Offense-taking Masked

I've noticed a trend amongst those who are offended by a comedian: the claim is often made, not that "S/he didn't offend me - no, no; of course not! - I just didn't think it was all that funny, you see...!"

It seems like people know that if they come blustering about claiming that Chappelle (or Louis C.K. or whoever) are "offensive", that they will be mocked to oblivion by a horde of comedy fans or other people with senses of humour or justice/human values.

So, instead, they make the claim that such-and-such "just wasn't funny", as though they were bored.

I noticed this first with Sticks & Stones. Dave Chappelle offended a bunch of people who didn't understand what he was doing, what satire was, or what a punchline is capable of, but they didn't bother saying that, they just said he wasn't funny. Check out the "critics". They almost all find the time to say this.

Now, with Chappelle's talk on the latest BLM stuff, I've started to see people saying, "Hmm...it's not that I'm upset by it...it just wasn't that funny..."

It's either an attempt to deflect criticism of their criticism, or these people are trying to put down a comedian where it really hurts: that comic's ability to make people laugh.