9/11 jokes, memes and Gen Z

[Psybro]

"Never forget" seems now to be solely a meme rather than a memory of a thing which was very real (and which was unironically inserted into the UK's Remembrance Day industry just as the USA binned it off).

[Jaich]

One of my first memories of CookdandBombd was a crudely edited image of Jeremy Beadle on a balcony of the World Trade Centre.

From his mouth came a speech balloon containing something like "...And what George W. Bush doesn't know..."

It must've been 2001/2002.

I have a related memory of Santa's Vision Mong too.

It felt forbidden to laugh about it, yet validating to create distance from the panic and immediate othering of ethnic minorities, which was nothing new for small-town Kent.

[Average Comedy Enjoyer]

I forgor

[Captain Z]

South Park's Ladder To Heaven episode (Nov 2002) parodied Alan Jackson's 'Where were you when the world stopped turning' song, which I expect enough people saw as a fair target.

Team America (2004) has the running '9/11 times a thousand' joke.

[idunnosomename]

South Park's "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" 7 November 2001 is a funny little time capsule for how Americans were the months immediately after the attacks before crying eagles became a joke. To a degree it satirises the excessive patriotism, hawkishness and paranoia, but it has a little earnest speech at the end ("No, dude. America may have some problems, but it's our home, our team. If you don't want to root for your team, then you should get the hell out of the stadium.") and no end credit music which shows they sympathised with it a lot.

Also on Something Awful I remember a poster named "CGI Bin Laden" doing a heartfelt post about how he was changing his username in the wake of the attacks. Of course all the Americans were like "hell yeah dude" but I just thought oh this is just a step too far is it? he was a right barrel of laughs before this? I can't be a fairly obvious nerdy pun on the leader of a terrorist organisation when he's done a really big terror?

[wrec]

And the reactions...
 
9/11 Special: Satirical or just sick?

Am I way off in saying that Ianucci would be more likely to be in the absolutely appalled camp today?

The Onion coverage was great at the time, really felt like comedy providing a vital service. The Peter O'Hanraha'hanrahan sketch is one of my favourites of all time. It felt envelope-pushing at the time, to me at least. When did the DVD come out exactly?

[Psybro]

South Park's "Osama bin Laden Has Farty Pants" 7 November 2001 is a funny little time capsule for how Americans were the months immediately after the attacks before crying eagles became a joke. To a degree it satirises the excessive patriotism, hawkishness and paranoia, but it has a little earnest speech at the end ("No, dude. America may have some problems, but it's our home, our team. If you don't want to root for your team, then you should get the hell out of the stadium.") and no end credit music which shows they sympathised with it a lot.

Less than two years later they then had the redneck characters going "If you don't like Murrica you can GIIIT OUT" which shows they didn't even believe their own shit.

The "Sharon, you've been watching CNN for about 8 weeks now" line from that one kept popping into my head immediately before and during the first lockdown.

[BlodwynPig]

Onion back at it

[TheCurrencySusan]

The Peter O'Hanraha'hanrahan sketch is one of my favourites of all time. It felt envelope-pushing at the time, to me at least. When did the DVD come out exactly?

Seemingly the 10th anniversary DVD release in March 2004, which is now £2 on Amazon.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Edit: Fucks sake. Someone already posted it.

[neveragain]

Less than two years later they then had the redneck characters going "If you don't like Murrica you can GIIIT OUT" which shows they didn't even believe their own shit.

Or just that they knew the country didn't need cynical, anti-US comedy at that period of time.

[Petey Pate]

Not a particularly early example, but just remembered there's an episode of Wonder Showzen - which aired in 2006 - with a 'Beat Kids' segment filmed outside ground zero, where people were invited to share their memories of 9/11 while wearing Groucho Marx glasses.

[iamcoop]

Not a particularly early example, but just remembered there's an episode of Wonder Showzen - which aired in 2006 - with a 'Beat Kids' segment filmed outside ground zero, where people were invited to share their memories of 9/11 while wearing Groucho Marx glasses.

Laughing at just the description of that. What a fucking show that was.

[dissolute ocelot]

[C_Larence]

I only heard this for the first time yesterday but it's instantly a new favourite. Taken from his album "Life Is A Ride" which also featured tracks like "I Don't Believe That Man Went To The Moon", "The Trial Of Tony Blair" and "Everything Is Ok, (Don't Take The Swine Flu Jab)"

[The Mollusk]

The Parker Tapes was released in late 2002 I think (closest date approximation I can find is a Pitchfork review from Dec 2002) but given how long it must have taken Cassetteboy to make this stuff it could have been made earlier and closer to the event, I'm not sure.

I know they've since been repentant about some of the more edgelordy or childish material of their early years and maybe this track is among those they're not too proud of but it still makes me laugh just because of the sheer audacity of it. The Sinatra cut-up lyrics are particularly great. The biggest shocker of course is at the end with a shout of "America" followed by Morrissey singing "you've only got yourself to blaaame".

As an aside, The Parker Tapes is comedy gold (excusing the aforementioned iffy bits, of which there are a few). One half of Cassetteboy is a member here who's still semi-active but I don't want to tag them in this post in case they don't want to talk about it!

[Kankurette]

That's a really good point, and one that the Rolling Stone article doesn't really cover. The source of humour is more in the reaction to the event, not the event itself. Forced sentimentality is often inherently absurd.

For instance, in the weeks following the attacks, American TV was full of things like this. How could people not instantly find this laughable?

And banning Walk Like an Egyptian.

Also, fuck Toby Keith.

[Cuellar]

I remember making a joke mere hours after it happened that it was probably the Irish. In my defence I was 14 years old and probably trying to use humour to cover for my immense trauma and fear at what this atrocity meant for the future of the world :(

[Moj]

I only heard this for the first time yesterday but it's instantly a new favourite. Taken from his album "Life Is A Ride" which also featured tracks like "I Don't Believe That Man Went To The Moon"

I'm currently at work so can't listen but that had better be an insane REM pastiche.  It fits the meter and everything.

[oustropique]

Probably about ten years ago I saw a 9/11 themed photoshop of Peter Kay's Live at the Top of the Tower DVD cover. It writes itself.

[BlodwynPig]

GUFFAW

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c4gdgw0v3dxo

Any 9/11 joke is fair game after this desecration by a senile cunt.

[idunnosomename]

Tommorrow I'm doin' 9/11

[Butchers Blind]

I was at work when the attack happened and we were watching it on a TV in the office. When the towers collapsed, the colleague who sat opposite  me and had been quitely watching up to that point, let out, 'Some cunt's gotta clean that up'. I'm sorry to say I openly laughed to the bemusement of everyone else.

[PlanktonSideburns]

1 hour after the attacks, a schoolfriend rang me up to tell me a 911 joke. He would be an elder millennial I guess? And a copper bottomed LEDGEND, obviously

[dontpaintyourteeth]

I remember we were going home from school, my sister put the radio on in my mum's car and we heard some sobbing Americans and my sister went "probably someone did a shooting or summat" and we turned the radio back off again

[Sebastian Cobb]

I didn't know about it until I got home from school. Makes me feel old 'cos I don't think they'd be able to keep a lid on it these days.

[Egyptian Feast]

This cartoon from the other day by @hausofdecline made me feel like a cunt for laughing and I hope you do too.

[The Mollusk]

Hahaha that killed me as well. I love her work.

[JesusAndYourBush]

I don't get it.

[idunnosomename]

im mostly annoyed how the plane doesn't have jet engines