Why is violence funny?

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996GT2

Diamond Member
Jun 23, 2005
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It is easy to see that moments of violence can often be funny, but much harder to explain this simple observation. We've all probably chuckled quietly at a man falling on ice or laughed at Kenny getting beheaded in South Park, or but why is it that we laugh at such moments of violence? Why is it that we find humor in these moments of misery for those on the receiving end of the violence?

That, ATers, is what I ask today. I have my own ideas, but since I'm brainstorming ideas for an essay on humor I thought I'd start by getting some opinions on the talented people of ATOT :)

So, shoot!

 
Linflas

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
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Context is everything. A man slipping on the ice is not necessarily funny unless it preceded/followed by actions or situations which make it funny and the person was not seriously injured/killed when falling. It is funny in cartoons because of exactly that reason plus the fact that we know that it is just drawings and no acutal harm came to anyone.
 
9

996GT2

Diamond Member
Jun 23, 2005
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Originally posted by: Linflas
Context is everything. A man slipping on the ice is not necessarily funny unless it preceded/followed by actions or situations which make it funny and the person was not seriously injured/killed when falling. It is funny in cartoons because of exactly that reason plus the fact that we know that it is just drawings and no acutal harm came to anyone.
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I have a bit to add to this:

Why are moments of violence in shows such as Jackass funny, even though many of the actors DO get hurt/injured badly (IIRC they had to call an ambulance on several shows).

Why are the moments of violence in the clips from America's Funniest Videos funny, despite the fact that many of the people DO get hurt?

My idea is that 1) the moments of violence are self-inflicted (in Jackass), so we don't feel pity or sympathy due to a distancing of emotions. We also laugh as a "corrective" for the rigid behavior that the actors demonstrate (Bergson). The actors' actions additionally cue the audience to laugh; because they are laughing at the person getting hurt, we feel that it is acceptable to also laugh.

2) The moments of violence in AFV are not directly portrayed (person hurt is never shown in a hurt state), so this again brings a distancing of emotions, leading us to believe that the person depicted is actually OK.

How that that sound? The hardest part, I think, is creating one coherent thesis out of all the explanations for why violence is humorous.
 
9

996GT2

Diamond Member
Jun 23, 2005
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Originally posted by: SonnyDaze
Originally posted by: ViviTheMage
because it's not us
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It all comes down to this.
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But why is it that we do sometimes laugh at self-inflicted moments of pain? For example, many people have probably laughed at themselves after tripping or slipping. I'm not sure how the "because it's not us" argument works here.
 
S

SlitheryDee

All humor is based on the misfortune of ourselves and others. Think about it for a minute, there is nothing that makes people laugh that isn't some major or minor misstep or mishap in a emotional or physical sense. We laugh because it hurts to do anything else.
 
Linflas

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: 996GT2
Originally posted by: Linflas
Context is everything. A man slipping on the ice is not necessarily funny unless it preceded/followed by actions or situations which make it funny and the person was not seriously injured/killed when falling. It is funny in cartoons because of exactly that reason plus the fact that we know that it is just drawings and no acutal harm came to anyone.
Click to expand...

I have a bit to add to this:

Why are moments of violence in shows such as Jackass funny, even though many of the actors DO get hurt/injured badly (IIRC they had to call an ambulance on several shows).

Why are the moments of violence in the clips from America's Funniest Videos funny, despite the fact that many of the people DO get hurt?

My idea is that 1) the moments of violence are self-inflicted (in Jackass), so we don't feel pity or sympathy due to a distancing of emotions. We also laugh as a "corrective" for the rigid behavior that the actors demonstrate (Bergson). The actors' actions additionally cue the audience to laugh; because they are laughing at the person getting hurt, we feel that it is acceptable to also laugh.

2) The moments of violence in AFV are not directly portrayed (person hurt is never shown in a hurt state), so this again brings a distancing of emotions, leading us to believe that the person depicted is actually OK.

How that that sound? The hardest part, I think, is creating one coherent thesis out of all the explanations for why violence is humorous.
Click to expand...

I can't answer that because I never watched Jackass because I found the entire concept to be repugnant. As for America's Funniest Home Videos I don't think they would run one where someone was seriously injured. To go back to the man falling on ice, if you knew before watching the video that the man ended up paralyzed as a result of the fall I doubt many would find it humorous. On the other hand if you saw the exact same video without knowing that end result you may well get a chuckle out of it. If you found out afterwards that all the guy suffered was a couple of bruises and injured pride you would not feel guilty at finding his antics funny. The opposite would be true if you found out afterwards that he was paralyzed as a result of the fall.

We assume that anything we watch on TV is closely supervised and scripted out, even when it is "reality TV". Even in the extreme example of Jackass we assume there are lines that can not be crossed and any injuries suffered are not of a serious and permanent nature.
 
43st

43st

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
3,197
0
0
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
All humor is based on the misfortune of ourselves and others. Think about it for a minute, there is nothing that makes people laugh that isn't some major or minor misstep or mishap in a emotional or physical sense. We laugh because it hurts to do anything else.
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I think humor is one of the more complex human behaviors, and isn't quite so easy to define. Tickling for example causes laughter, and isn't painful in any way. But I do agree that it is linked to stress, or perceived stress.

Sometimes I'll have a rough week at work and find myself wanting to watch AFV type shows a lot. I laugh until tears are coming down my face. This is not normal for me, as I usually don't watch those shows much or laugh at them much more than a mild chuckle.

