Dear Meghan,

I would first like to let you know that your letter is well-received. I take what you say to heart and appreciate that you’ve come forward to give input where you saw fit.

I would like to point out, though, that as creative as humor can get on the Backpage, this is what humor is. Humor, at its essence, is a construct driven by a human coping mechanism.

That being said, when this article went to print, I thought it was funny. Granted, due to layout and space constraints, I couldn’t add the disclaimer that I wanted: that this was supposed to be “that douchebag you hate.” I feel like that would have contextualized things a little bit. Nonetheless, I thought it was funny and not necessarily in a shock-value, “Hipster Racism” sort of way.

I’m not a fan of that brand of humor. I thought it was funny because it hit close to home. As “committed to diversity” as our school may be, we’re all in all a loaf of rich whitebread. And there’s a certain complacency to it that is a little troubling. The character depicted in the piece is one such slice of rich whitebread, and, boy howdy, is he complacent. If there’s any one thing I want readers to laugh at when they read this, it’s the douchebag narrator who offended his way through Costa Rica, Los Angeles and Bend.

This isn’t to say that laughing is the only thing we have to do to cope. We’re humans; we have a spectrum of emotion to fall back on when faced with adversity. I’m sorry that you didn’t find my piece funny. If you disagree with anything I’ve said, I feel like this could make for a great conversation that I’d love to have.

As for apologizing to the groups I may have offended, I do. I do not wish to elaborate, for if comedy movies have taught me anything, it’s that doing so never ends well.

Sincerely,

Adam Brayton
Humor Editor