Today in class, Mexican humor was presented to us. As many of you already know, the presentation contained many comedic clips portraying how their humor was often self-deprecating. One video in particular caught my eye. Gabriel Iglesias, also known as Hot and Fluffy, is a Latino stand up comedian who is found popular in America. I found the clips in class rather amusing, so when I got home I looked up more videos of his special on Comedy Central. I could barely get through a minute of the clips without breaking into laughter.
After watching his special, I tried to sit down and figure out why I thought it was so hilarious. All of his jokes were stories that actually happened to him. His humor was self-deprecating. These anecdotes were all from times he was made fun of or he made fun of someone else. I realized that it was all negative humor. I am quickly realizing how much exposure to negative to humor there is in today's society. Even if the humor is self-deprecating it is still negative humor because it is still deprecating someone and is at the expense of that person or people.
This got me thinking. Why do we think these negative jokes are so funny? What is it about negative humor that gets us all laughing so hard?
I believe it is because of the Superiority theory. Not only are we happy its not happening to us, but we are also relieved - The Relief Theory. There are so many theories that can explain why we laugh at the things that we do and why we find things so amusing. When Gabriel jokes about his weight or his race, the audience laughs. Is it only okay because he is making fun of himself? If he wasn't calling himself out would it still be funny or even appropriate? Probably not. We laugh because he is laughing at himself.
There is a part of his special where he is telling a story about a time he was on an airplane. The plane was hit by lightning and dropped 60 feet instantly. Gabriel talks about how someone could be the "toughest guy ever" and he will still be scared. He went on to make a joke about how he was "gay for five seconds." He then imitates how he acted on the plane, screaming at a high pitch. Some would say "screaming like a girl." I couldn't help but laugh. However, at the same time, I realized how controversial his comment could be. Homosexuality quite the controversial topic - much like race or weight problems. Gabriel walks a fine line commenting on these topics and making jokes about them.
Even though many people find Gabriel Iglesias' special hilarious, including myself, it is mainly negative humor. I am still surprised at how amused our society is by this kind of humor. Our society becomes desensitized to these critical comments when they are transformed into humorous jokes.
You bring up an interesting viewpoint. I've never looked at depreciating humor as negative humor since the only person you can offend is yourself, but I haven't looked at it from all perspectives. His comment of "gay for five seconds" is funny about himself, but a homosexual person may be extremely offended by his comment. Just like you, I thought his humor was hysterical and I know he means no harm towards other people and races, but it's sad that depreciating humor has become so intertwined in American humor that it has practically camouflaged the negative humor within it.
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ReplyDeleteLike a lot of standup comedians, his routine can definitely been seen as negative or even offensive if really looked at. Even when he's making jokes at his own expense, those comments still affect others. Turning "gay for five seconds,"' can really hurt the feelings of an audience member, even though the joke was directed at himself. We're accustomed to laughing at ourselves, but don't think of how it affects others. It's kind of like someone saying, "Look how huge I am," to a friend. If that friend is bigger than them, they might feel worse about themselves. Nothing in life is mutually exclusive; it is so easy for a simple comment to influence someone’s thoughts or actions. I'm all for laughing at myself, but the unseen consequences can be pretty hearty.
Great point Bri. I never thought about how self-deprecation is also a form a negative humor. If we factor in self-deprecation and all the other humor that surrounds us in our day, it would be interesting to see what present of it is negative. If I was to take a guess I would say an incredibly high percent upwards of 75% would be. However, through looking at our humor around the world presentations throughout the semester, negative humor and self-deprecation do seem to be cultural universals. Perhaps we make fun of ourselves to find a sense of peace with our short comings. Maybe by making fun of ourselves we find power in or flaws and a way to cope in a world that is hyper critical. I don't know maybe that is just my viewpoint.
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