The concept of humor is one that I had not given much
thought. Upon thinking about the concept that is humor, I struggled to give it
a definite definition. Humor is one of those things in life that is not
necessarily defined in any regard but is simultaneously a humongous part of
culture and society. I would pose the argument that humor is subjective, being
based on the crowd or environment that one is in. I would also like to pose the
argument that humor is multifaceted, being able to look like a number of
things. I personally think that comedy, with comedy shows being a great
example, is an event of unity and comedy of some sorts. I pose the argument of
comedy being an umbrella of unity because all cultures are subject to being the
center of hysteria. This is supported by the racial gift basket video by
Gabriel Iglesias- this video attacked a marginalized community with common
stereotypes but there was no uproar. This more than likely attributed to the
fact that people are aware that are cultures have been the subject of laughter,
not just one particular culture. I also think that because the comedian was
also a minority who may be subject to the same but different types of stereotypes
is also why the jokes he made went over rather smooth.
This phenomenon of comedy promotes an all-inclusive culture
in which everyone is on the same playing field- which is virtually inexistent in
our current society. Overall, humor is an all-inclusive community that is
complex in meaning and definition.
Though all our cultures, or groups, are present or subject
to “exploitation”- what makes something funny? I think that something being
funny could be dependent upon a number of things. Personally speaking, I am an
extremely goofy human being and when I think of what makes something funny a
number of answers occur to me. A number of examples are, if something reminds someone
of a previous funny event, a silly tone, something that I can relate to and the
list could very well go on. For example, my best friend Sophia and I find
almost the SAME EXACT things funny. There were innumerable times in high school
where something happened, Sophia and I would be the only ones who were dying of
laughter. This is proof that humor is extremely subjective and based on the
crowd.
In speeches of history, especially presidential speeches, it
is extremely common for the person to “crack” a few jokes and I would argue
that I would be worried if someone did not make one joke throughout their
speech. Using former president Barack Obama as an
example, he is infamous for including humor as an agent within his speeches.
This is another testament on how humor is subjective and crowd-based. The
reason that former president made the joke is because, more times than not, it
is a political matter that everyone is aware of. If he were to crack a joke
that is exclusive to his immediate family, no one would get it and the joke
would not go over well. Overall, humor is an all-inclusive community who’s
success I would argue is subjectively based on its crowd.
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