Is It Barbershop Funny?

Humor is at its best when it is unexpected and organic, in my opinion.  I love to laugh, but comedy is not my favorite genre of movies. I’m not the first to choose a movie that is intended to make me laugh because the intentional silly things are usually not funny to me. A good comedy comes about when there is a good story line and message that catches the funny moments within a realistic situation. Even a successful comedy doesn’t appeal to everyone though because everyone doesn’t have the same sense of humor.  “What is it like for people not to have the same sense of humor?” What makes something worthy enough to be barbershop funny? 

     In “Did You Hear The One About The Philosopher Writing A Book On Humor?” , Simon Critchley notes that joking is a specific and meaningful practice that the audience and the joke teller recognize as such and that a specific social contract exists. It appears that there is a general social contract in addition to more specific social contracts depending on the community one belongs to.  Also, I find it interesting that the theories of humor depict just how revealing humor is for the joke teller or funny character as it is for the one on the receiving end.

     Barbershop (2002) , featuring Ice Cube and Cedric the Entertainer, is about the happenings in a barbershop & the importance of it in the black community. The owner, known as Calvin Jr, is struggling with his recent decision to sell his shop that was passed down to him and that has served as a true place for community through the years. While Calvin Jr is figuring out how to get the shop back, several funny (seemingly unintentional) moments occur. Several moments in the film are objectively funny. For example, an angry woman began destroying a car outside of a barbershop, seemingly out of vengeance for a man that she was upset with. The loud noise caught the attention of the men in the barbershop who begin crowding around the window laughing at the woman. One man who was getting his hair washed and joining in on the laughing asked a few questions to realize that his car was being described. This was funny to me and likely funny to other viewers and also of course funny to the other actors.

     There were also some moments that were subjectively funny. A group of people who have shared experiences are likely to begin to develop the same sense of humor. In this case, men in the barbershop could especially laugh at the woman destroying the car, not because it was so odd, but because they are men who had likely experienced relationship problems before and had been in that position. (If not, it’s just easier to laugh at another’s misfortune when you are not affected). If most men can relate, it's barbershop funny. Also, there were certain jokes or gestures that might have been geared towards the black community in attempt to appeal to a shared sense of humor that may exist.  How is it that people can have a different sense of humor? Because they belong to different communities. How is it that people within the different communities have a different sense of humor? Because everyone is an individual with certain values, beliefs, experiences, and patterns of thought that guide one’s sense of humor by situation.

      As stated in the film, the barbershop is the place for “talking straight” and “keeping it real”.  One of the older barbers shared his controversial opinions about well - known black leaders and figures. Although some comments were made in a funny way, they were not necessarily taken  as funny by the other characters, even though they may have had the same sense of humor. We learn a little more about who is joking and who is laughing by the content of the message. Humor (especially in this film) creates community for both the characters in this film who found common ground to laugh and congregate in the barbershop and for the viewers and groups of viewers that laugh at the funny moments in this film with others.  It was the funny moments that happened in the barbershop that drove the owner to reclaim it again. It was those same funny moments that allowed the owner to be less concerned with his stressful financial situation and more concerned with taking care of others. While much of the humor in this film seemed to be purely for entertainment, much of it illustrates the point that humor exposes who we are, creates community,  and eases the tension or lightens up day to day situations.  It has a place in our everyday lives and therefore in film that highlights who we are. What makes something worthy of being barbershop funny? If its "talking straight" , then it might just be barbershop funny.