Boston UPI. (1986, April 30). Humor: What’s behind it? Newburyport Daily News.

OVERVIEW

This UPI article reviewed some of the distasteful jokes of 1985 about Leon Klinghoffer, who was killed by terrorists in his wheelchair, and about Rock Hudson, who died of AIDS. The article concluded that mean-spirited jokes "can reflect the society’s need for an outlet in these anxiety-ridden times." It was reported on a symposium of professors, psychologists and humorologists who met at Boston University during late March 1986. These experts had some significant things to say about the serious side of comedy.

Joe Boskin, humorologist and history professor at Boston University notes: "Humor is a way of dealing with tragedy. If you can laugh at it, you can deal with it...In the 1950s ‘sick and cruel jokes’ were popular; in the 1960s ‘elephant jokes’ were big; and in the 1970s ‘light bulb jokes’ were the rage. The popular jokes of the 1980s are usually harsh, demeaning, racist and sexist. People laugh out of a sense of community. It brings people together through a form of bonding...Humor is a faith that one can make it through the next moment. Ronald Reagan did that when he was shot. ‘I forgot to duck,’ he joked to his wife, and with that witty statement reassured himself, his wife and the nation."

Bob Cohen, director of the philosophy of science department, sees evidence about a person’s personality revealed in his or her jokes. "People do laugh at situations they don’t feel are funny. They may laugh because they feel embarrassed, perhaps in response to a dirty joke. Sometimes it’s a socially accepted way of being aggressive...People laugh at things that don’t go together—an accidental juxtaposition of things. That’s why a joke is so funny. You don’t expect the punchline."

Joy Turek of Antioch University in Venice, California classifies humor as responsive, expressive, and selective. "The kind of humor people choose, such as nonsensical humor, social satire, sexual, philosophical...or ethnic tells something about them, as does the humor they respond to."

IMPLICATION

This article helps us understand humor better. With better discrimination we can use it more effectively. We can see ourselves in the humorlessness or the humor we use. And we can understand certain aspects of adolescents by their humor. Notice how humor can bond us together; that is an important reason for using it in youth work.

Dean Borgman cCYS