- Registrado
- 5 de Ago, 2015
I think we can all see that comedy has evolved into something darker and more extreme throughout the generations. It would be simple to compare a comedy of the 50s or 60s to a comedy today and see there is a vast difference in what people find funny. Of course, everything evolves, but I think there is something more sinister, and comedy is used for a darker purpose today (or maybe it always has been). I know I have been writing a lot lately, but I guess this is what happens when people have time off – they actually have time to think (No wonder they want us constantly working!) Anyway, this time around, I want to argue that comedy is not as innocent as it seems. In fact, comedy is used as a form of control, and at the center of this control is humiliation.
For the purpose of this post, I am going to say the word tv, but I am essentially including media such as Netflix, YouTube, movies, and basically anything you watch.
Before I can get to the main point of my post, I want to ensure that all aware that there are real studies on how television and other media are used as programming - this really isn't even a conspiracy.
First, it is important to note that comedy can be used a propaganda technique. Advertisers make use of “humor and wit” all the time to get people to buy things:
http://www.csun.edu/~hflrc001/spring10/advtg-techniques.html
So, what are TV programs trying to get you to buy? It is no secret that people like to laugh, but have you ever wondered why we laugh? Laughing is largely a social cue, and we laugh 30 times as much when we are with other people.
From Web MD:
“You might assume that the 'purpose' of a laugh is to express yourself -- to let people know that you think something is funny. But according to a 2005 article published in the Quarterly Review of Biology, the primary function of laughter may not be self-expression. Instead, the purpose of a laugh could be to trigger positive feelings in other people. When you laugh, the people around you might start laughing in response. Soon, the whole group is cheerful and relaxed. Laughter can ease tension and foster a sense of group unity. This could have been particularly important for small groups of early humans.”
http://www.webmd.com/men/features/why-we-laugh#2
Think about all the television shows that use laugh tracks. Clearly, we hear the laughter and it makes us feel that a situation is more positive than it is. It eases us, and even if you hate laugh tracks, studies show that they work:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/we-may-hate-laugh-tracks-they-work-studies-show-f1C6436923
In fact, many studies show laughter is not even always about humor! Laughter evolved for two purposes – for a response to when something is funny, but actually, probably more largely, as a social cue. This Slate article states,
"Mimicked laughter was a way to manipulate others—sometimes for mutually beneficial purposes, sometimes for more devious reasons…Laughter, in other words, is more than just a response to humor. It’s a primal human tool, one of the building blocks of society. It taps into the core of what we are as social creatures, expressing from one person to another what often cannot be said in any other way: either that everything is in good fun—or, as in the case of omuneepo, that something is very, very wrong.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2014/the_humor_code/why_do_humans_laugh_the_evolutionary_biology_of_laughter.html
Humor is the essence of the majority of entertainment today. It eases us. Even in serious movies, there are always quips and humorous segways, perhaps to put the audience at ease.
In fact, I’d argue that the majority of the media we watch is humorous or comedic - from simple sitcoms to talk shows to late night television. Even political shows (think Stephen Colbert) use humor to emphasize political points.
Would we even be interested in most media (movies, television, YouTube) if it did not involve humor?
Humor is used so much because it is easy to condition us when we feel relaxed and comfortable, as we attempt to take social cues from the environment around us. Many TV shows have “live” audiences so we know how to feel about certain scenarios.
On top of that, we are in a sort of state of hypnosis when we watch TV (or any media). There are thousands of studies on how media impacts our bodies and brains, but it is no secret that it puts us in a relaxed state, which is why it is the favorite pastime of many. We are taking in a lot of information when we are watching tv, but we are not necessarily processing it fully:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/3daqaj/is-watching-tv-actually-a-good-way-to-rest-your-brain
To get to the point, this media is a type of hypnosis, where we get into a state to take in information both consciously and unconsciously. Hypnosis is real, by the way, and despite stereotypes, it exists in our daily lives:
"In truth, hypnosis is something most of us have experienced in our everyday lives. If you've ever been totally engrossed in a book or movie and lost all track of time or didn't hear someone calling your name, you were experiencing a state similar to a hypnotic one.
