Punching down

October 1, 2024 12:21 AM

Certain themes recur in this reading list: “us” versus “them” thinking that fuels stereotypical humor; humor’s ability to make hatred pleasurable (and even attractive); humor as a mechanism for race-based solidarity; and most significantly, humor as a mechanism through which violence is reduced to a laughing matter. Notably, participation in racist humor is not necessarily restricted to people who identify with any political affiliation. The ambivalence and ambiguity of humor allow it to tread where explicit hate speech cannot. from Racist Humor: Exploratory Readings [JStor]

Including, among others:
Racism Without Hatred? Racist Humor and the Myth of ‘Colorblindness’”
"Jokes, Rhetoric and Embodied Racism: A Rhetorical Discourse Analysis of the Logics of Racist Jokes on the Internet"
Nationalism in the Digital Age: Fun as a Metapractice of Extreme Speech
"‘Deplorable’ Satire: Alt-Right Memes, White Genocide Tweets, and Redpilling Normies"
"Did You Call In Mexican? The Racial Politics of Jay Leno Immigrant Jokes"
"The Wasp’s ‘Troublesome Children’: Culture, Satire, and the Anti-Chinese Movement in the American West"
"Auschwitz Jokes"

posted by chavenet (6 comments total)

This is a great framework for actually being funny to everyone, not just somebodies! Thanks!

I’ve been trying to figure out who I’ve been quoting since 2008 about the role of the magical _____ to make subalterns (including LGBTQIA+) less scary to the hegemonic group: Hornback! And I’m glad to see South Park specifically come up in a conversation of “punching down”: “they treat everyone equally!” vs Desmond Tutus:

“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse, and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.”

posted by rubatan at 2:46 AM on October 1 [7 favorites]

Oh this looks like some good reading. It kind of blows my mind the level of casual racist humor that was positively mainstream when I was younger. You could go into a drugstore and buy a book of racist jokes, split up so each different group has its own chapter of racist jokes. These days, as a general rule, I try to go for jokes that make fun of the racists, rather than relying on racist tropes to be funny.
posted by rmd1023 at 6:56 AM on October 1 [8 favorites]

So the 1980s series of "Truly Tasteless Joke Books" wasn't breaking new ground then, eh?
posted by wenestvedt at 11:00 AM on October 1 [2 favorites]

The first time I heard Seinfeld as a stand-up comedian, he was talking about losing socks in the laundry. He acted out a skit of socks scheming to escape. I was startled, because this comedy had no scapegoats. It was just ridiculous.

What are some examples of wholesome, silly humor that does not punch down on anyone?
posted by ohshenandoah at 8:56 PM on October 5

@ohshenandoah, I heard an interview with Jason Sudeikis (Ted Lasso) that it was foundational for him to the play the role. I recall him explaining it something like “I thought comedy had to be a little mean, with someone the butt of the joke. It was a challenge at first just to just be nice, but now I really see meanness as a crutch. You can do better comedy without relying on it.”

I’ve enjoyed what of Ted Lasso I’ve seen, but haven’t seen a lot. I’d be interested in appraisals of it from that perspective (I’m sure they are articles out there) and his work since. Even just a “yeah it’s kind.”
posted by rubatan at 4:32 AM on October 8

There's been heaps of comedians over the years who just work in general absurdities instead of meanness or punching in any direction. Steven Wright and Mitch Hedberg are the top two that come to mind. More recently, Tim Platt just put out his first album, "Teeth Like Beak", which is very whimsical and fun. Even in his later, angrier years, George Carlin often did bits that were just about language, like Modern Man.
posted by rifflesby at 3:07 PM on October 9