Can someone here give me a straight answer about death jokes? [View all]

[PCIntern]

You know, there is almost no greater tragedy within a family than the loss of a loved one. Often, it becomes the benchmark for family history, (i.e. "that happened right before so-and-so passed away&quot and in quiet times, many recall the often-premature taking of a family member, close friend, neighbor, or even favorite politician. So howcum people tell death jokes, like "Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead" or the joke whose punch line is "Nah, he's dead. I'm just screwing with you."?


The reason, THE REASON, is because this is how some of us, no, MANY of us, might effectively deal with sorrow, with loss, with tragedy, with discrimination. In documentaries and essays about my people, the Jews, many times there are references to why we became disproportionately prominent in comedy circles, and one of the reasons given by sociologists, psychologists, and other armchair experts is that we have sufferred so much that the only way we can deal with it is to use humor. Of course, we are not the only group who has: Dick Gregory, Richard Pryor, Eddie Murphy, Chris Rock and multitudes of other African-Americans perform comedy which is well-received and much of which concerns the plight of the black men and women in these United States.

Abuse, murder, discrimination, and a multitude of crimes are not funny in and of themselves. But as a society we have learned to manage their existence through the use of carefully crafted humor. My post, the one in question in the other thread, was aimed at ME MYSELF AND I. It was an exaggeration created to show the depth of the ridiculousness of Gingrich's request to his wife translated into the ordinary schmuck's life. If one doesn't find it funny, that's fine, but in no way was it intended to promulgate or make acceptable physical abuse, any more than Dick Gregory wanted further discrimination wielded against him, his family, or those of his race or in fact any other race. Next time, perhaps you might think of that when listening to a comedian like Bill Maher or any of those Italian-American fellows and ladies who practice self-deprecation on HBO, Cinemax, or Showtime nightly.

On edit: I'm referring to the post

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002198038