let's talk humour : mileenial throughts

 

let's talk humour.

Relativity. What is humour to you might be offensive to others, or so we have been told and taught to respect. But what is dark humour really? Urban Dictionary believes it to be  A form of humor involving a twist or joke making the joke seen as offensive, harsh, horrid. But is that it really?

This is the 21^st century. The society as a whole is well on it’s way for a sociological revolution, and with a growing intolerance, and rightfully so, to otherwise celebrated social evils. One can no more get away with racism, bigotry or sexism in the name of dark comedy or humour. Dark humour styles are associated with low interpersonal competence, particularly with poor ability to perceive other people’s emotions. Therefore, it is possible that individuals poor in the perception of emotions tend to use humour in compromising ways, because they do not (appropriately) interpret the target’s emotional feedback, or so it is said and believed.

Humour can be attained and perceived in two distinct ways. One can either laugh with you, or laugh at you. One may argue there is no place for dark comedy in the current world, and the more pessimistic half may say there is a place or time for it. They, however, do find common ground in agreeing to the fact that there are spaces where it does not belong. That being said, dark humour may not just be a bunch of words put together with the sole purpose of hate and offense.

Over recent developments in communities such as that of reddit, dark comedy or humour has been a constant. Netizens have been using humour as a coping mechanism' rather than a tool for demonization for decades. The Holocaust for eg was arguably one of the biggest tragedies the generation could face, but with time since, humour has been key at normalizing the sensitivity surrounding it. While it is impossible to degrief tragedy through humour, finding comedy in tragedy is an art and it certainly can reduce the negative emotions surrounding a stressful event. That being said, studying the room is always fundamental so as to avoid an unwanted emotional feedback.

On a larger sociological scale, dark humour or comedy can and has been used to uncover some unpleasant truths about society. While some may debate that some jokes target at reinforcing stereotypes; but perceiving humour is key. I started by stating that humour is relative; an anti-Semitic joke, per say might be seemingly offensive to the Jewish community, but the otherwise hidden purpose that particular joke is serving is showing us in broad daylight that there is a percentage of us who are a victim of constant stereotype and there undoubtedly are people responsible for the same. Dark humour holds up a mirror of truth to the society and demands us to stare right at it and accept the social evils ingrained deep in our hearts and brains.

While social media furthers toxic ideologies that gain quick audience, it is almost impossible to prioritize truth over lies. The internet as of now, with white supremacists, proud meninists, holocaust deniers, moon landing conspirers, is just pure madness. Humour has been used through the decades to fight these indifferences, accept then and later reduce the sensitivity around aspects of sorts. Sacha Baron Cohen, director and lead actor of the popular mockumentary  ‘Borat’ spoke at the 2019 ADL’s Never is Now summit on Anti- Semitism and Hate. He said,

“there was nothing particularly enlightening about me—as Borat from Kazakhstan, the first fake news journalist…. able to get an entire bar in Arizona to sing “Throw the Jew down the well,” it did reveal people’s indifference to anti-Semitism.  When—as Bruno, the gay fashion reporter from Austria—I started kissing a man in a cage fight in Arkansas, nearly starting a riot, it showed the violent potential of homophobia.  And when—disguised as an ultra-woke developer—I proposed building a mosque in one rural community, prompting a resident to proudly admit, “I am racist, against Muslims”—it showed the acceptance of Islamophobia.  “

Until social media platforms take responsibilities in regulating atrocities of information, the next best thing is taking things in hand. The gen-z’s are by far the most sociologically advanced generation and to realise the difference between insensitivity and social responsibility with humour is the real challenge which I believe in my heart that we are well capable of.

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Allow me to leave you with a suggestion for a different aim for society.  The ultimate aim of society should be to make sure that people are not targeted, not harassed and not murdered because of who they are, where they come from, who they love or how they pray

If we make that our aim—if we prioritize truth over lies, tolerance over prejudice, empathy over indifference and experts over ignoramuses—then maybe, just maybe, we can stop the greatest propaganda machine in history, we can save democracy, we can still have a place for free speech and free expression, and, most importantly, my jokes will still work.

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-         ~ Sacha Baron Cohen.