I find myself agreeing with Rzkenrage (that seems to be happening a lot lately
).
My SO says that all humor is at someone's expense. There is no joke if there is no target. And yet, most people do enjoy humor and they laugh at jokes. We all have our areas of 'tetchiness', topics that trip our trigger, and obviously we'll find jokes about those topics much less funny than those that don't hit home.
I feel that humor makes the transition to bullying/meaness when it is overdone...goes too far, so to speak. Laughing at someone who has tripped can be funny, but continuing to make fun of them, imitate them, telling everyone you meet about their mishap, bringing it up whenever you see them...is NOT funny. This humor has crossed the line into maliciousness.
I am constantly reminding my son (18) not to take his humor too far. He is hilarious but he doesn't know when to stop. He doesn't recognize when his joke has become hurtful or painful to witness. I'm sure this is partly due to his lack of maturity.
Blah blah blah..so anyway, I don't get the feeling that LJ is a bully or mean. I've not been around all that long, but what I have seen, he is someone who isn't afraid to cut through the BS or speak his mind.
Stormie