John Campea has said that he was once a victim of a paedophile

[James T. Kirk]

On his main show today, he said that the main reason why he's been so focused on the Disney/James Gunn story is because he hates how a lot of people are equating tweeting jokes about paedophilia with actually being a paedophile. In his youth, he was twice sexually assaulted by a paedophile so he knows what he's talking about.

 

[Boom]

Good for him to confront it head-on like that. Takes a lot of courage.

 

[Spider-Fan]

I also find it offensive how some assume Gunn is a pedophile and/or equate the jokes to actual pedophilia for exactly this reason here. Trying to equate a joke as being as awful as molesting a kid is offensive to people who have been molested. One cause real, tangible, psychological harm. The other just offends someone. You'll get over being offended. You likely won't get over being molested. I too applaud Campea for this is well. It is not easy to be public or talk about something like that. I am not saying making a joke about something like that is right, either. Clearly it is not. But there a degrees of being wrong, and those 2 things are not even in the same ballpark.

I also think making an assumption about the guy being a criminal based on some tweets is flat out irresponsible, and feeds into this guilty until proven innocent culture we're creating. Before assuming someone is engaging in criminal activity or making an accusation like that, have some proof outside of some bad joke tweets. So yeah, agreed with Campea on this.

 

[Boom]

I'll say this much. If people accused me of actually being or doing half of the **** I've joked about in my life, and I was put on trial in the court of public opinion for it, I'd be ****ed.

 

[Ozbridge]

Campea's story reminds me of a time when a part of Tumblr community (let's call them "witch hunters") went after every posts that mentioned rape, paedophilia, incest, child sexual abuse (i.e. every taboo subjects you can think of) and demanded the posters to delete those posts in the spirit of "We need to protect the children and keep such content from them". Then the rest of Tumblr reasoned that such demand was censorship, because (1) banning such content also means banning posts on dealing with abuse, moving on from trauma (i.e. actual helpful content) and (2) for many abuse victims and survivors, talking about abuse and rape was actually a way to cope. It was then (generally) agreed that no topics (even taboos) will be censored, but posts about those topics should be tagged properly so those who are easily triggered can block those tags.

BUT then the witch hunters changed their demand to "You MUST be a victim in order to talk about such subjects in order to cope" and they went to all such posts and demanded the posters to tell their abuse history in details in order to "prove" that they had earned the "right" to post the content.

Campea's story reminds me of Tumblr because I had a feeling (which I hope isn't true) that he felt obligated to recall and make his (surely painful) abuse history public in order to earn the "right" to defend James Gunn. I won't comment on James Gunn's story but I think it's unfair for abuse victims to be obligated to tell their abuse to the world before doing what they feel right.

 

[BestGirl]

Cracking a joke or two about pedophilia isn't the end of world, but there's something very strange about a mature person telling dozens such jokes over several years. Considering Hollywood's history of condoning sexual abuse - including that of children - people are right to be concerned.

 

[Da-Scribe]

Cracking a joke or two about pedophilia isn't the end of world, but there's something very strange about a mature person telling dozens such jokes over several years. Considering Hollywood's history of condoning sexual abuse - including that of children - people are right to be concerned.

Is it really though? There are a lot of professional comics who have made way more jokes about similar topics for a much longer duration of their careers. Joe Rogan did an entire bit on it. Anthony Jeselnik made a career out of it.

 

[Marvolo]

Yeah comedy is an art that has zero boundaries. Everything from the holocaust to baby abuse is fair game. People just have to realize when it's just jest and when its serious. And joking frequently about a subject doesnt make a person a criminal. At worst it makes them an *******.


As for Campea, it's good he isnt burying it and is willing to be open about it. Hes certainly not alone. So many young children have been molested, and tho it's a horrible experience, the victim shouldnt feel ashamed. It's not their fault nor does it make them stained or somehow wrong.

Good luck, Campea. I hope you find lots of support from the community and your followers.

