https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kztCMOWDjxA
This is an amusing video of Kevin Hart talking about people falling. In a way, this is twice as funny as for instance a video of just someone falling, because he ridiculing the fact that the person fell. This video supports Hobbes theory of how the "basis of comedy is a selfish motive". I laughed because I had an internal satisfaction and a sudden realization that I was paramount to the person who fell. We are actually laughing at them, as we feel a sense of joy from feeling superior to them. I don't think that anyone would be laughing if we were the ones falling. I think that one of the reasons I find humor in this situation is because as I am observing someone else in an inferior position and I am entertained by the fact that at that current moment I am above them (even though this sounds mean). Furthermore, I find this funny because a simple act of falling is greatly exaggerated with the use of great facial and hand gestures. This is a classic example of superiority theory, which Hobbes discusses in great depth. This is when our laughter expresses feelings over a former version of ourselves or over someone who you feel is smaller than you. This is obviously one theory of comedy that can lead us to laugh until our stomach cramps, however I belief that the reason why we laugh is a complex network of theories that also depend on the environment, situation and personality.
So much for the self-deprecating British sense of humor, eh? (Maybe that's more Canadian? Certainly not Australian).
ReplyDeleteI think that Hobbes certainly hits on a crucial truth that there has to be some "deflation" of the object, some sense that we gain some kind of superiority over it.
But maybe it is just a relative superiority. That is to say, if something seems to be less imposing, less terrifying, if it is deflated a bit, we gain relative superiority--we feel less inferior than before, might be a different way of saying this. So, yes, there is a relative gain of superiority, but the more important mechanism is the deflation of the object's superiority?
What do you think?