The hypnotized person is not sleeping or unconscious—quite the contrary. Hypnosis (most often induced by a hypnotherapist's verbal guidance, not a swinging pocket watch) creates a hyper-attentive and hyper-responsive mental state, in which the subject's subconscious mind is highly open to suggestion. "This doesn't mean you become a submissive robot when hypnotized," Ray asserts. "Studies have shown us that good hypnotic subjects are active problem solvers. While it's true that the subconscious mind is more open to suggestion during hypnosis, that doesn't mean that the subject's free will or moral judgment is turned off."*
http://news.psu.edu/story/141251/2014/03/18/research/probing-question-does-hypnosis-work
We all have the potential to be hypnotized, and the article goes on to state that some are more easily hypnotized that others.
If people view media as if it has no agenda, then are they more likely to be hypnotized by it? In other words, those who are least likely to think critically about what they watch are probably most likely to be indoctrinated by it. Even in my last post, I had to argue continuously with people that programs have messages or agendas. What I am saying is that if people were more aware when watching TV in the first place, they would probably be able to catch the messages. However, it is clear that television uses humor (and other relaxation techniques) to put us into a different state so that we can absorb messages both consciously and unconsciously. It is the perfect tool for indoctrination, and comedy plays a huge role in this indoctrination.
There are probably thousands upon thousands of articles about the evolution and transformation of comedy throughout time, so for the purpose of length, I think we can all agree that comedy today was not the same as it was even twenty or thirty years ago. Comedy is definitely more extreme today, and it seems that there is no topic that is off limits. In fact, comedians have to be more and more extreme to catch the attention of their audiences, likely because we become desensitized over time.
However, I am not going to focus on the extremism in comedy today; rather, I wanted to take note on one modern aspect of comedy that seems to be inherent in nearly all media today: humiliation.
Personal Anecdote
I grew up in an emotionally abusive home. The only thing that seemed to make my parents laugh involved the expense of others. For example, one day I came home from school. My mom told me to go pet my gerbil (who I loved). I went over happily and began to pet it, only to realize it was dead. She was laughing hysterically, and I was devastated.
Now that I am older, I realize my parents did this to me a lot, and it is probably because they have severe mental issues. I’m not surprised that they love watching comedy shows that focus on humiliation, and if it was not for my abuse, I may not see what is “off” about these.
So, humiliation techniques are a huge part of media today, and I wanted to include some here:
*Jimmy Kimmel has a lot of segments involving children, much focused on embarrassment and humiliation. Here is a segment where parents give their children terrible Christmas gifts:
*Ellen Degenerate (I’m sorry I really despise her) sets her entire show on humiliation tactics. Here is where she sets up somebody to steal, and then she humiliates them in the audience:
*Have you seen the mockumentary Religulous by Bill Maher? The entire film is about mocking religious people, and at times humiliating them. When I was younger, I thought this was funny, but there is one scene in this movie that is heartbreaking to me. He interviews some truckers about their faith, and he proceeds to mock them about it. It is so sad because, well think, religion may be all these truckers have. Why the need to humiliate somebody who is not harming anybody with their spirituality?
*Popular sitcoms today are all about humiliation. As much as I love the Office, I do realize that the show relies on relentlessly humiliating each other. In fact, I am not even going to link here because I feel as if that is the premise of the show.
*Even “Mean Tweets” are a form of self-humiliation:
I can keep going, and I want you to add anything to the comments I have missed. Unfortunately, I do not watch tons of TV or movies, so I probably am missing out on a lot.
To me, if you really think about humiliation as humor, it is really sad. As somebody who has been humiliated by my parents most of my life, I feel that you have to truly have a lack of empathy to be able to feel pleasure when others are in pain. Humiliate means to make somebody feel ashamed or foolish, so there is a level of pain there. By the way, I am not saying that there probably is not some harmless humiliation, but there is also humiliation that can destroy people. So, I do not want to come off as I feel that anytime we laugh at others, we are doing some great injustice, but this is where we get to the larger conspiracy.
Many believe that there are actually humiliation rituals in the media. Does anybody remember Miss Universe and her “humiliation ritual?” There are a lot of YouTube videos on this (so you may find a better one):
Even if you disagree about that specific conspiracy, there is no denying that MK Ultra abuse and programming is directly tied to ritual and humiliation tactics:
“What is ritual abuse? Ritual Abuse usually involves repeated abuse over an extended period of time. The physical abuse is severe, sometimes including torture and killing. The sexual abuse is usually painful, humiliating, intended as a means of gaining dominance over the victim. The psychological abuse is devastating and involves the use of ritual indoctrination. It includes mind control techniques which convey to the victim a profound terror of the cult members…most victims are in a state of terror, mind control and dissociation.”
http://www.pods-online.org.uk/index.php/information/articles/article-categories/explaining-dissociation-menu/144-demystifying-ritual-abuse
That is a great article by the way if you want to read more about ritual abuse.
