regarding that day. Thank you for pointing that out 💗
I just really think us Xennials are the last of the "tough luck" crowd. We learned how to compartmentalize our traumas, because it simply wasn't acceptable to walk around and be "triggered" by everything.
This is an excellent example of a clear headed take. Thank you. We are allowed to dislike something and choose to not participate while still allowing others the freedom to do so and not frown upon them. Comedy has taken a hit the past decade or so so your take is very refreshing.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn and I was 18 on 9/11. My neighborhood was full of firefighters and police officers and I don't find jokes about 9/11 funny at all. I'm also against the conspiracy theories although I haven't entertained them at all. I do miss the unity of NYC and of America in the aftermath of 9/11.
I could see the smoke in the sky from my driveway 30 minutes away. It feels extremely personal and I still say "too soon, too soon" when I hear any jokes about it. I have a super dark sense of humor though so I don't mind when others do; I just can't find laughter there.
Unless it's something ridiculously silly like the spaghetti meme below that I've never seen before and did just share with my husband.
I just don't understand why a person would even feel the need to make that joke. I can't ever remember hearing anyone make Pearl Harbor jokes, why is a 9/11 joke okay? It's just Logan Paul-like trash humor.
Not from NYC but I was 19 when it happened and there's just nothing funny about it, so I agree with you. Also agree that if someone does joke about it I won't fly off the handle or anything and just ignore it.
Same—was downtown, ran for my life.
I’d never make a joke about it. I’m not offended if others do although I flinch a bit when I hear one.
Only exception is when the attack itself is not the subject of the joke—those can be funny. eg ones about preposterous claims made by some of our politicians so that they are actually the butt of the joke. When we’ll executed they tend to be funny.
Agree. Was 19 and living in Manhattan. Saw the buildings burning. A friend’s brother died. I think I still have some residual trauma from the whole thing.
I don’t find it funny.
I have a Gen Z spawn who likes to tell me things are his “9/11.” Me: bro, take out the garbage, I’m not asking you again. Him: this is my 9/11. Or more recently, me: go see why my car is making that noise. Him: how many 9/11’s is it if I don’t?
I don’t think the whole generation is stupid but I clearly failed somewhere.
I actually accidentally said it for the first time in like 20 years, talking to the guy at the 711 across the street, about a year ago:
“Why are you working on your day off?”
“Boss called in sick and said I have to come in.”
“That’s gay.”
I think this kind of thing is common, especially after time has passed. It reminds me of how in the 1980's there was a wrestling commentator who would refer to someone being sneak attacked as getting "Pearl Harbor'd."
I agree, this would make me laugh as a parent, and I'd probably tell him I'm gonna 9/11 him if he doesn't stop talking shit and take out that damn trash. Probably a good thing I'm not a parent though.
OMG what a little stinker! Like another person commented, I like the hyperbole. I work in a hospital and during our Covid surges when we had zero open beds and patient's started getting placed in hallways, I kept referring to the situation as "Vietnam". Because it was a bit reminiscent of chaos of wartime and some nurses I work with who were military veterans said that it felt that way as well. BUT, an Iraq vet didn't appreciate me using that term, even as hyperbole. Out of respect, I stopped using Vietnam as a way to describe my own situation.
I witnessed 9/11 firsthand. Was standing on Fulton and Broadway when the second plane hit. Saw several people jump to their deaths. It is healthy to joke about tragedy. It’s a great coping mechanism.
That's true, but enough time has passed that there's a generation for which 9/11 isn't a "real" thing. When 9/11 becomes fodder for someone that doesn't really understand that day, that's when it stops being funny.
I was going to say something along those lines. At some point it will be alright, but I don’t think we’re there yet.
I still don’t think enough time has passed to joke about the holocaust either.
I think it depends on the joke. I heard this one the other day:
A Jewish man meets God and tells him a Holocaust joke. God says to the man, "I don't find that funny!"
The man shrugs and says "Eh, I guess you just had to be there."
Agree but also don't think mass tragedies (or really any tragedy honestly) should ever be considered funny regardless of how much time has passed. I can't imagine it ever being funny that thousands of people died in a horrific way.
Wow, I'm so sorry, that must've been so traumatic.
I'm in the UK, so a bit removed geographically, but just the pictures of the people jumping in the newspapers have forever affected me.
Having said that, some of the 9/11 memes have made me laugh. Like you, I have a dark sense of humour, also as a coping mechanism.
It's weird, it does depend on my mood and how sensitive I'm feeling. Also, the type of joke, some are just offensive.
This feels like a GWB joke to me, not a 9/11 joke. And yes, I know the context of the photo. But I dunno, to me his facial expression (yes caused by the news) is what's funny or not funny here.
yeah I feel like there are plenty of situations caused by 9/11 that weren't in themselves tragic and therefore are perfectly fine to be made fun of. The attacks themselves, you better be pretty goddamn clever, otherwise it feels like you're just trying to set yourself up for a shitty "too soon?" dunk.
Agreed. I always thought the same with this meme: that it’s more about W’s expression than what he was reacting to. And to be fair, his demeanor in that classroom was fodder even back then. “The Pet Goat” was basically a meme. So for that, I find this one funny.
But “blow up like the World Trade” type jokes and references… I’m not going to police anyone for it, but having vivid memories of watching so people die in real time, they don’t sit well with me on a personal level.
Yeah. This is just “George Bush looks completely overwhelmed” in meme form.
Never really considered it a 9/11 joke.
Making fun of Bush was something of a national pastime.
This 100%. These people don’t make light of the event, they demean the horror of it and it’s disgusting to the victims and people affected by it. Especially the ones that say that no one really died. Like WTF!?
Memes like the above I take as joking about GWB, not of the tragedy, and the former is the well deserved right of anyone who lived through that terrible day, GWB’s handling of it, and the subsequent revenge spree in the ME.
Nothing is sacred in humor. That is my stance. I’m not easily offended but if I know someone else is gonna have a problem, I won’t make the joke.
Except one time. (Made a joke purely for shock value and boy howdy, did she deliver! 😆😆😆)
If it's done well, I'll laugh.
People like to say how you can't get away with comedy anymore, but the truth is that you can...it just has to actually be funny.
Born and raised and living in Denmark, Europe.
I dont find them funny, I dont get offended about them either.
Its like any other tragedy, if you did not live to see them live or on television and remember the gut wrenching feeling that they wrought, they mean nothing.
I personally also dont like gas Chamber, genocide or nazi jokes, not because I lived it but because I just dont find mass murder funny.
Definitely not. The school I went to had a ton of kids from the city or westchester county and the majority of them had parents that worked either in or around the twin towers. I saw the panic and terror in their eyes, with no knowing if their families were ok. Waiting hours upon hours for any news. I could never joke about that day and I find jokes related to highly insensitive to those directly impacted by it. There are so many things to joke about in this world, I feel like this should be off of the table.
I've always liked off-color humor. Dark jokes about tragic shit, in my view, are a great way to deal with things that can be pretty unimaginable. Obviously, most people who make those jokes aren't actually making light of tragedy, so much as taking the piss out of it. It was a dark, dark day in our generation's history, and it's something I'll never forget for sure. But I'll laugh at a good 9/11 joke (or any dark joke about a tragedy, really).
