The awkward and inappropriate rape discussion...

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I didn't take their discussion literally, but rather in the sense that you are nervous and thus you start talking about extremely idiotic things.. we have to remember that the woman was almost as insecure about herself as Alan, which would somewhat explain her weird comments about it as well.

Besides, she ended up cheating on her husband, while Alan ended up cheating on his best, if not his only, friend, which in my books is far worse than one bad-tasted discussion!

Personally, I've never really liked films where the heroes are perfect people. Everything about these two - from the awkward conversations to two insecure people cheating on a good guy - struck me as very believable and very human, both in good and in bad.

Also: now that I've read most of the replies, it makes me think that people perhaps missed the point of the joke? (At least the way I see it...)

People are talking about wether rape is funny.
Rape is not funny. We all know that... well, those of us who have any brains or heart, at least.

Nervous people, on the other hand, are funny. Especially when you are a bit nervous yourself.
Nervous people are funny when they start talking about inappropriate things when they get nervous.

Removing the inappropriateness would severly damage the whole idea of a nervous discussion.

I'm not saying it has to be about rape per se (yes the point could come across just as easily with a less controversial subject), but it would be sad if art could not be honest about how insecure people act and discuss in real life.

In general, people were more sophisticated then, and had more of an adult sense of humor. Nobody was laughing at actual rape. Many people today are too dim to understand the difference.