For many victims, the abuse they experience is truly humiliating. Humiliation is about power, ultimately, so when we participate in humiliating someone, we are in a sense taking power over them. Whether we are comfortable with this thought or not, humiliation, power, and abuse are all related.
When we laugh at humiliation tactics on TV, do we feel more power over someone? Does it make us feel in control? Does it make us feel better about ourselves?
Think about KiwiFarms devoted to mocking others. I admit that I have participated in some of these in the past, but now I am much more careful. I often hear that my posts are linked to /cow/, and a few times I have viewed their comments about me. They are humiliating, and it does make me feel bad about myself. Do they feel smarter, better, and more powerful when they humiliate others on that imageboard?
This probably is harmless compared to the millions of others that mock. Of course, this mocking is not limited to KiwiFarms.
“People of WalMart” is a website devoted to taking humiliating pictures of people (usually those who are clearly impoverished) when shopping:
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
Again, I can go on and on with this, but the point is that humiliation is a huge part of our society, and to me, it is really about power not humor. Humor is used in combination with humiliation to twist it into a more positive experience than it really is.
I think, if nothing else, I want to people to evaluate what makes them laugh. Why are we laughing and at whose expense? On top of that, what programming are we unknowingly receiving as we laugh at others?
want to make it clear that I do not think all humor is bad, and I think there is a time and place for humor. However, I also want to show that we be being programmed through humor, specifically humiliation, whether we realize it or not.
After I wrote this post, I actually feel a little sad. Much of what I write is clearly revealing my experiences and who I am as a person. As I wrote this, I had to relive some of the humiliation in my life by my parents and others.
It is interesting to note that humiliation does not always have to involve humor by the way – humor is just a means for humiliation. When I was in my abusive relationship with my ex, he humiliated me by taking power over me.
Also, I want to note that there is a lot of gaslighting with humiliation. Whenever I tried to bring up my humiliation with my parents, they always told me I was just being “too sensitive.” We may say things to people like, “Can’t you just take a joke?”
As always, it takes me a long time to write these posts, and this post was a little emotional for me, so please be gentle. Of course, we may not always agree on everything, but I’d love to hear your thoughts!
For the purpose of this post, I am going to say the word tv, but I am essentially including media such as Netflix, YouTube, movies, and basically anything you watch.
Before I can get to the main point of my post, I want to ensure that all aware that there are real studies on how television and other media are used as programming - this really isn't even a conspiracy.
First, it is important to note that comedy can be used a propaganda technique. Advertisers make use of “humor and wit” all the time to get people to buy things:
http://www.csun.edu/~hflrc001/spring10/advtg-techniques.html
So, what are TV programs trying to get you to buy? It is no secret that people like to laugh, but have you ever wondered why we laugh? Laughing is largely a social cue, and we laugh 30 times as much when we are with other people.
From Web MD:
“You might assume that the 'purpose' of a laugh is to express yourself -- to let people know that you think something is funny. But according to a 2005 article published in the Quarterly Review of Biology, the primary function of laughter may not be self-expression. Instead, the purpose of a laugh could be to trigger positive feelings in other people. When you laugh, the people around you might start laughing in response. Soon, the whole group is cheerful and relaxed. Laughter can ease tension and foster a sense of group unity. This could have been particularly important for small groups of early humans.”
http://www.webmd.com/men/features/why-we-laugh#2
Think about all the television shows that use laugh tracks. Clearly, we hear the laughter and it makes us feel that a situation is more positive than it is. It eases us, and even if you hate laugh tracks, studies show that they work:
http://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/we-may-hate-laugh-tracks-they-work-studies-show-f1C6436923
In fact, many studies show laughter is not even always about humor! Laughter evolved for two purposes – for a response to when something is funny, but actually, probably more largely, as a social cue. This Slate article states,
"Mimicked laughter was a way to manipulate others—sometimes for mutually beneficial purposes, sometimes for more devious reasons…Laughter, in other words, is more than just a response to humor. It’s a primal human tool, one of the building blocks of society. It taps into the core of what we are as social creatures, expressing from one person to another what often cannot be said in any other way: either that everything is in good fun—or, as in the case of omuneepo, that something is very, very wrong.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/arts/culturebox/features/2014/the_humor_code/why_do_humans_laugh_the_evolutionary_biology_of_laughter.html
Humor is the essence of the majority of entertainment today. It eases us. Even in serious movies, there are always quips and humorous segways, perhaps to put the audience at ease.