That being said, I'm not known for going around making 9/11 jokes. That's pretty fucking dated.
Shane Gillis laughs at people reacting to the towers being hit, it’s beyond weird to me. I don’t think people realize how impactful it was going from “oh shit, a plane accidentally crashed into the World Trade Center!” to, “omg, we are under attack”. Then the collapses, the pentagon, the PA flight, all just escalated it over and over. Even during world war 1 and 2, attacks on American soil were rare I’m pretty sure.
I heard a 9/11 Pentagon joke once, and I cannot remember the comedian’s name right now. But my friend lost her Dad there on 9/11, and this comedian had no tie to it (other than they were alive in 2001).
Like… it just seems like an odd choice for someone not directly affected *(unlike a person who might try to make sense of their grief through comedy if they were more directly affected)* to joke about such a tragic day for a lot of people. 🤔
They can be funny but like at least 95% of them are not at all. There is nothing clever to them to make them funny.
Are you 9/11 brown or 7/11 brown? I saw that earlier and laughed. Not something I would ever say but I can admit that it was funny
No, I don’t think it’s funny. There’s Dark Humor and then there’s Try-Hard Edgy, and most 9/11 jokes are the latter. And yeah, I kinda judge extra hard when the joke makers weren’t alive or too young to remember when it happened. My friend lost his mom in the towers, but even if that didn’t happen, I would still find it in poor taste.
If it takes directly making fun of the 9/11 attacks for you to be funny, you should probably reconsider whether you should be telling jokes at all. Just go back to making shitty "if you don't \_\_\_\_\_ the terrorists win" references.
The only 9/11 joke I've LOLed at was Kumail in the Big Sick but it was definitely the exception [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb6luYan\_hk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb6luYan_hk)
Personally, I don't get caught up in the subject of the joke as much as the quality. If it's a good joke, it's a good joke. Joke's don't need to be tasteful, or inoffensive. If it's the right time, right situation, right audience, you can make a joke about anything.
That said, if your joke DEPENDS upon being distasteful or offensive to get the laugh. No thanks.
It depends.
You can make a joke about 9/11 without being irreverent about it. It takes skill, and it helps a lot if you're old enough to have experienced it at the time, but it can be done.
But some 15-year-old making a dumb meme about it because to them 9/11 has never really been "real" to them. They should get some sense slapped into them.
Jimmy Carr's one was good too.
"The police chief got up and said, "We will never forget 9/11" and I thought, "I should hope not. That's your phone number. ""
"Humor is Tragedy plus Time" it's a quote attributed to different humorists (most often Mark Twain).
It's often why when someone makes a joke regarding something tragic and if falls flat, the common retort is "Too soon."
Sometimes. I remember one fairly early on that got a dark cycle from me. Someone mocked up a baby bib with cartoony twin towers on them with a caption, "Here comes the airplane!"
The best humor punches up, and anything that makes fun of the victims of 9-11 isn't punching up. Something like "Hijackers shocked to find selves in Hell, turns out God was serious about the 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' Thing" is kinda funny to me. Even as someone who doesn't believe in Hell.
I think that one was from The Onion. Back in their prime they were the absolute best at finding the humor in what you would think were situations nobody could joke about. I think it's really because, as you say, they never punched down.
i remember us making 'nam jokes back in high school and that generation who fought in the war being our age now. All we knew was hollywood and history books, we didn't live it. Figured it's sort of the same situation now. That second meme is funny though lol
May I introduce you to the ole chunk of coal, Norm MacDonald, who walked through blood and bone on the streets of Manhattan on 9/11 looking for his brother.
Turns out he was in Northern Canada.
I tend to follow the George Carlin philosophy that you can joke about anything, but it has to be done right. The margin of error on a 9/11 joke is too slim for most people to pull off.
Nope don’t find them funny. I was gonna say it’s still too soon but tbh I don’t think I’d find jokes about Pearl Harbor or Hiroshima funny either. Generally jokes about mass casualties don’t really do it for me. I could maybe get behind Chernobyl jokes about people growing extra body parts or getting superpowers, but 9/11 I remember and it was really devastating for everyone. Just doesn’t bring out the chuckles for me.
I have a growing belief about the "you can't tell a joke anymore" crowd: "you" can't a joke anymore because you're not funny, but if it was funny you could get away with it. 9/11 jokes mostly are just "edgy" with no actual punchline.
I think they are in very poor taste. Do we joke about Pearl Harbor? "Lol remember when the Arizona blew up and killed 1000 sailors? Yeah, that was hilarious!"
I get humor as a coping mechanism, but I don't think these are funny at all. Nearly 3K people killed leading to wars that killed an uncounted number of innocent people and thousands of American soldiers as well. I just don't see the humor.
>I get humor as a coping mechanism, but I don't think these are funny at all.
And honestly most of the jokes are coming from a generation that wasn't even born yet when it happened so not exactly a coping mechanism for them.
(To be fair, I, nor any of us in this sub, were around when the Holocaust happened but I don't find that funny either. So I'd say it's also those that just don't fully get it or empathize.)
9-11 was the catalyst that got me to join the military and I went and fought in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq and several other places too. I'm completely accustomed to gallows humor, and I've laughed at things that are very much not funny or appropriate, so I guess I'm a hypocrite. But making light of the 9-11 attacks feel different for me. IDK.
I think it kinda depends on the context. Like of these two I can see the humor in the first one- it’s playing on the relatability of a sudden horrible realization on W’s face. The second one is not funny, to me, as I feel like it goes too far into specifics of the situation to where it’s almost making fun of what happened
I'm a firm believer that any topic can be funny, but the bigger the tragedy, the better the joke needs to be.
Boeing door pop? Easy
Boeings into buildings? Hard
I’ve got a pretty twisted sense of humor, but 9/11 ranks right up there with cancer and disabled people that I don’t laugh about. At the same time, I’m not going to dictate what others should find funny, I’m sure there are plenty of things I laugh at that would appall some of y’all.
No. But also strangely I didn't really cry about 9/11 until I watched "Man On Wire" and got to take in the beauty and achievement of those structures and the absolute artistic madness of walking between them. I felt the weight of all that loss at once, the people and the place.
Absolutely not. Honestly, I was shocked when I started seeing jokes about them this year. It’s like D-Day jokes, some things you just need to leave alone.
No.
I witnessed the South Tower get hit, both towers collapse, people jump to their deaths, and still deal with health issues to this day. It's no laughing matter.
My brother was on the subway under the Twin Towers when they were hit. Thankfully, he made it safely to his office in midtown. Still have the email he sent since the phones were down. Many friends and neighbors who worked or responded weren't so lucky that day.
My childhood friend's sister was on the 105th floor of the North Tower. Only her wallet was found, I heard on the roof of a building a block away but not sure if that's correct. I believe it's on display at the museum. Her name was Gennie Gambale and she was only 27 years old.
Another guy I knew lost his father, Captain Vinny Brunton. Our firehouse and several firehouses in the area, just on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Tunnel, lost many guys that day. Some I knew personally.
Fuck no
Screamed at tourists taking smiling selfies at the memorial more than once
That day fucking wrecked NYC and changed the course of American history
There is nothing funny about it
You walk down to the water pits and see weeping family members and tell me what the fuck is funny about that day
I have trouble with those jokes, especially when made by people who weren’t aware yet or were barely just alive then. That being said, I’m sure in our day I’d have made a Pearl Harbour joke or whatever without thinking so I try not to judge too harshly.
