The comedic instinct to use anything and everything as fodder for ridicule means even the most sensitive of subjects can be reduced to a punchline. And in the past decade or so, several popular TV shows have used self-mutilation, specifically cutting, for cheap laughs. Cutting always served the same purpose in these shows: a quick, throwaway line to express just how revolting or uncomfortable the act could make people feel. It was a lazy joke that often bore the same message: You may be a lot...