I agree people have always made jokes about painful things and situations. What I think Wendy, Al and Ray were concerned about is this banter borders on schadenfruede; almost a perverse pleasure at another¹s misfortune.
On 6/20/07 2:07 AM, "[EMAIL PROTECTED]" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > I think it's worth remembering that making jokes -- successful or otherwise, > tasteful or not -- about painful, unpleasant, disgusting, and distressing > situations is a normal human response to those very > situations. The famine in Ethiopia, the Challenger disaster, the schoolhouse > massacre in Lancaster county -- just to name a few. All of them were subjects > of humor not long after they occurred. > > And if you do the research and go look at the material in Joe Miller's Joke > Book (1738), or the stories told by Chaucer's travelers to Canterbury, or > those from Boccaccio's "Decameron", what'll you find? They're making jokes > about equally painful, albeit more personal, situations like unfaithful > spouses. > > It's a coping mechanism, a way of deflecting the pain and stress and horror of > events that are outside one's control...and also a way of saying to the > uncaring universe that permits such things to happen, "Fuck you! Despite this, > I will survive!" > > The human race has been doing it for centuries, and is unlikely to stop now. > > In a message dated 6/19/07 8:15:58 PM, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > > > OK, I just got home and had a chance to login and read what everyone's been up > to. > > I have to say, I am disappointed. No, make that disgusted. > > Where is it "clever" to mock and make jokes about a 28 year old person with > their life ahead of them being brutally beaten to death. > > > > > > ************************************** > See what's free at http://www.aol.com.
