Comments on: Boiled frog http://bencrowder.net/blog/2006/05/boiled-frog/ I make stuff. Thu, 18 Mar 2010 20:45:36 -0600 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Shaun http://bencrowder.net/blog/2006/05/boiled-frog/#comment-619 Shaun Fri, 12 May 2006 23:13:17 +0000 http://www.topofthemountains.net/2006/05/11/boiled-frog/#comment-619 I've often thought of humor and wit to be the creation of new connections that didn't exist before. You laugh at a joke because it comes to a conclusion that's absurd or puts meaning on words that it wasn't intended to have (sort of an innuendo). I think sexual innuendos were an eventual inevitability with the way we treated the issue of sex. It was long considered too taboo to talk about and attempts to do so were usually stifled. Humor springs from tension as a way to relieve pressure, and I would say that the pressure surrounding the issue of human sexuality has been significant, with the recent debates about other orientations fueling the fire. In this way, humor entered in to downplay the gravity of the situation. The same sort of thing happened with drugs, racial issues, religious topics, even the recent terror attacks. I think humor exists as a way for us to step back from ourselves and realize how silly we act about issues, hopefully letting us have a good chuckle at ourselves and go on to confront the issue. Having said that, it often goes too far and I'm not going to defend most of the sexually oriented humor, especially of the type the "teen movie" genre has developed being little more than the product of an immature, uneducated mind deriving pleasure from saying "taboo" words ("Beavis and Butthead" being a classic example of this). However, my point is that I think we can look back on our societal history and see that our own fear of taboos back then have created a culture and generation that was somewhat deprived of serious, rationale discussion on a variety of topics. Now it's exploring the topic itself. The best way to fight corruption is with clarity, openness, and honesty. It was the secretive unspeakable nature of issues like drugs, sexuality and such back then that I believe, ironically, became the reason they are the center of attention in our culture now. The lesson we can take from that is to not be afraid to discuss any topic openly, and the more apt we might feel to censor ourselves out of propriety or embarassment, the more we need to get out and discuss it. For (what I think is) a good example of humor poking fun of a related issue, see: http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5389113&ft=1&f=2 http://www.hiw.kuleuven.be/phorum/read.php?f=5&i=10&t=10 for the Ballad of Sigmun Freud. Also, as a side-note: http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.htm I’ve often thought of humor and wit to be the creation of new connections that didn’t exist before. You laugh at a joke because it comes to a conclusion that’s absurd or puts meaning on words that it wasn’t intended to have (sort of an innuendo).

I think sexual innuendos were an eventual inevitability with the way we treated the issue of sex. It was long considered too taboo to talk about and attempts to do so were usually stifled. Humor springs from tension as a way to relieve pressure, and I would say that the pressure surrounding the issue of human sexuality has been significant, with the recent debates about other orientations fueling the fire.

In this way, humor entered in to downplay the gravity of the situation. The same sort of thing happened with drugs, racial issues, religious topics, even the recent terror attacks. I think humor exists as a way for us to step back from ourselves and realize how silly we act about issues, hopefully letting us have a good chuckle at ourselves and go on to confront the issue.

Having said that, it often goes too far and I’m not going to defend most of the sexually oriented humor, especially of the type the “teen movie” genre has developed being little more than the product of an immature, uneducated mind deriving pleasure from saying “taboo” words (“Beavis and Butthead” being a classic example of this).

However, my point is that I think we can look back on our societal history and see that our own fear of taboos back then have created a culture and generation that was somewhat deprived of serious, rationale discussion on a variety of topics. Now it’s exploring the topic itself. The best way to fight corruption is with clarity, openness, and honesty. It was the secretive unspeakable nature of issues like drugs, sexuality and such back then that I believe, ironically, became the reason they are the center of attention in our culture now. The lesson we can take from that is to not be afraid to discuss any topic openly, and the more apt we might feel to censor ourselves out of propriety or embarassment, the more we need to get out and discuss it.

For (what I think is) a good example of humor poking fun of a related issue, see:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5389113&ft=1&f=2
http://www.hiw.kuleuven.be/phorum/read.php?f=5&i=10&t=10
for the Ballad of Sigmun Freud.

Also, as a side-note: http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/frogboil.htm

]]> By: rachella http://bencrowder.net/blog/2006/05/boiled-frog/#comment-618 rachella Fri, 12 May 2006 03:34:08 +0000 http://www.topofthemountains.net/2006/05/11/boiled-frog/#comment-618 What I thought was interesting about the conversation was his point that innuendo is a sort of pseudo-wit. It is all too true. What happened to real genius and creativity? It seems there are so many people who simply want funny entertainment, and rely on the empty crude humor provided by those who are simply resorting to the easiest way to get a laugh. Unfortunatly it seems too often those that haven't been corrupted who produce art or media are failing in quality and so people equate clean with boring. What a tragedy. My question is how does one fix the individual or society that has been corrupted? What I thought was interesting about the conversation was his point that innuendo is a sort of pseudo-wit. It is all too true. What happened to real genius and creativity? It seems there are so many people who simply want funny entertainment, and rely on the empty crude humor provided by those who are simply resorting to the easiest way to get a laugh. Unfortunatly it seems too often those that haven’t been corrupted who produce art or media are failing in quality and so people equate clean with boring. What a tragedy.

My question is how does one fix the individual or society that has been corrupted?

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