Great subject matter though.. :)
 
S

SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: 43st
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
All humor is based on the misfortune of ourselves and others. Think about it for a minute, there is nothing that makes people laugh that isn't some major or minor misstep or mishap in a emotional or physical sense. We laugh because it hurts to do anything else.
Click to expand...

I think humor is one of the more complex human behaviors, and isn't quite so easy to define. Tickling for example causes laughter, and isn't painful in any way. But I do agree that it is linked to stress, or perceived stress.

Sometimes I'll have a rough week at work and find myself wanting to watch AFV type shows a lot. I laugh until tears are coming down my face. This is not normal for me, as I usually don't watch those shows much or laugh at them much more than a mild chuckle.

Great subject matter though.. :)
Click to expand...

I don't consider the laughter caused by tickling to be humor so much as an irrepressible bodily response. The laughter that is caused by seeing something funny or hearing a good joke requires the brain to process information and make a determination about that information. All humor of that sort is caused by misfortune to a greater or lesser degree.

 
43st

43st

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
3,197
0
0
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
Originally posted by: 43st
Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
All humor is based on the misfortune of ourselves and others. Think about it for a minute, there is nothing that makes people laugh that isn't some major or minor misstep or mishap in a emotional or physical sense. We laugh because it hurts to do anything else.
Click to expand...

I think humor is one of the more complex human behaviors, and isn't quite so easy to define. Tickling for example causes laughter, and isn't painful in any way. But I do agree that it is linked to stress, or perceived stress.

Sometimes I'll have a rough week at work and find myself wanting to watch AFV type shows a lot. I laugh until tears are coming down my face. This is not normal for me, as I usually don't watch those shows much or laugh at them much more than a mild chuckle.

Great subject matter though.. :)
Click to expand...

I don't consider the laughter caused by tickling to be humor so much as an irrepressible bodily response. The laughter that is caused by seeing something funny or hearing a good joke requires the brain to process information and make a determination about that information. All humor of that sort is caused by misfortune to a greater or lesser degree.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure.. the tickle response can be suppressed based on the situation, so I don't think it's completely involuntary. Same as someone doing a funny walk or a dance, or acting goofy. It's not really misfortune that triggers the response in all cases. It also has a bonding component of some sort.

Watch the people around the office and pay attention on how they use laughter to reinforce status and relationships. People that normally dislike each other will laugh together in a social situation, just to be perceived as members of the group.
 
S

SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: 43st
I'm not so sure.. the tickle response can be suppressed based on the situation, so I don't think it's completely involuntary.
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Some people don't seem to respond to tickling at all, but the reason anyone does is because the body is telling them that they are being touched in a vital area. Injuries in all the places that most people are ticklish would damage important structures. I think depending on the situation and level of trust this could translate to varying levels of discomfort, some of which do not incite a laughter response, but the bodily reaction would still be present.

Same as someone doing a funny walk or a dance, or acting goofy. It's not really misfortune that triggers the response in all cases. It also has a bonding component of some sort.
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Think about what it is about a funny walk that's funny though. If the person is walking with a fake limp, as though they are drunk, or in an exaggeratedly uncoordinated manner, aren't we responding to the perceived deficiencies someone who walks like that must have and finding that funny? Is there a funny way to walk that is not meant to imitate some manner of social or physical handicap? I can't think of one.

Watch the people around the office and pay attention on how they use laughter to reinforce status and relationships. People that normally dislike each other will laugh together in a social situation, just to be perceived as members of the group.
Click to expand...

I don't consider this to be true humor either. Rather, it's putting on a show of comfort and ease to make social situations easier. Since this kind of laughter happens whether you really think something is funny or not, I don't think it applies.




I like this discussion. :thumbsup:

 
Linflas

Linflas

Lifer
Jan 30, 2001
15,395
78
91
Originally posted by: Fritzo
It all started with The Three Stooges.
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Yet magically I somehow knew at age 6 that I couldn't take a pair of scissors to my brothers nose or tell him to pick 2 fingers for me to poke his eyes out with even though I would watch the Stooges do that at 5 PM every evening after Cap'n Tug was over and the Stooges came on.
 
43st

43st

Diamond Member
Nov 7, 2001
3,197
0
0
I do completely agree with you SlitheryDee, I'm just saying that there are situations that are the exception to the rule. These may indeed only be social adaptations, but I think they need considered as well.

It would interesting to see the differences between laughing alone and with others. Personally I very rarely laugh when I'm alone, unless I hurt myself or do something embarrassingly stupid. I laugh much more when others are around, both at work and home. Humor of this sort, which isn't always painful in nature, seems to have a much more potent effect in groups. It does create a bond, or reinforce a bond in people, so in itself it is a means to an end. Whether that's only rooted in misfortune I can't say. I do find myself smiling and laughing when I watch a child or young animal playing, so I suspect it's different from misfortune laughing.

Affective neuroscience is really just starting to take off, so a lot of it is hard to pin down. The subject matter is indeed amazing.. I love just sitting around and watching people do stuff, in the National Geographic kinda way. Even if it's just questioning myself and my motivations on something. :p
 
T

Titan

Golden Member
Oct 15, 1999
1,819
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I believe in the George Carlin creed. To paraphrase: You can joke about anything. It all depends on what the exaggeration is.

So, in violence, often something exaggerated happens to the victim, the noise they make, the look on their face, or just the whole unusual nature of it all. That is what is funny.
 
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