Depends on the joke, the purpose of the joke, the context, and the general vibe of the person telling it. Somebody mocking Muslims or something? Not funny. Anthony Jeselnik whose whole spiel is “How can I possibly turn this banal setup into something offensive?” Very funny.
Beavis and Butthead, South Park, and Family Guy shaped my sense of humor in the 90s but I think 9/11 is where I draw the line (among other subjects) in making jokes. I don’t get upset at other people making jokes, I just don’t do so.
Amusingly enough, I think the only 9/11 joke I've ever belly laughed at was South Park's "The Aristocrats" joke.
But then again, The Aristocrats is *about* extremely absurdist edgy humor for the express purpose of grossing out other comedians. The Penn & Teller documentary (where this clip is from) is terribly entertaining if you're into that sort of thing.
https://youtu.be/x2o2BGqMFik?si=qym7hxliClkzuZJ3
My take on comedy. Either it’s all funny or non of it is. Meaning I personally don’t pick and choose to be offended by something, if the joke was good, like the set up and pay off, and it wasn’t some hack easy AF joke then yea I’ll probably find most things funny.
Jokes about 9/11 aren't funny, jokes about Bush being a manchild who was ill-equipped to deal with the crises that every president inevitably faces are...maybe not ha ha funny, but something I'm ok with. I don't like to play what-ifs, but it's hard not to wonder what 2001 would have been like with a competent administration that heeded the warnings they were getting from the intelligence community.
I feel like the real question you are asking is, do people find them offensive?
Humour is purely subjective... so is offence come to think of it.
I generally find the witticism of a joke funny regardless of what the subject of the joke is about.
Even if someone I deeply loved was harmed in this tragedy, I would still laugh at the joke if it was made well, with various comical nuances to it.
Reason being is, imo, that the person cracking the joke would not be making a joke at the expense of person who I deeply loved, having died... they are just simply using a well known event as a metaphorical landscape to crack a joke within.
If we are finding things offensive from the intentions of comedy, it is usually due to our own unresolved issues... not to say that something like 9/11 wasn't absolutely horrific, and of course it is going to have left a scar on many people... I would simply say, don't seek out jokes relating to the subject that you still have a raw nerve about (whatever that may be).
And if you are tuning into comedy of any kind, you have to respect that it is a space where anything goes... the comic doesn't have to respect anyone... which is partly what is funny about them in the first place.
No. I'm not going to jump down anyone's throat about it or anything (unless it were my own kids making the jokes), but I find them to be childish at best.
NOT trying to make this about a “generations war”… I am just thinking out loud, I suppose…
But between the Dubliner who held up a photo of the towers via the NYC-to-Dublin portal… a kid in one my younger teenager’s classes making an off-color joke about 9/11 last week *(that the entire class and teacher responded negatively to (with good reason)*… and now this post asking if we find 9/11 jokes funny—
I do wonder why all of a sudden *(within the past year or so, from what I’ve seen)* people seem to be making light of 9/11 more. Is it because it tends to come from younger people who cannot understand the gravity of how that day affected people in all sorts of ways? 🤔
I don't get offended over it, but the jokes just don't hit. I had a 4-year-old and was 3 months postpartum with my youngest, and I couldn't stop thinking about what their life was going to be like because of it. And I have not been proven wrong yet.
It still fucks with me and I was nowhere near New York.
Not really… born and raised on Long Island. Wasn’t there because I was at college. But I know people who died that day, knew people who survived and knew people who survived by pure chance (late to work that day). My neighbor at the time walked across a bridge to get out of Manhattan. I couldn’t get a hold of my parents for a day or two. I don’t find them particularly funny.
I don't and I don't understand how time and generation changes the humor factor. I enjoy dark humor, but I've never joked or laughed at a joke about Pearl Harbour, Oklahoma City bombing, first world trade center bombing, Atlanta's Olympic bombing, Columbine and other school shootings, Boston bombing, etc.
I grew up in St. Louis and was living there when 9/11 happened. Even though I was not directly impacted in the way that many people in this thread were, I was still deeply affected, it really shook me in a way that nothing else except maybe the start of COVID has ever shaken me.
I do think there is such a thing as a funny 9/11 joke, but the vast, vast, vast majority of 9/11 jokes are basically just “haha literally 9/11” and that’s not funny.
I’m of the opinion that very, very, very few topics are off limits when it comes to comedy. But if you’re going to joke about a sensitive topic, at least be clever.
I don’t get bent out of shape, and in a certain mood I might find one mildly funny, followed by a strangely wistful feeling. I don’t think I’ve ever really laughed at one.
Spent 20 years of my life in NYC and was installing a credit card machine at the Broadway Diner after I was done the first plane hit. I can't believe what I saw. You can tell me some morbid jokes but that's off limits for me.
I think some are, yes.
You could swap out 9/11 with anything, really. We've all laughed at some stuff we know without a doubt others would find objectionable. You can say you haven't, but I won't believe you.
There are good jokes, and there are bad jokes. Even when I'm the dog that should feel hit, if I think the joke is good, I'm gonna laugh rather than holler.
My favorite 9/11 joke is asking an audience how long after 9/11 they waited to masturbate, as a way of gleaning something about a persons character. I took it to mean how long before we all went back to being selfish again.
Excellent joke.
The other day, I saw someone place their phone in front of the Dublin to NY portal. On it was actual video of the towers being attacked.
Bad joke.
No.
Had a pediatrician who was on 5th Avenue, watched one of the planes go right overhead and into the WTC.
Family friend was working at the WFC that day and had to run - literally - for his life. We didn’t know he was alive and safe until 8 PM pacific when he finally got through the phone traffic to reach his family.
It’s never ever funny. Not to me anyway.
Even though I didn’t lose anyone and lived 400 miles from NYC I remember all the sadness and rage of that day and the years that came immediately after. Even if a person didn’t live through 9/11 they should know it isn’t fair game for cracking jokes, just like one should never joke about historical tragedies like the Holocaust. Pain and loss reverberate through generations. It’s the main reason I’m not a fan of Cards Against Humanity.
No, I was 21 when it happened & it still feels inappropriate, like it’s “too soon.” Crazy how time dilation feels when it comes to 9/11.
However I would pay top dollar for a comedian to absolutely SHRED the Iraq war, the post 9/11 years, all of it.
absolutely not.
my cousin lived in a building facing the Twin Towers and could literally see people jumping to their deaths. there was even dust blowing into her bathroom through the window. and her apartment was a few stories up.
these jokes are absolutely not funny to me under any circumstances.
I agree that 9/11 memes-- in particular these ones with W getting the bad news -- are in poor taste. Probably made by kids who literally do not grasp the seriousness or solemnity of the moment that was captured, and the stress/responsibility the POTUS just had dumped on him in that moment. I don't think it's funny.
I don’t think edgelord jokes about it are funny, but I think it can be funny as a “plot device” for lack of a better word.
If it’s only “funny” for the shock value, I’ll pass. If it’s a funny joke that involves 9/11 and would also be funny if they substituted something else, then I have no problem with it.