 

[Holiday]

Cracking a joke or two about pedophilia isn't the end of world, but there's something very strange about a mature person telling dozens such jokes over several years. Considering Hollywood's history of condoning sexual abuse - including that of children - people are right to be concerned.

As far as what we actually have proof of Gunn didn't make dozens or even a dozen jokes about paedophilia. He did delete 10,000 tweets from a certain time period to be fair but we don't know what was in them. Also, his tweets were mostly taken out of context.


https://amp.reddit.com/r/marvelstud...0_jokes_about_rape/?__twitter_impression=true

 

[BestGirl]

Is it really though? There are a lot of professional comics who have made way more jokes about similar topics for a much longer duration of their careers. Joe Rogan did an entire bit on it. Anthony Jeselnik made a career out of it.

Those dudes may very well be sickos too.

Yeah comedy is an art that has zero boundaries. Everything from the holocaust to baby abuse is fair game. People just have to realize when it's just jest and when its serious. And joking frequently about a subject doesnt make a person a criminal. At worst it makes them an *******.

And honestly, if someone non-Jewish made a bunch of Holocaust jokes for years on end I would have to think they were at least a little anti-semitic. Otherwise I just don't see how your brain would keep finding the same terrible topic amusing.

As far as what we actually have proof of Gunn didn't make dozens or even a dozen jokes about paedophilia. He did delete 10,000 tweets from a certain time period to be fair but we don't know what was in them. Also, his tweets were mostly taken out of context.


https://amp.reddit.com/r/marvelstud...0_jokes_about_rape/?__twitter_impression=true

What was the context?

 

[moviedoors]

Those dudes may very well be sickos too.

Define "sicko".

 

[Holiday]

"Apr 2009

RT @blackehart "I remember my first NAMBLA meeting. It was the first time I felt ok being who I am. Some of those guys are still my BFF's."

Okay, this is an important one, because it's one of the most misrepresented and misinterpreted of the many controversial Gunn tweets that resurfaced. On the old version of Twitter, the one that existed at the time Gunn was making these tweets, when you retweeted something someone else had said, it would just appear as text preceded by "RT @[person's Twitter handle]." Here is an off-site Twitter help guide from 2008 that shows how you can just add whatever you want to what someone said when you retweet them. You could make it look like the person you were quoting had said whatever you wanted. In fact this wasn't at all uncommon, people did it all the time.

@blackehart is Stephen Blackehart, an actor friend of Gunn's who has appeared in several of Gunn's films, including GotG 1 and 2. Gunn is playing a joke on his friend by making it look like Blackehart is admitting to being in NAMBLA. Maybe that's in bad taste, but it's not a sign of anything more sinister than two dudes who made trashy shock movies together busting each other's balls. Stephen Blackehart's current pinned tweet on Twitter is a defense of James Gunn."

The context of that one also applies to the fake retweet of the often cited, "RT @peteralton I like it when little boys touch me in my silly place. Shhh!".

I gave you a link, you can go through the rest yourself BG.

 

[Doug_Moore]

Campea's story reminds me of a time when a part of Tumblr community (let's call them "witch hunters") went after every posts that mentioned rape, paedophilia, incest, child sexual abuse

Are those posts in violation of Tumblr's rules? Are they considered hate speech?

He did delete 10,000 tweets from a certain time period to be fair but we don't know what was in them.

It's a shame Undetweetable is no longer around. I would have published all 10,000.

 

[Ozbridge]

Are those posts in violation of Tumblr's rules? Are they considered hate speech?

Hate speech is violation of Tumblr rules. But the posts that witch hunters go after are, for example, posts about people marrying their first/ second cousin (which is legal in their countries) are branded "incest", posts about people voluntarily share their trauma about rape are branded "rape", posts about how to move on mentally and emotionally from domestic abuse are branded "abuse", etc. And witch hunters suggested all posts like that should be banned because teenagers may read them and think that rape or incest or abuse is okay.

