You know I once heard a nurse say, laughter distances you from your problems. It was the 80's. And around then, people were wondering why people laughed at certain jokes. Humor always seems to involve inappropriate subject matter. Also some of the jokes people thought were funny, in the 80's (and now), shocks people sometimes. Cannibalism, leprosy, dead babies, rape. Vlad the Impaler jokes were funny for while then. They even had a skit on SNL about that once, with Chevy Chase. And the handicapped. I read an article in a tabloid back then on the type of joke a person may like. And what they said about jokes involving the handicapped was interesting. Young carefree people seem to like those types of jokes. Because they are so young and carefree, they think it'll never happen to them. Plus like I said on Facebook. You have to put it in its right context, why someone would laugh at certain types of inappropriate jokes. As I said, the reason why a mortician would laugh at death jokes would be very different from why a serial killer would. And finding some inappropriate subject matter funny is never wrong. Unless you hurt someone's feelings with the jokes. Anyways, I am not saying the Simpsons on Fox is the best place to go for advice on human psychology. But they did cover that subject. Specifically on cartoon violence. In the series, even the pacifist Lisa Simpson finds the "Itchy & Scratchy Show" hilarious. And they have shown from time to time how the older generation reacts when they see the clips from that show for the first time. Their reaction is usually interesting. When the mob boss on the show Fat Tony sees it for the first time, his reaction is: "It's funny because it's true." "Well observed." —"Bart the Murderer", Season 3, Episode 4, Original air date: October 10, 1991. Montgomery Burns, who is the resident rich, evil person on the show, has a reaction that is interesting. You know unlike mobsters and ordinary criminals, rich people tend to get away with more stuff. And if they do get punished, they just call it white-collar crime, which has less penalties, and never any mandatory minimum sentences, it seems. Here is Mr. Burns' reaction: "Did you see that? That mouse butchered that cat like a hog! Like a hog!! Is all TV this delightful?" —"Burns' Heir", Original air date: April 14, 1994. Now this interesting. Grandpa Simpson was the only one who reacted negatively when he first saw it. Here is his reaction: "That was the first time I ever saw Itchy and Scratchy and I didn't like it one bit! It was disgusting and violent! I think all you people are despicable! For... shame... !!" —"The Front", Season 4, Episode 19, Original air date: April 15, 1993. As I said, inappropriate humor or finding those things funny isn't evil or bad per se. It all depends on your reason why you find it funny. And that can be different for different people
I don't think I'll start a separate thread for this one. But, humor is always inappropriate. Or at least nine times out of ten. And there must be some reason why. A person with a psychology degree could probably tell you. I remember when Michael Jackson had his legal troubles, everyone had to tell pedophile jokes, probably because it was their last opportunity. Actually, that last one wasn't about pedophilia. Most of those jokes were about "how-the-mighty-have-fallen" (i.e., Michael Jackson). Also, you imaged him sitting at home hearing all these jokes about him (I know I did, LOL). Also, I know when I was a little kids, we told shocking jokes, about various inappropriate (gross, shocking, etc.) subject matter to watch the adults' reactions as we told them LOL.
I always wondered what the mechanism of laughter is but I don't think science knows. Theories that make sense maybe but why is something funny who knows its just funny that way.
Why is it funny to women when a guy gets hit in the balls? We just watched a movie last night where a woman slapped a guy in the groin as a joke and he crumbled over in pain - I don't understand why that is funny...