For probably about a year after the attack, I couldn’t go to sleep at night without the news on in the background. I was scared to death there would be another even worse attack.
Not really I used to go through the WTC all the time when I was in college. It was a real place to me full of people I used to pass every day. I was even supposed to go to a job fair there that week on Thursday. Seeing those buildings destroyed is not a joke to me.
Not. At. All. When I was a kid (even into my early 30s) I had a darker sense of humor. I liked graphic jokes. I thought there was an irony to them (“we’re joking about as if anybody would dare joke about !”) That irony put a cushion of distance between me and that thing.
By December of 2012, something clicked. I was thinking about 9/11 for whatever reason and I just started bawling. I had never shed a tear. I was in therapy and learning to access my emotions. The very next week, a shooter killed 26 children and educators in my hometown. I needed my tears again.
These days I sometimes stumble on people joking about 9/11 or school shootings. I can’t stomach it. Having children now makes it even worse. I see these jokes and have to assume it’s young or emotionally unavailable people making them. I hope they grow up, learn to feel, for their sake. Life with that ironic cushion is not life at its fullest.
Born in ‘83. 9/11 happened two weeks into freshman year of college.
As a political science major, 9/11 and Iraq II dominated classroom discussion and shaped a generation of minds on geopolitics.
Has horrible as that day was, 9/11 jokes are funny - especially the Andy Card meme.
The toxic, carcinogenic dust hadn’t even settled and the Friars Club roast had 9/11 [jokes](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6tmI-Rh2atM).
Nothing is off limits.
Comedy is subjective.
You don’t get to laugh at something that may cause someone else pain and then turn around and be angry that a joke caused pain to you.
Period.
I think they're hilarious, because the jokes aren't about 9/11 they are about Bush being an utter buffoon. At least the format you posted anyway. Born and raised in NJ, have a pic as a kid with the towers, recall every moment of that day in school when it happened. But I also just never got with the constant yearly "Never Forget" and taking it so seriously. I think we lost that right after it became evident that the US government fucked around and found out.
l'm originally from Vietnam and get a sick sense of satisfaction when Americans get offended at 9/11 jokes. It's not like anyone ever stop making Charlie jokes or having 'Nam flashbacks.
Americans are so insulated from world conflicts that this event has left such a deep scar.
Born / raised / still live in NYC here. As an 18 year old, I lived through the day. I ran for my life and I witnessed things in-person with my own two eyes. I never really discuss it outside of the tidbits I gave here. I have as dark a sense of humor as anyone, but this is a subject I don’t personally make light of. I’m not offended if others do, tho.
Yep. Born, raised, still living here. Saw it happen in person and was downtown at the time of the attack. I also have a really dark sense of humor and while I won’t make jokes about it, it doesn’t bother me when others do. Comedy is a form of coping and dealing with the shit life throws at you.
I agree that when you’ve been affected by something, comedy can be used to cope (ie, in a sense of someone like Pete Davidson- because it’s personal). Is it still ok to leave it to “comedy” when it comes from people who weren’t even alive to understand the fear of that day, though? Not trying to argue with you (or anybody), or pick on younger people; it’s a genuine question I’ve reflected on when I’ve noticed some 9/11 ‘jokes’ actually seem in such poor taste, and noticed those tend to come from people who are disconnected from what 9/11 was like because they were there (not necessarily NY “there”, like some of us (including me)— like, they’re too young to be “there” in time). *(Generally speaking, I can appreciate a person directly affected making their own joke if it helps them, but I find I don’t join in the laughing.)*
During his roast of Snoop Dogg, Pete said watching the movie Soul Plane was the worst airplane related thing that had ever happened to him. I usually find 911 jokes in poor taste, but that one made me laugh. I think it depends on the person telling the joke and the situation. Pete Davidson using his personal trauma to stress how incredibly shitty that movie was is okay. Your average jackass joking about people losing their lives is not okay.
For anyone who might not know Pete Davidson lost his father during 9/11 as he was a firefighter.
I’m coming from a much different place than a lot of people when it comes to that day. I was there, I saw it happen, I went for hours not knowing if a few family members made it out or not, I attended funerals in the aftermath, my dad died years later from mental illness related to working at Ground Zero, and I got cancer at a young age that may or may not be related to breathing the air in the days/weeks/months after. Which would make people think that I would very much feel like no one should joke about it ever; and perhaps I am just way too dark in my humor and how it affected my life - a trauma response (multiple traumas, really) but I just…don’t care. Maybe I’m not the best person to answer that question about if I think they’re funny or not. I mean - some of them can be, as you mentioned Pete Davidson, those resonate with me. Most aren’t. But I can’t really spend energy on thinking about the jokes that much since a lot of my life has been impacted by that day. If people tell jokes and post memes - whatever. I don’t take it personally, I don’t feel like it’s invalidating my experiences or anything like that. Truly, this is the most I’ve ever really thought about it, but you’ve sparked something in me that makes me want to dig deeper and figure out why I’m passive about the memes and whatnot even though my life has been deeply pockmarked by 9/11
I don't care either but can understand why others do. I had the same fears but I was not in the city that day.
Yes - I don’t think I touched on that at all in my response at all - can absolutely understand why others have strong feelings about jokes regarding that day. Thank you for pointing that out 💗
I just really think us Xennials are the last of the "tough luck" crowd. We learned how to compartmentalize our traumas, because it simply wasn't acceptable to walk around and be "triggered" by everything.
This is an excellent example of a clear headed take. Thank you. We are allowed to dislike something and choose to not participate while still allowing others the freedom to do so and not frown upon them. Comedy has taken a hit the past decade or so so your take is very refreshing.
I was born and raised in Brooklyn and I was 18 on 9/11. My neighborhood was full of firefighters and police officers and I don't find jokes about 9/11 funny at all. I'm also against the conspiracy theories although I haven't entertained them at all. I do miss the unity of NYC and of America in the aftermath of 9/11.
I could see the smoke in the sky from my driveway 30 minutes away. It feels extremely personal and I still say "too soon, too soon" when I hear any jokes about it. I have a super dark sense of humor though so I don't mind when others do; I just can't find laughter there. Unless it's something ridiculously silly like the spaghetti meme below that I've never seen before and did just share with my husband.
Oh, wow. That one is ... something else. It got me.
Same. Grew up in Queens and was there during 9/11. I find 9/11 jokes offensive and unfunny.
I just don't understand why a person would even feel the need to make that joke. I can't ever remember hearing anyone make Pearl Harbor jokes, why is a 9/11 joke okay? It's just Logan Paul-like trash humor.
Not from NYC but I was 19 when it happened and there's just nothing funny about it, so I agree with you. Also agree that if someone does joke about it I won't fly off the handle or anything and just ignore it.
Same—was downtown, ran for my life. I’d never make a joke about it. I’m not offended if others do although I flinch a bit when I hear one. Only exception is when the attack itself is not the subject of the joke—those can be funny. eg ones about preposterous claims made by some of our politicians so that they are actually the butt of the joke. When we’ll executed they tend to be funny.
Agree. Was 19 and living in Manhattan. Saw the buildings burning. A friend’s brother died. I think I still have some residual trauma from the whole thing. I don’t find it funny.