In fact, I’d argue that the majority of the media we watch is humorous or comedic - from simple sitcoms to talk shows to late night television. Even political shows (think Stephen Colbert) use humor to emphasize political points.
Would we even be interested in most media (movies, television, YouTube) if it did not involve humor?
Humor is used so much because it is easy to condition us when we feel relaxed and comfortable, as we attempt to take social cues from the environment around us. Many TV shows have “live” audiences so we know how to feel about certain scenarios.
On top of that, we are in a sort of state of hypnosis when we watch TV (or any media). There are thousands of studies on how media impacts our bodies and brains, but it is no secret that it puts us in a relaxed state, which is why it is the favorite pastime of many. We are taking in a lot of information when we are watching tv, but we are not necessarily processing it fully:
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/3daqaj/is-watching-tv-actually-a-good-way-to-rest-your-brain
To get to the point, this media is a type of hypnosis, where we get into a state to take in information both consciously and unconsciously. Hypnosis is real, by the way, and despite stereotypes, it exists in our daily lives:
"In truth, hypnosis is something most of us have experienced in our everyday lives. If you've ever been totally engrossed in a book or movie and lost all track of time or didn't hear someone calling your name, you were experiencing a state similar to a hypnotic one.
The hypnotized person is not sleeping or unconscious—quite the contrary. Hypnosis (most often induced by a hypnotherapist's verbal guidance, not a swinging pocket watch) creates a hyper-attentive and hyper-responsive mental state, in which the subject's subconscious mind is highly open to suggestion. "This doesn't mean you become a submissive robot when hypnotized," Ray asserts. "Studies have shown us that good hypnotic subjects are active problem solvers. While it's true that the subconscious mind is more open to suggestion during hypnosis, that doesn't mean that the subject's free will or moral judgment is turned off."*
http://news.psu.edu/story/141251/2014/03/18/research/probing-question-does-hypnosis-work
We all have the potential to be hypnotized, and the article goes on to state that some are more easily hypnotized that others.
If people view media as if it has no agenda, then are they more likely to be hypnotized by it? In other words, those who are least likely to think critically about what they watch are probably most likely to be indoctrinated by it. Even in my last post, I had to argue continuously with people that programs have messages or agendas. What I am saying is that if people were more aware when watching TV in the first place, they would probably be able to catch the messages. However, it is clear that television uses humor (and other relaxation techniques) to put us into a different state so that we can absorb messages both consciously and unconsciously. It is the perfect tool for indoctrination, and comedy plays a huge role in this indoctrination.
There are probably thousands upon thousands of articles about the evolution and transformation of comedy throughout time, so for the purpose of length, I think we can all agree that comedy today was not the same as it was even twenty or thirty years ago. Comedy is definitely more extreme today, and it seems that there is no topic that is off limits. In fact, comedians have to be more and more extreme to catch the attention of their audiences, likely because we become desensitized over time.
However, I am not going to focus on the extremism in comedy today; rather, I wanted to take note on one modern aspect of comedy that seems to be inherent in nearly all media today: humiliation.
Personal Anecdote
I grew up in an emotionally abusive home. The only thing that seemed to make my parents laugh involved the expense of others. For example, one day I came home from school. My mom told me to go pet my gerbil (who I loved). I went over happily and began to pet it, only to realize it was dead. She was laughing hysterically, and I was devastated.
Now that I am older, I realize my parents did this to me a lot, and it is probably because they have severe mental issues. I’m not surprised that they love watching comedy shows that focus on humiliation, and if it was not for my abuse, I may not see what is “off” about these.
So, humiliation techniques are a huge part of media today, and I wanted to include some here:
*Jimmy Kimmel has a lot of segments involving children, much focused on embarrassment and humiliation. Here is a segment where parents give their children terrible Christmas gifts:
*Ellen Degenerate (I’m sorry I really despise her) sets her entire show on humiliation tactics. Here is where she sets up somebody to steal, and then she humiliates them in the audience:
*Have you seen the mockumentary Religulous by Bill Maher? The entire film is about mocking religious people, and at times humiliating them. When I was younger, I thought this was funny, but there is one scene in this movie that is heartbreaking to me. He interviews some truckers about their faith, and he proceeds to mock them about it. It is so sad because, well think, religion may be all these truckers have. Why the need to humiliate somebody who is not harming anybody with their spirituality?
