Rapist costume (funny)

So... I am thinking of a short film and need to throw in a male rape scene. However, I want it to be funny, so slo-mo, slightly sick, completely inappropriate music kinda way. The part I was thinking about was a rapist costume. The gimp costume has been done in Pulp so was working out what could work.

What tasteless, male rape costume could you think of and what would potentially make it 'funny' in a bad taste kinda way?
 
I'm a little apprehensive to take part in this conversation, but I'm going to trust your judgement on this one. I trust that you'll push the boundaries of humor, while also respecting the fact that this subject matter is very painful for a lot of people.

That being said, I think maybe your rapist should be wearing salmon-colored slacks, boat shoes with no socks, and a polo shirt with collars popped. And a baseball cap turned sideways. Maybe he's wearing a really nice watch.
 
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That is a sensitive subject.
Although I think most subjects (if not all) should be a possible subject for humor, this can become gross quickly. But context matters: does it happen to a nice or evil person?

Killerclowns are all over the place nowadays, but they don't look funny to start with.

I have no inspiration for this now, except that shrimp rhymes to gimp.

(Had a discussion with H44 on another board a while ago about his rapist story and his IMO warped view on it... is male rape a new trend?)
 
It's for a horror comedy. In terms of the boundaries, Tarantino did a beautiful job in Pulp but I'm no Tarantino so I need to find a way to get there. I think it will work for horror festivals but then again, need to figure it out.
 
What about topical humor? I know you're not in the U.S. but it seems like the "safe" jokes about this serious subject matter tend to focus on the American celebrities who have been accused of it, like Bill Cosby or Jared Fogle, and perhaps you could work in those parallels.
 
Seconding CF, and reminded of this, which was not a comedy and pretty intense: http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0120467/
The clown was the victim in that one, not the perpetrator. I'm not sure I could think of anything that's inherently funny, it's going to be on you to twist it into humor, and where the joke falls. Excessively normal looking person could work. Tacky stereotypical tourist garb? Go straight-up surreal and have a puppet? Creepy marionette, or guy dressed like one?
 
whatever costume you pick, it seems like you're going to piss people off and send a bad message.

If you make your rapist a jock swimmer, you are insulting all jock swimmers.
If you make your rapist a big black guy, you're perpetuating a racial stereotype
if you make your rapist a transgender, you're going to bring down the weight of the LGBT community onto your head.

Maybe if you had a rapist that couldn't actually rape effectively it might be funny, like someone with no arms and no legs.
 
You're right. I'll just stick to extreme violence. And maybe murder.

What's a funny murdering costume?

As much as I want to be sensitive to anybody's triggers, I gotta side with G-bike on this one. At least in the sense that I think comedy is something that is quite often pushing the boundaries of decency. As a general rule, I'd agree with you, alex ma whitmer. But if we can make jokes about murder, shouldn't we be allowed to make jokes about anything?

G-bike mentioned Pulp Fiction. One of the moments that gets the biggest laughs -- "Oh, shit, I shot Marvin in the face!" If you like dark humor, that's kinda funny.

Another moment that gets a lot of laughs -- "What now? I'll tell you what now. I'm gonna find me a couple hardcore pipe-layin' *$%! and get to work on homes here, with a pair of plyers and a blow-torch. You hear me talkin' hillbilly boy?! I'mma get medieval on that ass."

He's talking about revenge-rape/torture. And audiences ate it up. Yes, that is some really dark humor.

With these types of things, I'm not sure if the laughs come entirely from a place of genuine humor or if it's actually just laughs of an audience suddenly feeling really uncomfortable. Either way, it can elicit an emotional response that puts smiles on people's faces. Whether that's a good thing or not is not up to me to decide.
 
As much as I want to be sensitive to anybody's triggers, I gotta side with G-bike on this one. At least in the sense that I think comedy is something that is quite often pushing the boundaries of decency. As a general rule, I'd agree with you, alex ma whitmer. But if we can make jokes about murder, shouldn't we be allowed to make jokes about anything?

