One BBC presenter has admitted he wants people to joke about disabilities.
JJ Chalmers suffered life-changing injuries in a bomb blast while serving as a Royal Marine in Afghanistan. He lost two fingers and his right elbow disintegrated, but he doesn’t want anyone to treat him with kid gloves – and he’s even happy for people to laugh about it.
JJ told the Daily Star Sunday: “People say to me, ‘You can joke about your disability, but I can’t.’ That’s a problem. All people should be able to make a joke about it. It’s all about whether there’s any malice or intent. The real progress comes when people without a disability feel like they can make a joke about it.”
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JJ fears many people are scared to even talk about disability because of cancel culture. The former Strictly contestant thinks it is vital everyone feels comfortable to chat about it openly.
(Image: Instagram)
He said: “For someone with a disability, it is a really interesting and integral part of their life. But often people are so afraid to talk about it and just ignore it, and that’s just weird because there is cancel culture, people are afraid of saying the wrong thing and the repercussions.”
“But we need to let people say the wrong thing and then instead of cancelling them, we can explain, ‘You don’t use that word anymore, we say this’. Then they won’t make that mistake again. That’s much better than having a pile-on.”
(Image: Getty Images)
Disabled people often make jokes about their lives, according to JJ, and a lot of the gags are pretty near the knuckle. He explained: “When you acquire a disability, there’s a certain element of gallows humour. There’s a tough initial part of it where you have to adjust to the long-term repercussions and then there comes a point where it becomes normal to you, so of course you’re going to joke about it. The funniest jokes are the ones that are closest to reality.”
TV show The Last Leg has been joking about disability for more than a decade. JJ is a big fan of the series and thinks it proves comedy is vital.
(Image: jj.chalmers/Instagram)
Chalmers admitted that he thinks comedy is important when it comes to tough topics: “If you joke about something, you can normalise it. Comedy has a role to play.” JJ is back on the box this week as one of the hosts for the Paralympics. The games kick off with an opening ceremony on Wednesday, which will air live on Channel 4 from 6.30pm.
He hopes it will help open up more conversations about disability. The presenter added: “We are constantly moving forward, but we need to sustain the change.”
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
