I love satire; I am not embarrassed to call south park possibly my favorite TV show and I am actively trying to lessen how sarcastic I am because it confuses my mom. However, I think it can get very risky. Jokes being ironic or funny to some is not an excuse for them being offensive. Specifically with rape jokes. It's a little baffling that there are so many comedians producing them and fans supporting them when they are so clearly triggering for rape victims. Humor, throughout history and more and more now, is crucial to the healing and happiness of a group or individual. A coping mechanism; for when your country is in turmoil or when you accidentally drive an hour in the wrong direction.
The idea of everything having the potential for humor is nice and in my opinion semi-valid, and of course there are jokes that are just cheap laughs and ones that are more purposefully formulated, but even if only one victim of sexual assault said "hey I don't like this" nobody should be working so hard to defend themselves. In the comments on related youtube videos, thousands of people debate on whether or not these jokes are funny. What is the motive for someone to continue to defend a 40 second joke as funny and morally sound if somebody who is the butt of the joke is upset by it? Of course, the youtube comment section is consistently terrifying and confusing. It isn't a reliable source for what people really think as they are mostly looking for reactions, so they're not worried about the effects of what they say. The same could be said for some comedians being careless in pursuit of a strong reaction and attention. Sure, there is no bad publicity and I can applaud them for trying to advance their careers and be "edgy", but for what one joke may do to someone else, it's not always worth it. Author Molly Ivins said “Satire is traditionally the weapon of the powerless against the powerful. I only aim at the powerful. When satire is aimed at the powerless, it is not only cruel—it’s vulgar.”
I've never liked Daniel Tosh much and here is an example of a joke which trivializes something that should never be trivialized. This bit from Dave Chapelle may err on a slightly more acceptable kind of joke in that he does not ignore the psychological affect rape has and brings up that men can be and are affected as well which is seldom discussed.
I think you're right in saying there's always a risk of funny being too offensive and the line between is seemingly impossible to define. Youtube comment threads debate the validity of humor, the okay-ness of the jokes made, and the balance between freedom of speech and freedom of feeling. If making someone feel bad was the universal deterrent for offensive humor or offensive anything, the world would be a much kinder place.
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