Statistically, you are much, much more likely to be sexually assaulted than murdered, especially if you're a woman.

Again statistically, you are much, much less likely to be convicted for sexual assault than you are for murder.

Murder, in its most basic representation, isn't about structural violence. This is why you can get away with random killings in comedies, and it doesn't matter, but what comedy shows murder that's the product of domestic abuse? If you're a woman, that's by far the most likely way that you'll be murdered. In fact, what comedy shows violence against women at all? They don't, because good intelligent comedy (like good intelligent anything) should recognise that the issue isn't anywhere near being resolved and joking about it simply perpetuates it. A joke about murder doesn't make people take murder any less seriously; a joke about rape does exactly that.
 
I think with the two examples mentioned: 'I shot marvin in the face' and the zed raping marcellus wallace, the point is that the act is disturbing but the humour is in the reactions to it.

Marvin being shot shocks you. It's gross. Its Vega's reaction that makes you laugh. With marcellus wallace, you are horrified at what you are seeing. Its gross. I don't think the reaction is out and out 'funny' but there's a glimmer of dark humour but I'd say its more pang of satisfaction that this deplorable person is going to get their comeuppance.

I would say do what you like, but be prepared for the backlash. Would I shoot that? No. But I stand up for the right for people to make art how they see fit.

If you want my opinion on the scene itself? It sounds like a bad idea. Just 'throwing in' a rape scene seems a little 'I can't think of anything else, this'll get a reaction'.

But who am I?
 
Statistically, you are much, much more likely to be sexually assaulted than murdered, especially if you're a woman.

Again statistically, you are much, much less likely to be convicted for sexual assault than you are for murder.

Murder, in its most basic representation, isn't about structural violence. This is why you can get away with random killings in comedies, and it doesn't matter, but what comedy shows murder that's the product of domestic abuse? If you're a woman, that's by far the most likely way that you'll be murdered. In fact, what comedy shows violence against women at all? They don't, because good intelligent comedy (like good intelligent anything) should recognise that the issue isn't anywhere near being resolved and joking about it simply perpetuates it. A joke about murder doesn't make people take murder any less seriously; a joke about rape does exactly that.

Better than my point.
 
The rape scene is absolutely integral to the story. It could be done another way but the impact would be diluted and the story would fall flat. The humour element is usable because of the story and nature of the situation.

I'm actually more concerned about the banality of rape which is why I think humour, to a degree, will make it stand out if filmed correctly.

It's a huge risk but I'm all about the risk at this stage.
 
Now you're just sick... ;)

hey i've seen worse on itchy and scratchy - and it's all the rage these days to transition from drawings to a gritty, realistic world. go for it!!! Skin that dog alive!! It will be hilarious, especially if it's crying the whole time.

in all seriousness though, generally i turn films off and stop watching if there is a rape scene.
girl with the dragon tattoo? Yup didn't make it through that one either.
 
Statistically, you are much, much more likely to be sexually assaulted than murdered, especially if you're a woman.

Again statistically, you are much, much less likely to be convicted for sexual assault than you are for murder.

Murder, in its most basic representation, isn't about structural violence. This is why you can get away with random killings in comedies, and it doesn't matter, but what comedy shows murder that's the product of domestic abuse? If you're a woman, that's by far the most likely way that you'll be murdered. In fact, what comedy shows violence against women at all? They don't, because good intelligent comedy (like good intelligent anything) should recognise that the issue isn't anywhere near being resolved and joking about it simply perpetuates it. A joke about murder doesn't make people take murder any less seriously; a joke about rape does exactly that.

You make a very good point.
 
The rape scene is absolutely integral to the story. It could be done another way but the impact would be diluted and the story would fall flat. The humour element is usable because of the story and nature of the situation.

I'm actually more concerned about the banality of rape which is why I think humour, to a degree, will make it stand out if filmed correctly.

It's a huge risk but I'm all about the risk at this stage.

Okay, so perhaps at this point it would be helpful if we knew the details. Kinda difficult to have a discussion in which ethics should be a major concern, without knowing the specifics of your plans.
 
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