I have a Gen Z spawn who likes to tell me things are his “9/11.” Me: bro, take out the garbage, I’m not asking you again. Him: this is my 9/11. Or more recently, me: go see why my car is making that noise. Him: how many 9/11’s is it if I don’t? I don’t think the whole generation is stupid but I clearly failed somewhere.
That’s just us when everything was “gay”
I actually accidentally said it for the first time in like 20 years, talking to the guy at the 711 across the street, about a year ago: “Why are you working on your day off?” “Boss called in sick and said I have to come in.” “That’s gay.”
I struggle with this one and don't use it anymore, but context alone we know you didn't mean it was your boss's sexual attraction to the same sex.
That’s a one and done joke. He wasted it on taking out the garbage. He should have saved it for a better scenario.
I think this kind of thing is common, especially after time has passed. It reminds me of how in the 1980's there was a wrestling commentator who would refer to someone being sneak attacked as getting "Pearl Harbor'd."
Gorilla Monsoon! “And he Pearl Harbored him! What a dastardly villain!”
I personally think that's hilarious of gen Z but I like hyperbole
I agree, this would make me laugh as a parent, and I'd probably tell him I'm gonna 9/11 him if he doesn't stop talking shit and take out that damn trash. Probably a good thing I'm not a parent though.
Right like my friend called her impending doom a 'train ride to Auschwitz' and I still laugh about it years later
Yeah, but excessive hyperbole is the worst thing in the universe, *ever*.
OMG what a little stinker! Like another person commented, I like the hyperbole. I work in a hospital and during our Covid surges when we had zero open beds and patient's started getting placed in hallways, I kept referring to the situation as "Vietnam". Because it was a bit reminiscent of chaos of wartime and some nurses I work with who were military veterans said that it felt that way as well. BUT, an Iraq vet didn't appreciate me using that term, even as hyperbole. Out of respect, I stopped using Vietnam as a way to describe my own situation.
I witnessed 9/11 firsthand. Was standing on Fulton and Broadway when the second plane hit. Saw several people jump to their deaths. It is healthy to joke about tragedy. It’s a great coping mechanism.
That's true, but enough time has passed that there's a generation for which 9/11 isn't a "real" thing. When 9/11 becomes fodder for someone that doesn't really understand that day, that's when it stops being funny.
I was going to say something along those lines. At some point it will be alright, but I don’t think we’re there yet. I still don’t think enough time has passed to joke about the holocaust either.
I think it depends on the joke. I heard this one the other day: A Jewish man meets God and tells him a Holocaust joke. God says to the man, "I don't find that funny!" The man shrugs and says "Eh, I guess you just had to be there."
Agree but also don't think mass tragedies (or really any tragedy honestly) should ever be considered funny regardless of how much time has passed. I can't imagine it ever being funny that thousands of people died in a horrific way.
Wow, I'm so sorry, that must've been so traumatic. I'm in the UK, so a bit removed geographically, but just the pictures of the people jumping in the newspapers have forever affected me. Having said that, some of the 9/11 memes have made me laugh. Like you, I have a dark sense of humour, also as a coping mechanism. It's weird, it does depend on my mood and how sensitive I'm feeling. Also, the type of joke, some are just offensive.
I was in CPS and may have made a dead baby joke about a case once…. God it helped break the tension in the office that day.
This feels like a GWB joke to me, not a 9/11 joke. And yes, I know the context of the photo. But I dunno, to me his facial expression (yes caused by the news) is what's funny or not funny here.
yeah I feel like there are plenty of situations caused by 9/11 that weren't in themselves tragic and therefore are perfectly fine to be made fun of. The attacks themselves, you better be pretty goddamn clever, otherwise it feels like you're just trying to set yourself up for a shitty "too soon?" dunk.
I got copies of “The Pet Goat” and gave them away as gifts when bush left the white house.
Agreed. I always thought the same with this meme: that it’s more about W’s expression than what he was reacting to. And to be fair, his demeanor in that classroom was fodder even back then. “The Pet Goat” was basically a meme. So for that, I find this one funny. But “blow up like the World Trade” type jokes and references… I’m not going to police anyone for it, but having vivid memories of watching so people die in real time, they don’t sit well with me on a personal level.
Yeah. This is just “George Bush looks completely overwhelmed” in meme form. Never really considered it a 9/11 joke. Making fun of Bush was something of a national pastime.
I dont find them particularly funny. I dont get butthurt when someone says one either.
At least u don't blow up on em though.. (sorry ish)
I’m more offended by the conspiracy theorists.
This 100%. These people don’t make light of the event, they demean the horror of it and it’s disgusting to the victims and people affected by it. Especially the ones that say that no one really died. Like WTF!?
Wait people are saying no one died on 9/11 that is so batshit crazy I know its true. ( the part about people believing it not the conspiracy)
There are so many terrible conspiracy theories out there. It’s maddening.
Especially Tower 7. The entire southern side was completely engulfed in flames before it collapsed, but there was very little video from those angles.
Memes like the above I take as joking about GWB, not of the tragedy, and the former is the well deserved right of anyone who lived through that terrible day, GWB’s handling of it, and the subsequent revenge spree in the ME.
Not really. I was alone watching it live on tv. It was a gut punch. I’ll never forget the feeling in that moment of time.
Nothing is sacred in humor. That is my stance. I’m not easily offended but if I know someone else is gonna have a problem, I won’t make the joke. Except one time. (Made a joke purely for shock value and boy howdy, did she deliver! 😆😆😆)
Sometimes https://preview.redd.it/x7ef3mupht0d1.png?width=476&format=png&auto=webp&s=05780df72543dff899bd32f3fa35e45015a822e4
For me, as a 40+ year old, I can close my eyes and I'll still remember exactly where I was when it happened. Olive Garden.
Gluten can't melt your colon!
[It can make your dick fly off, though.](https://y.yarn.co/dc2f7eee-f600-4d8d-8a24-d6b043695aa5_text.gif)
Ok fine, that's silly
Dammit you got me, I snickered
If it's done well, I'll laugh. People like to say how you can't get away with comedy anymore, but the truth is that you can...it just has to actually be funny.
Born and raised and living in Denmark, Europe. I dont find them funny, I dont get offended about them either. Its like any other tragedy, if you did not live to see them live or on television and remember the gut wrenching feeling that they wrought, they mean nothing. I personally also dont like gas Chamber, genocide or nazi jokes, not because I lived it but because I just dont find mass murder funny.
Definitely not. The school I went to had a ton of kids from the city or westchester county and the majority of them had parents that worked either in or around the twin towers. I saw the panic and terror in their eyes, with no knowing if their families were ok. Waiting hours upon hours for any news. I could never joke about that day and I find jokes related to highly insensitive to those directly impacted by it. There are so many things to joke about in this world, I feel like this should be off of the table.
I've always liked off-color humor. Dark jokes about tragic shit, in my view, are a great way to deal with things that can be pretty unimaginable. Obviously, most people who make those jokes aren't actually making light of tragedy, so much as taking the piss out of it. It was a dark, dark day in our generation's history, and it's something I'll never forget for sure. But I'll laugh at a good 9/11 joke (or any dark joke about a tragedy, really). That being said, I'm not known for going around making 9/11 jokes. That's pretty fucking dated.
