Blog #458: How the Late Gilbert Gottfried Demonstrates to Neurodivergent Individuals That There is a
- Jeffrey Snyder
- Jul 29, 2024
- 3 min read
If you had watched the Summer Olympics Opening Ceremonies in Paris this past Friday, there was a moment where there was a very poor parody of a significant religious moment that I ended up labeling as a “clown show.” While I won’t go into any details about it since it’s sickening to even talk about, I do want to use as an example of a famous comedian that would often bring up inappropriate jokes at inappropriate times in the same manner as a neurodivergent individual would.
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I am, of course, referring to the late Gilbert Gottfried whom many of us know as Iago from the “Aladdin” films or the Aflac duck. While I had the privilege of growing up with Gilbert as Iago or the Aflac duck, there were several times where he would make jokes about something that would often cross a fine line with others. An example would be after the September 11th attacks where he made a joke and someone in the audience cried out, “Too soon!”
Another example was after the 2011 Earthquake in Japan where Gilbert made 12 jokes about the earthquake which resulted in him being dismissed from Aflac.
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Now, you might be looking at this blog and saying to yourself, “why is Jeff Snyder bashing Gilbert Gottfried and dragging his name through the mud?”
Well, first of all, I am not bashing Gilbert Gottfried. Even two years after his death, I still have a tremendous amount of respect for him. But Gilbert was someone that would bring up something tragic or bothersome to others and make a joke out of it. There is a saying that there is a fine line that needs to be crossed and the only way you can cross that fine line is by respecting the subject matter or the individual’s situation.
I actually know of someone who is neurodivergent and also has obsessive compulsive disorder which is a major contributing factor into making inappropriate jokes out of something like September 11th. In fact, his family refuses to take him to the 9/11 memorial in New York on account that he would just be making inappropriate jokes.
Case in point is that sometimes neurodivergents are very set in their ways and they feel that it is their right to make as many jokes or lampoons as they please. We have a tendency to not think before we speak and while that is a part of our nature, it is something that we have to learn from every time. There is another example of Gilbert Gottfried’s that turned people off and that is of course, his famous “The Aristocrats” comedy routine. While it is hilarious to some people, to others, it’s not to others and will turn people off.
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The fact is that many neurodivergents want to be like Gilbert Gottfried in terms of making people laugh, but there is a time and a place where making people laugh is not allowed. If you are going to make a joke about something, you need to treat the source material with respect and dignity. Even as a writer, I’ve had to learn time after time to respect the material that I am working with that includes thinking clearly about what I want to put on paper for people to see.
Another comedian that is similar to Gilbert and had a similar situation was George Carlin and I will cover more about that in the next blog…
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Catch you all later!!
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