*Popular sitcoms today are all about humiliation. As much as I love the Office, I do realize that the show relies on relentlessly humiliating each other. In fact, I am not even going to link here because I feel as if that is the premise of the show.
*Even “Mean Tweets” are a form of self-humiliation:
I can keep going, and I want you to add anything to the comments I have missed. Unfortunately, I do not watch tons of TV or movies, so I probably am missing out on a lot.
To me, if you really think about humiliation as humor, it is really sad. As somebody who has been humiliated by my parents most of my life, I feel that you have to truly have a lack of empathy to be able to feel pleasure when others are in pain. Humiliate means to make somebody feel ashamed or foolish, so there is a level of pain there. By the way, I am not saying that there probably is not some harmless humiliation, but there is also humiliation that can destroy people. So, I do not want to come off as I feel that anytime we laugh at others, we are doing some great injustice, but this is where we get to the larger conspiracy.
Many believe that there are actually humiliation rituals in the media. Does anybody remember Miss Universe and her “humiliation ritual?” There are a lot of YouTube videos on this (so you may find a better one):
Even if you disagree about that specific conspiracy, there is no denying that MK Ultra abuse and programming is directly tied to ritual and humiliation tactics:
“What is ritual abuse? Ritual Abuse usually involves repeated abuse over an extended period of time. The physical abuse is severe, sometimes including torture and killing. The sexual abuse is usually painful, humiliating, intended as a means of gaining dominance over the victim. The psychological abuse is devastating and involves the use of ritual indoctrination. It includes mind control techniques which convey to the victim a profound terror of the cult members…most victims are in a state of terror, mind control and dissociation.”
http://www.pods-online.org.uk/index.php/information/articles/article-categories/explaining-dissociation-menu/144-demystifying-ritual-abuse
That is a great article by the way if you want to read more about ritual abuse.
For many victims, the abuse they experience is truly humiliating. Humiliation is about power, ultimately, so when we participate in humiliating someone, we are in a sense taking power over them. Whether we are comfortable with this thought or not, humiliation, power, and abuse are all related.
When we laugh at humiliation tactics on TV, do we feel more power over someone? Does it make us feel in control? Does it make us feel better about ourselves?
Think about KiwiFarms devoted to mocking others. I admit that I have participated in some of these in the past, but now I am much more careful. I often hear that my posts are linked to /cow/, and a few times I have viewed their comments about me. They are humiliating, and it does make me feel bad about myself. Do they feel smarter, better, and more powerful when they humiliate others on that imageboard?
This probably is harmless compared to the millions of others that mock. Of course, this mocking is not limited to KiwiFarms.
“People of WalMart” is a website devoted to taking humiliating pictures of people (usually those who are clearly impoverished) when shopping:
http://www.peopleofwalmart.com/
Again, I can go on and on with this, but the point is that humiliation is a huge part of our society, and to me, it is really about power not humor. Humor is used in combination with humiliation to twist it into a more positive experience than it really is.
I think, if nothing else, I want to people to evaluate what makes them laugh. Why are we laughing and at whose expense? On top of that, what programming are we unknowingly receiving as we laugh at others?
want to make it clear that I do not think all humor is bad, and I think there is a time and place for humor. However, I also want to show that we be being programmed through humor, specifically humiliation, whether we realize it or not.
After I wrote this post, I actually feel a little sad. Much of what I write is clearly revealing my experiences and who I am as a person. As I wrote this, I had to relive some of the humiliation in my life by my parents and others.
It is interesting to note that humiliation does not always have to involve humor by the way – humor is just a means for humiliation. When I was in my abusive relationship with my ex, he humiliated me by taking power over me.
Also, I want to note that there is a lot of gaslighting with humiliation. Whenever I tried to bring up my humiliation with my parents, they always told me I was just being “too sensitive.” We may say things to people like, “Can’t you just take a joke?”
As always, it takes me a long time to write these posts, and this post was a little emotional for me, so please be gentle. Of course, we may not always agree on everything, but I’d love to hear your thoughts!