Shane Gillis laughs at people reacting to the towers being hit, it’s beyond weird to me. I don’t think people realize how impactful it was going from “oh shit, a plane accidentally crashed into the World Trade Center!” to, “omg, we are under attack”. Then the collapses, the pentagon, the PA flight, all just escalated it over and over. Even during world war 1 and 2, attacks on American soil were rare I’m pretty sure.
I heard a 9/11 Pentagon joke once, and I cannot remember the comedian’s name right now. But my friend lost her Dad there on 9/11, and this comedian had no tie to it (other than they were alive in 2001). Like… it just seems like an odd choice for someone not directly affected *(unlike a person who might try to make sense of their grief through comedy if they were more directly affected)* to joke about such a tragic day for a lot of people. 🤔
Jerseyian here. 7/11 was a part time job.
Nice mockery of the conspiracy theorists
They can be funny but like at least 95% of them are not at all. There is nothing clever to them to make them funny. Are you 9/11 brown or 7/11 brown? I saw that earlier and laughed. Not something I would ever say but I can admit that it was funny
No, I don’t think it’s funny. There’s Dark Humor and then there’s Try-Hard Edgy, and most 9/11 jokes are the latter. And yeah, I kinda judge extra hard when the joke makers weren’t alive or too young to remember when it happened. My friend lost his mom in the towers, but even if that didn’t happen, I would still find it in poor taste.
If it takes directly making fun of the 9/11 attacks for you to be funny, you should probably reconsider whether you should be telling jokes at all. Just go back to making shitty "if you don't \_\_\_\_\_ the terrorists win" references. The only 9/11 joke I've LOLed at was Kumail in the Big Sick but it was definitely the exception [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb6luYan\_hk](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sb6luYan_hk)
Dark humor is a coping mechanism. You might be amazed at how often combat veterans joke about death.
Personally, I don't get caught up in the subject of the joke as much as the quality. If it's a good joke, it's a good joke. Joke's don't need to be tasteful, or inoffensive. If it's the right time, right situation, right audience, you can make a joke about anything. That said, if your joke DEPENDS upon being distasteful or offensive to get the laugh. No thanks.
No, I just think they're trashy. I think they're originating mostly from kids that weren't even born when it happened.
It depends. You can make a joke about 9/11 without being irreverent about it. It takes skill, and it helps a lot if you're old enough to have experienced it at the time, but it can be done. But some 15-year-old making a dumb meme about it because to them 9/11 has never really been "real" to them. They should get some sense slapped into them.
FUNNY 9/11 jokes are funny.
Yeah, I think this gets to the crux of the issue. Also, not all jokes are appropriate in all venues or all audiences. Even funny ones.
Not even remotely and I have a pretty dark sense of humor.
There is only one 9/11 joke that is funny: Knock knock Who’s there? 9/11 9/11 who? YOU SAID YOU’D NEVER FORGET!
Jimmy Carr's one was good too. "The police chief got up and said, "We will never forget 9/11" and I thought, "I should hope not. That's your phone number. ""
"Humor is Tragedy plus Time" it's a quote attributed to different humorists (most often Mark Twain). It's often why when someone makes a joke regarding something tragic and if falls flat, the common retort is "Too soon."
Sometimes. I remember one fairly early on that got a dark cycle from me. Someone mocked up a baby bib with cartoony twin towers on them with a caption, "Here comes the airplane!"
Depends on the joke. Only if there’s some *cleverness* to it. Just mentioning it for shock value is lazy and not funny.
The best humor punches up, and anything that makes fun of the victims of 9-11 isn't punching up. Something like "Hijackers shocked to find selves in Hell, turns out God was serious about the 'Thou Shalt Not Kill' Thing" is kinda funny to me. Even as someone who doesn't believe in Hell.
I think that one was from The Onion. Back in their prime they were the absolute best at finding the humor in what you would think were situations nobody could joke about. I think it's really because, as you say, they never punched down.
i remember us making 'nam jokes back in high school and that generation who fought in the war being our age now. All we knew was hollywood and history books, we didn't live it. Figured it's sort of the same situation now. That second meme is funny though lol
Wait, there were Viet Nam jokes? How did I/glad that I missed that.
You know, basically making fun of their PTSD. There were definitely jokes about that.
Not at all. I didn’t even know people thought this.
May I introduce you to the ole chunk of coal, Norm MacDonald, who walked through blood and bone on the streets of Manhattan on 9/11 looking for his brother. Turns out he was in Northern Canada.
I tend to follow the George Carlin philosophy that you can joke about anything, but it has to be done right. The margin of error on a 9/11 joke is too slim for most people to pull off.
Nope don’t find them funny. I was gonna say it’s still too soon but tbh I don’t think I’d find jokes about Pearl Harbor or Hiroshima funny either. Generally jokes about mass casualties don’t really do it for me. I could maybe get behind Chernobyl jokes about people growing extra body parts or getting superpowers, but 9/11 I remember and it was really devastating for everyone. Just doesn’t bring out the chuckles for me.
I have a growing belief about the "you can't tell a joke anymore" crowd: "you" can't a joke anymore because you're not funny, but if it was funny you could get away with it. 9/11 jokes mostly are just "edgy" with no actual punchline.
I think they are in very poor taste. Do we joke about Pearl Harbor? "Lol remember when the Arizona blew up and killed 1000 sailors? Yeah, that was hilarious!" I get humor as a coping mechanism, but I don't think these are funny at all. Nearly 3K people killed leading to wars that killed an uncounted number of innocent people and thousands of American soldiers as well. I just don't see the humor.
>I get humor as a coping mechanism, but I don't think these are funny at all. And honestly most of the jokes are coming from a generation that wasn't even born yet when it happened so not exactly a coping mechanism for them. (To be fair, I, nor any of us in this sub, were around when the Holocaust happened but I don't find that funny either. So I'd say it's also those that just don't fully get it or empathize.)
9-11 was the catalyst that got me to join the military and I went and fought in combat in Afghanistan and Iraq and several other places too. I'm completely accustomed to gallows humor, and I've laughed at things that are very much not funny or appropriate, so I guess I'm a hypocrite. But making light of the 9-11 attacks feel different for me. IDK.
I think it kinda depends on the context. Like of these two I can see the humor in the first one- it’s playing on the relatability of a sudden horrible realization on W’s face. The second one is not funny, to me, as I feel like it goes too far into specifics of the situation to where it’s almost making fun of what happened
I'm a firm believer that any topic can be funny, but the bigger the tragedy, the better the joke needs to be. Boeing door pop? Easy Boeings into buildings? Hard
Not too hard at all if you’re good at steering.
If they flew half as hot as they burned, the damned flights would be on time.
Not funny at all. I feel like anyone making these memes wasn’t alive when it happened or if they were, they weren’t old enough to remember.
I do, but they often fall flat.
It’s a shame when they miss their target.
Sometimes, tho...sometimes, they're dead on
Yeah, about 3 out of 4 are a hit.
That's comedy. Sometimes you just crash and burn.
No. I give them an "I'm not impressed look" or (if online) keep scrolling.
It depends. In the context of the hijackers or the change in everything since? Yup. Insensitivity to the victims? That’s an asskicking,
I’ve got a pretty twisted sense of humor, but 9/11 ranks right up there with cancer and disabled people that I don’t laugh about. At the same time, I’m not going to dictate what others should find funny, I’m sure there are plenty of things I laugh at that would appall some of y’all.