In a couple of years recently you must prove that you're child sexual abuse victim in order to post stories in which the characters suffer from child sexual abuse, or you must prove that you're not straight (so you're not homophobic or biphobic) to be allowed to ship a heterosexual ship (if the fandom decides that the two male main characters are a couple even though canon indicates nothing of the sort), or you must prove that you're not white (so you're not racist) to be allowed to ship a white character with another character who is canonically in a relationship with a black character.

Witch hunt in Tumblr is more like that.

 

[Da-Scribe]

And honestly, if someone non-Jewish made a bunch of Holocaust jokes for years on end I would have to think they were at least a little anti-semitic. Otherwise I just don't see how your brain would keep finding the same terrible topic amusing.

That doesn't make someone anti-semitic. It just means you don't get their humor. This line of thinking of "Well, since I can't understand it then so and so must be the case." is such a ridiculous way of thinking.

I have been making black jokes for years. I am black. I do it because it's funny to me how uncomfortable it makes people. But by your logic, I must be racist against myself.

 

[Marvolo]

Those dudes may very well be sickos too.



And honestly, if someone non-Jewish made a bunch of Holocaust jokes for years on end I would have to think they were at least a little anti-semitic. Otherwise I just don't see how your brain would keep finding the same terrible topic amusing.



What was the context?

Comedians repeat the same crude jokes over and over and over in multiple shows. Tweeting is about the response of others just like comedy is about getting a response. So Gunn repeating a crude joke doesnt mean much.

And science and experience shows that logic isnt central in laughing and humor. Nor is humor and laughing determined by morals. So trying to judge a person based on their sense of humor is bordering on nonsensical and can give a very skewed biased opinion of a person. You say 'you don't see how a person's brain could find a thing funny" and that's your first problem. You're trying to apply logic and rational to a dumb joke on Twitter and a person's sense of humor. A thing that rarely involves any logical thought.

I think me and you have discussed this before tho it may have been another hypster that I discussed this with. Whether a person need be a racist to make a racial joke. I don't think they need to be. I'm certainly not racist. I think most that have regularly interacted with me on the Hype can attest to that. And yet I'm entirely capable of using racial stereotypes in a joke about a hypothetical situation involving black people. Im not going to but I've certainly got the capability to do so if I were inclined to do so. I don't need to change my mind on slavery and racism before I can make a racial joke. It's the same with the holocaust. I'm not a holocaust denier, don't believe the antisemitic propaganda, and I have absolutely nothing against Jews as a people and a culture. They've got as much right to exist as anyone else. And yet I'm capable of making a holocaust joke. Itd be in poor taste, but there wouldn't be a bit of malice or hatred or antisemitic thoughts on my part. It'd just be a bit of crude humor used to try to make others laugh or be shocked.

Same goes for someone that laughs at a holocaust joke. They don't have to like the holocaust or approve of it. They don't need to even think that there is something funny about the holocaust. But at the same time a competent comedian can make them laugh with a holocaust joke. I've seen comedians deliberately use shocking and crude material because the shock or awkwardness of the audience is the intended joke and not the crude offensive joke itself.

Twitter and its lynchmobs in general need to chill out and stop seeing racists and sexual molesters in every questionable tweet. It's down right McCarthy-esque and reminds me of what happened in the 50s during the Red Scare.

 

[Greens]

Campea is 100% right in that video, and his confession about his past explains why he's so committed to calling out Disney. They employ people that actually committed crimes, but they fire Gunn over the person he was years ago.

 

[Spider-Fan]

Comedians repeat the same crude jokes over and over and over in multiple shows. Tweeting is about the response of others just like comedy is about getting a response. So Gunn repeating a crude joke doesnt mean much.

And science and experience shows that logic isnt central in laughing and humor. Nor is humor and laughing determined by morals. So trying to judge a person based on their sense of humor is bordering on nonsensical and can give a very skewed biased opinion of a person. You say 'you don't see how a person's brain could find a thing funny" and that's your first problem. You're trying to apply logic and rational to a dumb joke on Twitter and a person's sense of humor. A thing that rarely involves any logical thought.

