Thursday, September 26, 2019
Jokes, you slow pokes.
In the documentary we watched in class the other day, the used clips of HBO's comedy talk show "Last Week Tonight with John Oliver". This made me think of a question: Is comedy an effective way to get a point across? Obviously, I think that it is. I think it helps people to process and digest serious issues, but I'm obviously biased. Discuss.
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4 comments:
I agree with Tanner. I do believe comedy is an effective way to get a point across or really just to communicate anything. If you are being "funny" while you are talking to someone or even talking to a large group of people, it is shown that the person or people are paying attention more because they are more engaged/interested in what you are talking about. A lot of people think that when you are being funny you aren't being professional, and that is why so many people try not to be funny and just end up being boring. But their thinking actually that is false. You can be professional and funny at the same time. If you can get people to laugh they are most likely listening closely to you and taking in the information you are giving them.
I completely agree with Malorie and Tanner that comedy is an effective way to get your point across. I do, however, believe that comedy must be used in a sort of moderation. I must not overused or else the point will most likely be lost, especially in such a serious documentary. According to a 1999 Communication Education (Vol. 48, No. 1, pages 48-62) article by Wanzer: "Students don't necessarily want Jerry Seinfeld as their instructor," she says. "They want appropriate humor that is relevant, lightens the mood and makes the information memorable." If the humor is too much then the students will begin to get distracted and not focus on the actual material.
I think comedy is absolutely an effective way to get a point across. Humor has been used for centuries to make effective jabs at established authorities with the intention of causing change or speaking out, especially when freedom of expression/speech was not inherent. Comedy provides an attention-grabbing method of imparting information the person thinks is important. I think in some of the more serious situations, using comedy as a medium would be considered inappropriate and cause people to close their ears to the message, but in most cases it's digestible and effective.
I think comedy is one of the best ways to get a message across. That is he whole basis of satire. I personally love Dave Chappelle and this he is a prime example of getting messages across through comedy.
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