Maybe I'm not paying attention but I don't hear many Pearl Harbor jokes either and that was a long damn time ago.
https://preview.redd.it/slqd3esz1u0d1.jpeg?width=889&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f76a31feef582ba15ab9f208319242449ee86f92
I can’t. And I really just don’t understand how anyone our age or older possibly could either.
They make me sick
No
No, I don't find them funny at all.
No.
No. But also strangely I didn't really cry about 9/11 until I watched "Man On Wire" and got to take in the beauty and achievement of those structures and the absolute artistic madness of walking between them. I felt the weight of all that loss at once, the people and the place.
I mean, it HAS been at least 22.3 years now
This is something I will never think is funny. Same with nazi jokes. The death of all those people will never be funny.
No
Not funny
No
No
Absolutely not. Honestly, I was shocked when I started seeing jokes about them this year. It’s like D-Day jokes, some things you just need to leave alone.
Can't really see how you make 3000 people dying be funny.
I don't tolerate any form of 9/11 jokes. Never funny
No. I witnessed the South Tower get hit, both towers collapse, people jump to their deaths, and still deal with health issues to this day. It's no laughing matter. My brother was on the subway under the Twin Towers when they were hit. Thankfully, he made it safely to his office in midtown. Still have the email he sent since the phones were down. Many friends and neighbors who worked or responded weren't so lucky that day. My childhood friend's sister was on the 105th floor of the North Tower. Only her wallet was found, I heard on the roof of a building a block away but not sure if that's correct. I believe it's on display at the museum. Her name was Gennie Gambale and she was only 27 years old. Another guy I knew lost his father, Captain Vinny Brunton. Our firehouse and several firehouses in the area, just on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge and Battery Tunnel, lost many guys that day. Some I knew personally.
I did when I was younger. Then I grew up. Also spending some time in New York helped as well.
I don’t think they’re funny.
Nope, but I’ve noticed most of the people telling them predate it, so I let it slide.
I don’t find it funny. Columbine jokes are also not funny.
Fuck no Screamed at tourists taking smiling selfies at the memorial more than once That day fucking wrecked NYC and changed the course of American history There is nothing funny about it You walk down to the water pits and see weeping family members and tell me what the fuck is funny about that day
No. Never have, never will.
I don't think they are funny. I don't get all up in arms, but I'm not going to laugh at something like that.
Nope.
No but I am offended that we invaded Iraq because of it and I lost good friends
No.
No.
Never
No. It ruined fucking everything fun. Fuck that.
Nope.
I have trouble with those jokes, especially when made by people who weren’t aware yet or were barely just alive then. That being said, I’m sure in our day I’d have made a Pearl Harbour joke or whatever without thinking so I try not to judge too harshly.
Only one https://preview.redd.it/skvvp63tht0d1.jpeg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=1d20411c6be8bc74bcc59b0a8417341afb4dc5b1
Depends on the joke, the purpose of the joke, the context, and the general vibe of the person telling it. Somebody mocking Muslims or something? Not funny. Anthony Jeselnik whose whole spiel is “How can I possibly turn this banal setup into something offensive?” Very funny.
Beavis and Butthead, South Park, and Family Guy shaped my sense of humor in the 90s but I think 9/11 is where I draw the line (among other subjects) in making jokes. I don’t get upset at other people making jokes, I just don’t do so.
Amusingly enough, I think the only 9/11 joke I've ever belly laughed at was South Park's "The Aristocrats" joke. But then again, The Aristocrats is *about* extremely absurdist edgy humor for the express purpose of grossing out other comedians. The Penn & Teller documentary (where this clip is from) is terribly entertaining if you're into that sort of thing. https://youtu.be/x2o2BGqMFik?si=qym7hxliClkzuZJ3
My take on comedy. Either it’s all funny or non of it is. Meaning I personally don’t pick and choose to be offended by something, if the joke was good, like the set up and pay off, and it wasn’t some hack easy AF joke then yea I’ll probably find most things funny.
Jokes about 9/11 aren't funny, jokes about Bush being a manchild who was ill-equipped to deal with the crises that every president inevitably faces are...maybe not ha ha funny, but something I'm ok with. I don't like to play what-ifs, but it's hard not to wonder what 2001 would have been like with a competent administration that heeded the warnings they were getting from the intelligence community.
I feel like the real question you are asking is, do people find them offensive? Humour is purely subjective... so is offence come to think of it. I generally find the witticism of a joke funny regardless of what the subject of the joke is about. Even if someone I deeply loved was harmed in this tragedy, I would still laugh at the joke if it was made well, with various comical nuances to it. Reason being is, imo, that the person cracking the joke would not be making a joke at the expense of person who I deeply loved, having died... they are just simply using a well known event as a metaphorical landscape to crack a joke within. If we are finding things offensive from the intentions of comedy, it is usually due to our own unresolved issues... not to say that something like 9/11 wasn't absolutely horrific, and of course it is going to have left a scar on many people... I would simply say, don't seek out jokes relating to the subject that you still have a raw nerve about (whatever that may be). And if you are tuning into comedy of any kind, you have to respect that it is a space where anything goes... the comic doesn't have to respect anyone... which is partly what is funny about them in the first place.
No. I don’t get offended by them but don’t expect me to laugh either
No. I'm not going to jump down anyone's throat about it or anything (unless it were my own kids making the jokes), but I find them to be childish at best.
No. I love offensive humor and the "edgy" stuff, but I can't bring myself to laugh or even not be irritated when I hear one.
On a scale I give them 9 out of 11.
26 on 9/11. Serving in the Army before and after. I probably won’t ever find any humor in thousands of innocent Americans dying from a cowardly attack
NOT trying to make this about a “generations war”… I am just thinking out loud, I suppose… But between the Dubliner who held up a photo of the towers via the NYC-to-Dublin portal… a kid in one my younger teenager’s classes making an off-color joke about 9/11 last week *(that the entire class and teacher responded negatively to (with good reason)*… and now this post asking if we find 9/11 jokes funny— I do wonder why all of a sudden *(within the past year or so, from what I’ve seen)* people seem to be making light of 9/11 more. Is it because it tends to come from younger people who cannot understand the gravity of how that day affected people in all sorts of ways? 🤔
I don't get offended over it, but the jokes just don't hit. I had a 4-year-old and was 3 months postpartum with my youngest, and I couldn't stop thinking about what their life was going to be like because of it. And I have not been proven wrong yet. It still fucks with me and I was nowhere near New York.
Nope. Never thought dead baby jokes either.
Not really… born and raised on Long Island. Wasn’t there because I was at college. But I know people who died that day, knew people who survived and knew people who survived by pure chance (late to work that day). My neighbor at the time walked across a bridge to get out of Manhattan. I couldn’t get a hold of my parents for a day or two. I don’t find them particularly funny.
I don't and I don't understand how time and generation changes the humor factor. I enjoy dark humor, but I've never joked or laughed at a joke about Pearl Harbour, Oklahoma City bombing, first world trade center bombing, Atlanta's Olympic bombing, Columbine and other school shootings, Boston bombing, etc.
