Comedy, humor, and jokes are an important part of our lives and there is a hidden meaning behind why we think that they’re funny. For one, humor can relieve problems and tensions that people face on a daily basis. Jokes, as well as funny innuendos, lighten the mood of people and help them disengage from their concerns and worries. Even though these are legitimate thoughts on how humor is used, we should take a step back and examine when it is okay to use humor.
We can debate on what the correct time to use jokes is or when it is considered ethical to joke around about serious matters such as death and disabilities, but there is no right answer to this question. Regardless of this debate, humor is an essential part of our lives that can change a situation for the better or improve personal well-being, however it should be expressed within the bounds of ethical and moral considerations of the person you are dealing with.
Some therapeutic benefits of laughter include the increase of disease resistance and a positive relationship between pain tolerance and a sense of humor. Also, humor is considered an effective learning technique that should be employed in the educational lectures of colleges to make the material be more understandable and memorable for the students. Humor is an effective mechanism for college students because it helps relieve stress, tension from the brain, and be more efficient for learning the course material.
Moreover, humor is a great personality trait that can also make a person more approachable and accepting in society and can lead to healthy relationships. On the other hand, however, I strongly believe that the death of a loved one, friend, and/or a national tragedy is not something that can be taken so lightly by most people. For example, during an extended period after the 9/11 disaster, people all around the world, especially Americans, didn’t think it was justifiable to laugh in the face of so much death and turmoil. Everyone was affected in some manner or another because either there was personal involvement or their sense of national identity was hurt.
I would say that society has a huge role in influencing people’s point of views and beliefs when it comes to serious topics, such as racial or sexist jokes. We are bound by societal conventions set down by what is considered commonly accepted behavior. We have never given much thought to this matter, but the truth is that most jokes we find funny and humorous, are commonly at someone else’s expense.
For example, Indian and Chinese people are humorously portrayed with heavy accents, studious natures, and geeky personalities in common pop culture TV shows and movies. When these jokes are repeated often, they become a referenced stereotype. Subconsciously, the stereotyping still affects people’s perception of Asians in general.In this form, humor can be harsh and unethical. This type of humor may or may not be offensive to the subject of the jokes, but it still creates a moral dilemma that is often ignored until the joke goes too far and people feel offended.
In conclusion, there are two sides to this never-ending debate. One argument is that humor should bend to the demands of an audience where jokes should be only jokes. In other words, jokes should only be viewed as a non-serious way of comedic relief. However, I know that there’s no kind of switch that can turn on humor and turn off seriousness. Speaking from an ethical and practical point of view, I would have to say that there has to be a right time and a right place in order to joke about a situation that we face.