I think me and you have discussed this before tho it may have been another hypster that I discussed this with. Whether a person need be a racist to make a racial joke. I don't think they need to be. I'm certainly not racist. I think most that have regularly interacted with me on the Hype can attest to that. And yet I'm entirely capable of using racial stereotypes in a joke about a hypothetical situation involving black people. Im not going to but I've certainly got the capability to do so if I were inclined to do so. I don't need to change my mind on slavery and racism before I can make a racial joke. It's the same with the holocaust. I'm not a holocaust denier, don't believe the antisemitic propaganda, and I have absolutely nothing against Jews as a people and a culture. They've got as much right to exist as anyone else. And yet I'm capable of making a holocaust joke. Itd be in poor taste, but there wouldn't be a bit of malice or hatred or antisemitic thoughts on my part. It'd just be a bit of crude humor used to try to make others laugh or be shocked.

Same goes for someone that laughs at a holocaust joke. They don't have to like the holocaust or approve of it. They don't need to even think that there is something funny about the holocaust. But at the same time a competent comedian can make them laugh with a holocaust joke. I've seen comedians deliberately use shocking and crude material because the shock or awkwardness of the audience is the intended joke and not the crude offensive joke itself.

Twitter and its lynchmobs in general need to chill out and stop seeing racists and sexual molesters in every questionable tweet. It's down right McCarthy-esque and reminds me of what happened in the 50s during the Red Scare.

Laughter can also be the result of shock, not necessarily thinking something is funny. I know that I react to shock and horror often with laughter. It's a defense mechanism for some. But yeah, I basically agree with all of this.

 

[BestGirl]

I'm not interested in pursuing this debate endlessly, so I'll just say that I think that most people aren't characters on twitter and the things they tweet repeatedly about are probably good indicators as to where their head is at.

Oh, and Da-Scribe, I said if non-Jewish people made Holocaust jokes I would think they were anti-semitic. If someone not black made repeated jokes about how awful black people are, yeah, I'd start side-eyeing them and thinking they were actually racist.

 

[Holiday]

1 comment a month on average over almost 4 years, is that what define as repeatedly?

 

[Da-Scribe]

I'm not interested in pursuing this debate endlessly, so I'll just say that I think that most people aren't characters on twitter and the things they tweet repeatedly about are probably good indicators as to where their head is at.

Oh, and Da-Scribe, I said if non-Jewish people made Holocaust jokes I would think they were anti-semitic. If someone not black made repeated jokes about how awful black people are, yeah, I'd start side-eyeing them and thinking they were actually racist.

You're basically defining people you don't know by a singular trait that you can't wrap your head around.

 

[Marvolo]

Laughter can also be the result of shock, not necessarily thinking something is funny. I know that I react to shock and horror often with laughter. It's a defense mechanism for some. But yeah, I basically agree with all of this.

I've done that too. After a car wreck and when I was severely injured in a separate incident I felt giddy and little things just felt funnier than they should have. Docs said it was the massive adrenaline spike in my body playing havoc with my emotions.

 

[DeadPresident]

You're basically defining people you don't know by a singular trait that you can't wrap your head around.

Out of curiosity if a white guy religioisly made “jokes” about negative stereotypes of black people or slavery would you adamantly argue that he’s not likely racist?

 

[Bobber]

If black people can make jokes about black people, and jews can make jokes about the holocaust, does that mean pedophiles can make jokes about pedophilia?

 

[Da-Scribe]

Out of curiosity if a white guy religioisly made “jokes” about negative stereotypes of black people or slavery would you adamantly argue that he’s not likely racist?

Depends on the white guy. The jokes don't exist in a vacuum, so I'd have to consider other factors about that person's character. Some my closest white friends do exactly what you described, but it's just our humor. I love them and would defend them until my last breath if someone called them racist.