Flash back to Oscar night in March. The buzz didn't seem to circulate around who was wearing what designer or who would take home a trophy, but rather around who was hosting the show - and understandably so.
No stranger to shock tactics, Chris Rock is known for pushing the envelope when it comes to his stand up. A few bad words here, a couple of off-colored insults there - it's no wonder people were worried when it was announced he would be the emcee of Hollywood's big night.
Although Rock's performance that night was tame compared to his past performances, his style, as well as other comedy presented in movies, television and stand-up routines, can be detrimental.
Many say comedy about racial minorities, sex, the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, and even jokes about "your mom" can be funny on the surface, but they also can indirectly convey negative stereotypes, especially if they creep into everyday conversation.
Mikael Svenson is one of the creators of pornolize.com, a translator site that can insert sexually charged language into almost any Web site. Since its inception in 1999, the site continues to entertain, but it also gets its fair share of complaints.
"Among the ones who have complained are IBM, Marvel, the Norwegian Royal Family and a Norwegian Christian political party," Svenson said.
Despite the complaints, and even a few lawsuit threats, Svenson and his team are not worried.
"It's meant to be just fun, but some people just don't see it," he said. "They are all caught up in their often lousy Web sites and apparently have no sense of humor.
"If you're offended by our site you shouldn't use it. Plain and simple."
But for some, other jokes, such as "dead baby" jokes, can especially be offensive.
"Babies need to be protected and cared for, and it's childish at best to make a joke about something like that," said Mark Myers, a political theory and constitutional democracy junior and member of MSU Students For Life.
"Parents who have lost a child to SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) would justifiably be disgusted by something like that."
Heterosexual people often are contrasted against members of the LGBT community for comedic value, said Jon Hoadley, a women's studies and social relations senior. An example is in the movie "Boat Trip," where two straight men accidentally board a gay cruise.
"If (a gay person) would've been there with straight people, it would be a boring movie," Hoadley said.
Hoadley said the movie and other acts present a double standard within gender roles.
"The joke is that all men are supposed to be masculine, and if you're not, you're gay," he said. "For women, if they're not feminine, they're a lesbian."
These type of portrayals - as well as bisexual people being promiscuous and transgender people being unattractive, Hoadley added - can resonate.
"For a lot of people, jokes become stories, and stories become truth - and that's scary," he said.
Most people who laugh at offending jokes might not realize they are perpetuating negativity.
"Saying that you have gay friends doesn't excuse you from being homophobic," Hoadley said. "If someone's your friend, you shouldn't be laughing at things that aren't how they're represented."
Elizabeth Stanton, a contestant in last year's "Last Spartan Standing," uses an observational style in her routines. But she avoids saying things that could be offensive.
"You can't really be clever with it," said Stanton, an English senior. "That's when it gets unpleasant and unfunny and just not comedy anymore."
Although she said she wouldn't tell an offensive joke, others could pull it off and make a point at the same time.
"It's cool when people do the shocking, controversial stuff like when Chris Rock says the n-word. But it's clear he's making a joke," Stanton said.
"You take what's hateful and make it funny, but through that joke you reveal how hateful it is," she added.
Jesse Gibbings avoids that philosophy as much as possible.
"In a lot of my bits I make fun of racist attitudes or homophobic attitudes, but sometimes I won't tell the joke because I am afraid that the audience will not understand what I am actually saying," said Gibbings, an English senior who also competed in "Last Spartan Standing."
"To really push it you have to be saying something really funny or really intelligent, but many times people are dirty just for the sake of being dirty and it isn't funny or clever," he said.
Owen Weber is careful about his comedy, but it's not something other comics can avoid.
"I wouldn't pick up a mic and start ranting about abortion or 9/11," Weber said. "They're just not funny by themselves. But it's definitely been done before - some people specifically target the most horrific things imaginable and try to make them funny.
"This is where you're walking on thin ice. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn't."
But some shock value can be healthy, Weber said.
"You need to be a little bit edgy, especially in front of college students," Weber said. "Just like in a movie, you can't be predictable. People need to be surprised a little bit and hear things they don't normally hear."
For now, Weber doesn't see offensive comedy going away soon.
"I don't think I'd change anything about the acceptance of edgy material. If everybody told sick jokes, they eventually would be boring, and if you only heard squeaky clean sets about stuff like airline food, people would get bored after a while," Weber said.
"The uncertainty of what people find funny is part of the fun of it. The secret is finding a happy medium," he added.
Gibbings said dirty jokes only stop the progression of comedy.
"A lot of comics I see will be like, 'Hey, penis in vagina' and that will be the joke. It's just being vulgar to get a cheap laugh," Gibbings said.
Making fun of yourself, however, can be helpful.
"We've gotten to a place that the jokes people tell are what people use to discriminate," Hoadley said. "At the same time, if we don't laugh at ourselves, how are we going to get through the terrible things that happen to us anyway?"
