Source: Netflix.
This is a topic that's becoming increasingly fascinating to me, because I never considered self-deprecating humor a bad thing. It seems like a natural part of my generation's taste for dark humor. It's always felt normal to approach myself with a sort of cynicism, and while I recognize that a feeling of self-worth is important to strive towards, I also thought it was valuable to laugh at myself. Everything I saw in the media seemed to point towards that, too.
It's good to know one's hotness level, right? Source: Reza Farazmand, Poorly Drawn Lines.
Comics and memes are full of self-deprecating humor and jokes about depression, and so I felt that it was normal. I recognized that there were serious issues underlying all of these jokes, but I didn't think that there was anything wrong with the jokes themselves. Jokes are a good way to cope with tough issues. I haven't fully changed my mind about that, but I am starting to think more about how we treat ourselves in humor.
Source: Sarah Andersen.
Gadsby told her audience that her use of her traumatic experiences as a source of comedy has kept her from growing. She said, “comedy has suspended me in a perpetual state
of adolescence” (39:45–39:50). She was only dwelling on the trauma, abusing it for the sake of other people's laughter. She was using humor and putting herself down “in order to speak, in order to seek
permission... to speak” (18:05–18:10). By buying into the idea that because she was a lesbian, because she was in a marginalized group, she had to seek permission. She had to be able to entertain people if she wanted to be worth listening to.
At this point, some people might feel a bit of a disconnect from her argument. After all, I'm not a lesbian. I'm a woman, but not everyone reading this is. But don't we all do this anyway? I can't name how many times I've broached a difficult subject with a joke. I try my best to laugh at myself when I'm crying to make it seem like, to the people around me, I'm not doing that bad. Sorry, just let a few tears slip! They'll dry up in a minute. Pay them no mind. See, I'm laughing already, that means it's okay. We have been conditioned to believe that our emotions are only worth being given attention when other people can enjoy them. Even when it comes to other, “high brow” forms of creativity and art, Gadsby exclaims as she describes her encounter with an audience member, “‘What do you honsetly think, mate?’ I said. ‘That
creativity means you must suffer? That is the burden of creativity? Just so you
can enjoy it?’” (35:00–35:20). Too many people think that any form of expression has to have some value that other people can consume, rather than just being for its own sake. Comedy, while it may be “low brow,” is still a form of creativity the same way that art is. It's an expression of the self, and when we abuse ourselves for the sake of others, it hurts.
Most people have issues that we deal with through comedy, and I'm not about to say that's a bad thing. Sometimes laughing at ourselves is the best way to accept ourselves when we really aren't capable of doing so otherwise. Like all things, though, it needs to be taken in small doses. We need to be aware of the line between using comedy to cope with something, like depression, coming out, or a traumatic experience, and when we're using comedy to avoid coping. And when the jokes stop being for ourselves, and start being for the crowd, that's when it's time to stop.
I’ve heard it stated before that the need to evoke laughter is a symptom of depression. Super depressed people can rarely find other people funny. They make the attempt to get themselves laughing through their gleaned happiness to give laughter to other people. A lot of comedians have mental illnesses or depression. Jim Carrey is bipolar.
ReplyDeleteI think what you have to say about the subject is interesting. I think comedy should be filled with self-abuse though. Self-abuse or self-deprecating humor helps the audience feel less attacked. If everything a comic says on stage is external, then it’s a public rant and not comedy. By focusing inwardly the audience is made more aware of the person on stage. This yin and yang(inward and outward) joke awareness is a form of emotional stability for the audience. Should Gadsby make fun of the fact she’s a lesbian? It’s up to her. If it makes her feel bad she shouldn’t. I’d be just as content hearing a funny story that humanizes(fools) her outside of her sexual orientation. The comedian is the “court jester” of the modern world. They’re there to let the people(the king) know through “entertainment advice” when we’re not seeing things clearly or ignoring glaring hypocrites we should be made aware of. People need people to take stock of what’s going on, but the people who make us laugh aren’t there to lecture us as much as humor us. Self-deprecating doesn’t have mean crucifying your identity on stage. Gadsby can focus her jokes internally or inwardly in ways that don’t belittle her identity.
"I think comedy should be filled with self-abuse" is a heck of a statement. It's one that Gadsby flat-out rejects. And plenty of very successful comedians don't do this--their humor isn't rooted in tearing themselves down.
DeleteHi Bethany. I really appreciated your post, as I too have been thinking a lot about self deprecating humor in response to Gadsby, and also to Barreca, who was the first author that we read in the course who talked about self-deprecating humor. A lot of Gadsby's ideas go hand in hand with Barreca's, although Barreca cautioned women against using self-deprecation because she thought that eventually men would begin to underestimate them. I agree that comedians and the rest of us must find a balance when using self-deprecating humor. Recently, I wrote about this and argued that Tina Fey's essay "All Women Must Be Everything" struck a nice balance between self-deprecation and self-love. This post also makes me think about the Tig Notaro special that I watched, Happy to Be Here. Tig for the most part wasn't at all self-deprecating, but she was very funny. I found this surprising and lovely.
ReplyDeleteI really really enjoyed your post Bethany! I have come to the conclusion that there is a balance that needs to be obtained in terms of self-depreciating humor and comedy. For example, in Unit 6 we watched "Ask a Slave." In this series, the writer and actress playing the part of Lizze Mae, at times makes fun of herself or the ways of life, but I don't think she ever tears herself down. Another example would be Sykes. At times she talks about certain funny things that "black people say and do" to quote her. However, she never really tears herself down, and I think that is a crucial point to take note of.
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