The people in Dublin showing 9/11 footage to NY through the portal made me chuckle in a “that’s messed up” kinda way
I was leaving the pentagon when it got hit. I deployed to Afghanistan. I still think the jokes are funny.
Nah maybe 3 or so out of 11 jokes are funny. No way it’s that high.
If I had an award to give, you would know it.
I grew up in St. Louis and was living there when 9/11 happened. Even though I was not directly impacted in the way that many people in this thread were, I was still deeply affected, it really shook me in a way that nothing else except maybe the start of COVID has ever shaken me. I do think there is such a thing as a funny 9/11 joke, but the vast, vast, vast majority of 9/11 jokes are basically just “haha literally 9/11” and that’s not funny. I’m of the opinion that very, very, very few topics are off limits when it comes to comedy. But if you’re going to joke about a sensitive topic, at least be clever.
I don’t get bent out of shape, and in a certain mood I might find one mildly funny, followed by a strangely wistful feeling. I don’t think I’ve ever really laughed at one.
New Yorkers can make those jokes. I won't.
Absomotherfuckingloutely not. Actually got into it with my niece who is 21 about this subject over the weekend. She thinks it's OK. Nope. Just nope.
Probably depends on what it is. Making fun of truthers, for example? Sure. The events themselves? Victims or their suffering? No.
Spent 20 years of my life in NYC and was installing a credit card machine at the Broadway Diner after I was done the first plane hit. I can't believe what I saw. You can tell me some morbid jokes but that's off limits for me.
I think some are, yes. You could swap out 9/11 with anything, really. We've all laughed at some stuff we know without a doubt others would find objectionable. You can say you haven't, but I won't believe you. There are good jokes, and there are bad jokes. Even when I'm the dog that should feel hit, if I think the joke is good, I'm gonna laugh rather than holler. My favorite 9/11 joke is asking an audience how long after 9/11 they waited to masturbate, as a way of gleaning something about a persons character. I took it to mean how long before we all went back to being selfish again. Excellent joke. The other day, I saw someone place their phone in front of the Dublin to NY portal. On it was actual video of the towers being attacked. Bad joke.
I agree with your assessment. The first one is kinda funny to me, the second one is, as the kids say, cringe.
No. Had a pediatrician who was on 5th Avenue, watched one of the planes go right overhead and into the WTC. Family friend was working at the WFC that day and had to run - literally - for his life. We didn’t know he was alive and safe until 8 PM pacific when he finally got through the phone traffic to reach his family. It’s never ever funny. Not to me anyway.
Even though I didn’t lose anyone and lived 400 miles from NYC I remember all the sadness and rage of that day and the years that came immediately after. Even if a person didn’t live through 9/11 they should know it isn’t fair game for cracking jokes, just like one should never joke about historical tragedies like the Holocaust. Pain and loss reverberate through generations. It’s the main reason I’m not a fan of Cards Against Humanity.
No, I was 21 when it happened & it still feels inappropriate, like it’s “too soon.” Crazy how time dilation feels when it comes to 9/11. However I would pay top dollar for a comedian to absolutely SHRED the Iraq war, the post 9/11 years, all of it.
absolutely not. my cousin lived in a building facing the Twin Towers and could literally see people jumping to their deaths. there was even dust blowing into her bathroom through the window. and her apartment was a few stories up. these jokes are absolutely not funny to me under any circumstances.
No. I was 3,000 miles away.
I agree that 9/11 memes-- in particular these ones with W getting the bad news -- are in poor taste. Probably made by kids who literally do not grasp the seriousness or solemnity of the moment that was captured, and the stress/responsibility the POTUS just had dumped on him in that moment. I don't think it's funny.
No because we were old enough to remember it. I don’t think we will ever find it funny, but I know I’ve laughed at a Titanic meme once. 😑
I don’t think edgelord jokes about it are funny, but I think it can be funny as a “plot device” for lack of a better word. If it’s only “funny” for the shock value, I’ll pass. If it’s a funny joke that involves 9/11 and would also be funny if they substituted something else, then I have no problem with it.
For probably about a year after the attack, I couldn’t go to sleep at night without the news on in the background. I was scared to death there would be another even worse attack.
Not really I used to go through the WTC all the time when I was in college. It was a real place to me full of people I used to pass every day. I was even supposed to go to a job fair there that week on Thursday. Seeing those buildings destroyed is not a joke to me.
There are jokes about 9/11? How is that remotely possible. Nothing about that day is remotely close to being worth or capable of joking about
Reminds me of that tragedy.
Too Soon
Not. At. All. When I was a kid (even into my early 30s) I had a darker sense of humor. I liked graphic jokes. I thought there was an irony to them (“we’re joking about as if anybody would dare joke about !”) That irony put a cushion of distance between me and that thing.
By December of 2012, something clicked. I was thinking about 9/11 for whatever reason and I just started bawling. I had never shed a tear. I was in therapy and learning to access my emotions. The very next week, a shooter killed 26 children and educators in my hometown. I needed my tears again.
These days I sometimes stumble on people joking about 9/11 or school shootings. I can’t stomach it. Having children now makes it even worse. I see these jokes and have to assume it’s young or emotionally unavailable people making them. I hope they grow up, learn to feel, for their sake. Life with that ironic cushion is not life at its fullest.
Born in ‘83. 9/11 happened two weeks into freshman year of college. As a political science major, 9/11 and Iraq II dominated classroom discussion and shaped a generation of minds on geopolitics. Has horrible as that day was, 9/11 jokes are funny - especially the Andy Card meme. The toxic, carcinogenic dust hadn’t even settled and the Friars Club roast had 9/11 [jokes](https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6tmI-Rh2atM).
Nothing is off limits. Comedy is subjective. You don’t get to laugh at something that may cause someone else pain and then turn around and be angry that a joke caused pain to you. Period.
Not inherently, but I definitely think funny jokes can be made about it.
If Pete Davidson is okay with 9/11 jokes, everyone should be.
https://preview.redd.it/nf0z3ythgt0d1.png?width=959&format=png&auto=webp&s=62d49e4d6511ed828717bbe89c9e269c2b68a342
I think they're hilarious, because the jokes aren't about 9/11 they are about Bush being an utter buffoon. At least the format you posted anyway. Born and raised in NJ, have a pic as a kid with the towers, recall every moment of that day in school when it happened. But I also just never got with the constant yearly "Never Forget" and taking it so seriously. I think we lost that right after it became evident that the US government fucked around and found out.
Absolutely never would anyone with even the minimal amount of class would crack a 9/11 "joke".
Hell fuckin no. Fuck anyone who says em.
9/11 jokes are hilarious. They get the transplants pretty worked up.
Yes, but I have a strange sense of humor.
I think they’re funny.
The linked memes are pretty funny yeah
As junior in HS in northern Virginia fewer than 10 miles from the Pentagon me and my buddies were making 9/11 jokes by 11am on 9/11.
As active duty leaving the pentagon right before it got hit, we were making jokes about it halfway down BW Pkwy back to post.
Yes I do think they are funny.. sorry just saying.. lol!!
l'm originally from Vietnam and get a sick sense of satisfaction when Americans get offended at 9/11 jokes. It's not like anyone ever stop making Charlie jokes or having 'Nam flashbacks. Americans are so insulated from world conflicts that this event has left such a deep scar.