Laughter or holding a sense of humor seems to be an important part of our culture. Many ice breaker type of activities involve or attempt to involve activities that will hopefully induce laughter. As Critchley points out, laughter or jokes serve to break tension. Laughter or joking can be a positive and enlightening experience if one assents to the joke and think critically of the subliminal message that the comedian is hoping to bring awareness. However, joking can become a hindrance to society because jokes such as ethnic or sexist jokes sometimes create more of an illusion of acceptance opposed to seeing the true matter of the problems that exist.
As Critchley writes, jokes serve as "anti-rites" and usually "mock" the subject of the joke; this mockery is more inline with the reactionary type of humor that serves to perpetuate existing stereotypes or norms. It is this type of humor that creates an illusion of acceptance of those norms because laughter and humor breed a type of " shared consensus". This could result in people thinking that whatever is said is acceptable type of humor especially if the majority of the audience and even some of the target audience of the joke are laughing then some people miss out on the "truth". When the only or most broadly used type of humor is reactionary, people are not given as much "[liberated] will and desire", which is essential to having people's voices heard. Thus, there should be more "changing the situation" humor to alleviate the tension and silence of other issues.The anti-rite nature of joking and laughter lays more ground for saying things that for our time may be socially unacceptable; furthermore, laughter helps to break the tension better.
Recently, I heard Tyler Perry say on the radio that with all the tension that is occurring in society we all need a good laugh; this is supported by the number of people that preferred to see his comedic film Boo over a film that dealt more with racial issues. In consensus with Critchley's idea of a "real comedian", I think Louis C.K does a good job by using comedy to make fun of the power that whites hold, illustrating how "fixed and oppressive [ways] should be mocked and ridiculed". His comedy act also alludes to how messed up other nonwhite races have had it throughout the many years.
I watched South Park: Bigger Longer Uncut. I watched the movie twice because at first glance there's nothing philosophical about the movie. Fortunately, after viewing the movie a second time, I was able to uncover some examples that illustrated different forms of Critchley's humor examples. One thing I noticed was an incongruity type of humor. The Canadian government's economy relied solely on two people. Even though it seems totally non-sequitur, I thought about America and how the untouchable 1% of the country is controlling 70% of the country's wealth. Talk about putting all your eggs in one basket. Despite how nonsensical the idea seems, I could not help but wonder what would happen to our country's economy if that 1% was to be completely eliminated. The second and last take away I want to mention is the quote "see the homeless but just don't care". I feel that happens a lot especially here in America because of the individualistic mindset everyone tries to adopt. The idea that anyone can achieve the "American Dream" and that if you're homeless or less fortunate it's a price of being lazy or immoral. Moreover, there's little to no media coverage about America's homeless and poverty problem yet the country is always extending resources to people who are three seas away from us when they're people who are suffering and dying every day right here. I was actually surprised that there was anything to be gathered from that cartoon just goes to show that lessons come in all forms.
See, when I first read the two papers by Kulka and Critchley, my mind immediately thought of South Park. I guess its also because I watch it so much that I could think of a lot of examples within different episodes that point almost exactly to each of their points. With that in mind, I never watched the uncut movie version, but I'm sure that it was exceptional at proving some of their theories. I mean, everyone always talks about how South Park in a way predicted our election, and that to me is a great example of how comedy can be used to express a greater truth. From experience, I know some people feel like South Park is lazy humor, which my mom describes as a lot of low blow jokes with some funny noises. However, I feel like they deserve more credit because South Park is one of the few shows that has poked fun at the election, and racism, and the class disparities, and done so successfully because of it's sometimes too true humor. I could see why you had to watch it a few times to see it, because people can't dispel the initial idea that south park is nothing but a joke, when in reality when you sit and watch it with others, more often than not, it will spark a discussion about what is ok and isn't. In the end, accomplishing something not many comedies can do, which is provide an open and honest platform for everyone to say what they think cause South Park already said the worst thing anyone can say or do. It's out there, and so we are able to really talk about it because of that.
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