By James Terminiello
A non-binary person, a transgender individual, and a patient with dissociative identity disorder walk into a bar.
How many people entered the room?
Answer: You can’t tell. And how dare you try to pigeon-hole these humans and deny them their freedom of identity, you worthless, insensitive Cro-Magnon!
Labored humor to be sure, but on point in any discussion regarding the state of humor in our prickly-pear culture. Years ago on these very pages, I wrote a piece after the horrific massacre of 12 people at the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo. Their crime? Childish religious satire in the first degree. I wrote that the murderer was attempting to kill a laugh, which was impossible. I might have been wrong.
While humor persecution (Is that a new term?) has not yet reached the level of homicidal rage, we continue to track in the direction of a grim, stiff-faced, pseudo-Puritanism. And, after all, what is humor, anyway?
Humor Defined: that quality which appeals to a sense of the ludicrous or absurdly incongruous: a funny or amusing quality.
That definition and others like it take in more real estate than there is on our lovely little planet. In short, we know that funny exists, but what actually is funny is truly up to the individual.
Consider the pratfall, a type of low-end humor with wide and historic appeal. Yet, someone always gets battered or hurt in the process. Consider the ethnic joke. We all know some. We’ve all laughed at some. Yet, one or more ethnic groups become the butt of the joke. Consider a political jab. More than likely any political jokes you know make one or more political parties look like fools or servants of some horned demon. Consider religious satire. The rules still apply. Some form or method of worship gets a poke in the eye.
As a simple short cut, a lot of humor relies on stereotypes — the fat person, the egomaniac, a particular ethnic characteristic. The honest among you will admit that stereotypes do exist. If they did not exist, the joke wouldn’t work. Your mind would have no reference point on which to lock onto as a means of digesting the humor.
Example: Three hang-gliders are lined up on a runway. This joke starts off in neutral territory. There are really no common conceptions about hang gliders. You just have factual information and the joke had better move on quickly if you are going to be amused.
Better Example: Three French chefs walk into a kitchen. Here we start off with a host of pre-conceptions. French chefs are often portrayed as egocentric. So, we make assumptions. They are bickering. They are debating a fine culinary point. Sharp knives may be set in deadly motion. These pre-conceptions might be off the mark, but the joke teller knows that they are milling about in our heads. The jokester can either use the stereotype or veer off completely and surprise us.
Even when the joke is on you, as when you relate an embarrassing moment, someone — you — gets the painful end of the stick. People may empathize, but empathy and laughter don’t go together. They laugh first and empathize later.
There is much in the world of today’s humor that I find appalling. The vulgarity. The political correctness to the point of smugness. The cruelty. The misreading of history or events to make a dubious point. I could go on. You could go on. It does not matter. The cancel culture that is permeating our society like a cancer smells too pungently like a new form of that old fiend, censorship.
Humor is a deeply personal thing. It can be many things. Witty. Insightful. Silly. Bellicose. Insulting. Degrading. Brilliant. Stupid. Obvious. Gentle. Subtle. Obtuse. Humor puts the spotlight on the human condition in a very special way. Really great humor makes a keen point like a well-directed arrow. And, humor is really hard. Just try writing a few jokes.
The freedom to even attempt humor is essential to us remaining a truly free people. Those who disagree don’t really know America. To mangle an old phrase, we must let humor alone to remain one man’s meat even at the risk of also making it another man’s poison. Otherwise, who would you appoint as the Grand and All-Wise Imperial Arbiter of All Things Humorous?
James Terminiello, author of the Caligula’s Kitchen series of comic novels about ancient Rome, writes from Mount Laurel.
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The Link LonkMay 01, 2021 at 02:00PM
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