So there must have been a reason
for me to present how history has changed throughout time? Well, you’re right! As
I said in my last post social rifts are a bit of a touchy subject in today’s
society. However, implementation in comedy has swayed from pointing out social
differences in unlikely situations to putting characters in simply awkward, over-exaggerated,
every-day situations. This change has probably occurred due to the sensitivity
of such subjects. Of course, this sensitivity has come about due to a more
coalesced society. Nobody wants to hurt any feelings, which is great! We’re all
trying to get along! However, it seems that pointing out social insecurities has
been extremely suppressed. This suppressed humor is finding a way out and it’s
taking form in a previously unsought after form of comedy. It’s taking refuge
in dark humor.
Well, that’s just my take on it, at
least. You don’t see much dark humor in the past. Maybe it was all dark humor
and we’re desensitized towards it. Either way, dark comedy, or black comedy, is
a genre that hasn’t gained much televised popularity until recently. From a literary
view, it’s an extremely heavy form of satire. Obviously, both satire and black
humor have been around before. Perhaps one of the most well-known incarnations
of black comedy in history can be found in Dr. Strangelove. Dr. Strangelove,
however, doesn’t seem to hold a clichéd candle to the type of black comedy of
today.
There are a couple of shows in
particular which seems to point out exactly what I’m talking about. Family Guy,
its spinoff, The Cleveland Show, and South Park are just a few. It’s as if the
writers of these shows simply do not care who they offend and I believe by
pushing social barriers, they create a well sought-after community.
“Family guy” follows the stories of
the Griffin family. The family consists of the father Peter, his children, Meg,
Stewie, and Chris, his wife Lois, and his talking dog Brian (or used to). It’s
a pretty simple idea for a show. However, it gets into some pretty raunchy and
touchy subjects. I just want to point out specific instances to explain the
type of humor I’m talking about. Peter cracks his neck to kill himself after being
asked to join a book-club. You don’t expect a round of laughter from that. Yet,
that’s the exact reaction received. The family constantly degrades Meg, to the
point where she’s treated as subhuman for no particular reason. Treating a
child poorly is a taboo topic, and isn’t typically seen in comedy. Peter gets
raped by a bull and his post-traumatic distress is used as a comedy outlet.
That one speaks for itself.
Even though it’s hard to top rape,
let’s get to possibly the most heavily debated social topic yet. The topic of racism.
Family Guy’s spinoff show has a scene where a Spanish character is in a car
accident, and is questioned by the police about where he is from. After telling
the officers he is from Oakland, the officers respond with, “I heard Mexico,”
and fling him away in their “deportation catapult.” This is supposed to be
funny due to the satirical portrayal of ignorant officers who actually think
like that. If any humor is to be found, please don’t start debating that a
person would find it because he/she might think racism itself is funny. I don’t
think that, I doubt anyone else thinks that. It’s supposed to be found in
making fun of the ignorance.
Regardless, a couple of decades
ago, most people couldn’t laugh at many of these topics, as they were labeled
as insensitive. These topics had been
heavily guarded under strict social chains to the point where it was unacceptable
to laugh at them, and barely acceptable to debate them. Yet in the past,
differences between demographics have been pointed out time and time again (albeit,
in a more tasteful sense) for the name of comedy. Dark humor has seemed to slip
past these social chains and deliver the humor that was so heavily guarded in
an even more insensitive way than ever conceived. Admittedly, the topics
themselves aren’t funny. They’re extremely serious topics. The real satire is
in what we view socially unacceptable to talk about. In all honesty, I feel
that it brings differences together in a sense. The bond that laughter creates
is unprecedented. When we can laugh at all of our problems together, we can
move on as a community. Dark humor, in my opinion, has helped us in a time of
need to the point where I can laugh at jokes about myself and others can do so about
their selves. Boppity Boobidy, as Peter Griffin assumes the Italians would say.
So why did the Chicken cross the
road? To get to the other side- that being the afterlife. It’s dark humorous
take on an otherwise innocent joke.
References:
Robert, you're a great writer I really admire your writing skills and the way you're able to engage the reader in what you're writing about. When I first looked at your post It looked kind of overwhelming to read because it's so lengthy,I read it anyway and didn't regret it. I love your sense of humor also. In this post I loved how you painted a vivid picture for your readers to understand what you're talking about. Just from reading this I started watching this show! good job
ReplyDeleteI like how you can take a serious subject and look at it in the scope of comedy. The way that you use examples really helps to paint images in the readers' minds. You seem to give great insight not only to what is considered comedy, but also into what is acceptable on TV. I think your blog has greatly improved since the beginning of the semester.
ReplyDeleteThis post works because it looks at how comedy has evolved into something that takes uncomfortable problems and throws them out there for people to flagrantly see. The way you're able to explain how and why a certain kind of comedy was appealing in the past and why it does not appeal now is good. To keep going with these posts you could explore the ways "stoner comedies" are becoming more popular than before.
ReplyDelete