General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsDo conservatives have a sense of humor?
Been wondering about this for a while. I don't watch late-night shows, but it seems all the hosts we ever hear about are liberals.
There's a lot of humor here on DU, plus the animal stuff and of course Sunday LOL Cats. The times I checked Conservative Underground, there was no humor at all, unless they were laughing at the liberals.
I know my subject line is very very very generalized, but I'm really curious.
Zorro
(15,722 posts)Wounded Bear
(58,584 posts)Conservative humor tends to be an oxymoron.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,570 posts)Cuthbert Allgood
(4,905 posts)Great minds and all. I hate punching down satire and that's about all Republicans have.
panader0
(25,816 posts)LuckyCharms
(17,410 posts)treestar
(82,383 posts)When they can put someone down.
LuckyCharms
(17,410 posts)rurallib
(62,373 posts)screwed over royally.
Not the kind of thing many people laugh at.
Irish_Dem
(46,418 posts)dlk
(11,509 posts)They are twisted, themselves.
stillcool
(32,626 posts)Aristus
(66,274 posts)left-leaning The Daily Show.
It was called The Half-Hour News Hour, and the title was the funniest thing about it. It consisted of kick-them-when-they're-down polemics against liberals, progressives, minorities, and poor people.
The show lasted six months because right-wingers aren't funny...
Mike Nelson
(9,942 posts)... being "politically incorrect" is fumy, but they confuse the term with merely being vulgar and cruel.
underpants
(182,576 posts)Ive used this as a litmus test of sorts. Say something a bit ironic or maybe not too (smartassed) sarcastic. Not expecting a laugh out loud but usually a nod of the head. Those who have no reaction are almost always conservative.
In the 90s there was another tell that I encountered- people who proudly announced that they didnt watch Seinfeld were almost always conservatives.
grumpyduck
(6,220 posts)I didn't watch the show.
underpants
(182,576 posts)It was strange to see. Ive never watched a whole Lucy show but I dont go around telling people that.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,570 posts)I didn't watch Seinfeld either.
Turin_C3PO
(13,893 posts)it was like a badge of honor to say how much they hated Seinfeld. I liked it ok but many conservatives seem to have a fiery, raging, hatred against it.
The Velveteen Ocelot
(115,570 posts)But I'm not a fan of most sitcoms anyhow - they tend to get stale pretty fast.
treestar
(82,383 posts)Use of certain "arguments" too.
Discussion of a novel can be interesting. You say something sarcastic and they take it literally. You can tell they are politically conservative. Conservatives will take any sarcasm literally, to pretend you are crazy.
Also if they won't back up their point, telling you to do your own research. Saying you are being entitled to have them do your research for you. When they are the ones demanding you do their research for them. Anyone who has handy proof for their own argument will produce it
tblue37
(65,212 posts)Last edited Thu Dec 31, 2020, 08:13 PM - Edit history (1)
right wing show.
underpants
(182,576 posts)Baitball Blogger
(46,672 posts)MenloParque
(512 posts)Unless you find Twin Peaks, 70s cop shows, MASH, and Kubrick funny. From what I see this is what most of my conservative co-workers watch. The stupidest, weirdest shit.
Cuthbert Allgood
(4,905 posts)MASH was pretty strongly anti-war and pretty inclusive for the 70s. And if a liberal is laughing at Dr Strangelove, they don't get it. Kubrick's early stuff is pretty solidly liberal. Then he gets weird, but not conservative. And Twin Peaks? Lynch is weird as shit, but not conservative.
Other than 70s cop shows, I wouldn't call any of that stupid.
MenloParque
(512 posts)I dont know any conservatives other than my co-workers. We are all Senior Engineers in Silicon Valley. Its what they watch and I dont find it enjoyable and funny in the least. So based on my limited interaction with RW nutjobs, I find their humor and viewing choices not in my taste.
Mossfern
(2,447 posts)Loved Twin Peaks, Mash and a bit of Kubrick.
Not so much cop shows either... although my kids like those.
Turin_C3PO
(13,893 posts)Whats wrong with MASH? It wasnt a conservative show.
wellst0nev0ter
(7,509 posts)It is a seventies show that is set in the fifties. Think constant sexual harassment and nicknaming one of the few black characters on the show "spearch**ker."
BGBD
(3,282 posts)Dennis Miller and Kelsey Grammar.
So, no. They aren't very humorous.
SamKnause
(13,087 posts)Fiendish Thingy
(15,544 posts)Shermann
(7,398 posts)When they aren't focused on "the left", they can be a riot.
When Tucker Carlson turned his ire on Kim Jong Un, it was epic.
They are also pretty adept with the memes on the forums, for better or worse.
iscooterliberally
(2,856 posts)Comedy requires truth to get the laugh. Conservatives aren't really funny because they just don't care about the truth. They just want to believe what they believe and can't handle anything that disrupts their world view.
David__77
(23,311 posts)Cynical and mean. Of no interest to me.
Cuthbert Allgood
(4,905 posts)Usually they are on the right side of things in my opinion.
And they are geniuses at satire. I mean, they made a movie that--IN THE MOVIE--made fun of the people the were attacking the movie. That's some multi-level chess right there.
Turin_C3PO
(13,893 posts)Its definitely not for everyone (I can take it or leave it) but I definitely wouldnt call it Republican-friendly.
Yeehah
(4,566 posts)"Har har har them disabled people sure is funny."
Cuthbert Allgood
(4,905 posts)whereas satire that is usually received well is punching up.
That and they're assholes.
sakabatou
(42,134 posts)wishstar
(5,267 posts)and like many of those on the narcissistic spectrum he has difficulty ever laughing at his own foibles or those of his right wing idols
onethatcares
(16,161 posts)end of that thought.
they only laugh when someone else is crying or hurt
KentuckyWoman
(6,679 posts)Kicking disabled veterans out of their home on Christmas seems to give them quite the chuckle.
JHB
(37,152 posts)It punches down.
I usually put it in terms of (conservative comic strip ) Mallard Fillmore vs the non-conservative strips it was designed to "balance," like Doonesbury, Bloom County, or The Boondocks.
The latter three frequently poke(d) at political topics, but had ensemble casts that generated multiple storylines that weren't necessarily political, took potshots at some of the absurdities of their own "side," and from time to time acknowledge their biases with some self-deprecating humor. For instance, The Boondocks would poke some self-referential fun at Huey Freeman's political stridency with storylines where he's spinning conspiracy theories about Santa Claus, or how politics so crowded Jasmine out of the strip that Aaron McGruder had her reappear after two years and Huey didn't even notice she was gone.
In contrast, Mallard Fillmore has one joke: liberals are stupid, Democrats are venal, and the "reasonable people" are perpetually perplexed at how they don't implode. The laughter is more like a braying donkey than mirth-filled belly-laughs.