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Being what it is, humor will always be subjective. Different people find
different things funny; just the way things are. I find people, however, that even when they think
something is funny, it is somehow "lower" than something of a dramatic nature. Most often this
happens with movies; people will see something as funny, but of little worth. I, however, think that
humor and comedies are, on the whole, of more worth than dramas. To understand my opinion there, you need to understand how I view artistic worth. In my earlier writing on the nature of criticism, I mentioned how it is only possible to judge somethings merit on how well it achieves its aim. This sometimes make comparing works in different genres difficult; how do you compare the worth of things with different aims? At a first look, that seems to be the case with comedy and drama. But its not, really. The underlying aim of both is to make us aware of the human condition. Drama does this in the foreground; the focus is on the conditions of people, on good and evil, or some aspect thereof. Comedy, however, is much more subtle. It makes us aware of the human condition by ridiculing it; it brings forth problems and issues by making fun of them. As Heinlein wrote in "Stranger In A Strange Land", we laugh because it hurts. We cannot laugh at something without knowing that something in the situation is wrong, because laughter is simply our method of dealing with the darker aspects of life. In atempting to make people laugh, we attempt to bring forth problems in humanity and with ourselves- and, I've noticed, succeed in that aspect more often than dramas do. It's for these sort of reasons that I'm not ashamed to adimt that I enjoy listning to "racist" and "sexist" jokes. I generally avoid telling them in public because of the rampant hypersensitivity in today's world, but I find them immensly funny- especially how the genres have been naked. I find myself greatly amused by the oxymoronic titles- a joke can't be racist any more than a pen or a desk can. There's no such thing as a racist joke- only racist people. The problem comes from the fact that most people think that anyone who finds jokes of that nature funny must be racist. Nothing could be further from the truth. The people that are racist tell these jokes out of a desire to hurt people- not because they find them funny. Likewise, the people that actually find them funny are almost never racist- because the humor in them arises from the fact that they point out the worst aspects of our society- racism and sexism. These jokes wouldn't be funny without racism and sexism- not because the spreaders of these jokes are racist/sexist, but because without racism/sexism, the reference for the jokes wouldn't exist. Without a problem in society to point out, the underlying humor in these jokes would be gone. So, to wrap up, sned me all the jokes you've got. I need a good laugh right now. Send you all the hate mail you've got- for the same reason. Send me all the rational debate against my opinion that you have, because if my calculus test is any barometer, semester finals are not going to break my mind. And always remember, ridiculing ebonics is a lot of fun. Word to my homie g funk dawg niggah krunks. Love to all- Liokae. |