the birth of comedy
by Ashni dalal
What are the kinds of things people find comedic relief in nowadays? If you ask people this question, odds are you won’t find very many people who will admit to finding humor in insulting others. You probably won’t find anyone who will openly say that they have watched a show or video in which they laughed at the offensive jokes made at someone. However, more often then not, it seems that there is some kind of sick humor found in the harassment and bullying of others, but what do we find so funny about this? What would someone from the past say about our modern day view on what comedy is?
For example, there is a show, which is a perfect example of this called South Park, which was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. South Park is a show in which almost all of its punch lines involve insults to a certain person or groups of people. Even though this way of bullying is quite eminent in the show, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference on the popularity of the show. Though the creators believe they are simply rejecting the view of political correctness, some would call it flat out vulgar. The show has an immense influence on young audiences and their view of what can be considered “funny.”
Friedrich Nietzsche was a known philosopher and cultural critic. His view on utilitarianism criticized its deal that one should give up their happiness for the happiness of the masses. He believed that in the cultures where certain norms existed as what one would consider “morality,” then those cultures would eradicate the “conditions for the realizations of human excellence.” He said that utilitarian’s “sacrifice human quality for human quantity.”
So then what would Nietzsche have to say about shows such as South Park? Shows and videos like South Park have humor that relies so greatly on offensive and derogatory jokes. There are many controversial or sensitive topics that are brought on that show and presented in a comedic light with complete disregard to the fact that it would rightly so be considered bullying. South Park takes a minority group of people or a single person and use this person or group as a target for offensive and often times vulgar “humor” and since Nietzsche was so greatly against sacrificing ones happiness for larger groups’ happiness (or entertainment), I believe that he would not consider this comedic at all.
For example, there is a show, which is a perfect example of this called South Park, which was created by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. South Park is a show in which almost all of its punch lines involve insults to a certain person or groups of people. Even though this way of bullying is quite eminent in the show, it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference on the popularity of the show. Though the creators believe they are simply rejecting the view of political correctness, some would call it flat out vulgar. The show has an immense influence on young audiences and their view of what can be considered “funny.”
Friedrich Nietzsche was a known philosopher and cultural critic. His view on utilitarianism criticized its deal that one should give up their happiness for the happiness of the masses. He believed that in the cultures where certain norms existed as what one would consider “morality,” then those cultures would eradicate the “conditions for the realizations of human excellence.” He said that utilitarian’s “sacrifice human quality for human quantity.”
So then what would Nietzsche have to say about shows such as South Park? Shows and videos like South Park have humor that relies so greatly on offensive and derogatory jokes. There are many controversial or sensitive topics that are brought on that show and presented in a comedic light with complete disregard to the fact that it would rightly so be considered bullying. South Park takes a minority group of people or a single person and use this person or group as a target for offensive and often times vulgar “humor” and since Nietzsche was so greatly against sacrificing ones happiness for larger groups’ happiness (or entertainment), I believe that he would not consider this comedic at all.