This is my response to Lauren's lead blog.
Lauren points out that in the video she posted, we see both the relief theory and exaggeration at work. This seems to be obviously true, so I would like to point out how some of the ways exaggeration fits into the theories of comedy.
First of all, it seems very easy to see how exaggeration fits into the superiority theory. After all, exaggeration makes it very easy to highlight faults. That is, it amplifies a certain foible or oddity so that it appears to be something ridiculous. Because of this we have sense of superiority over and above the person who has these foibles or oddities.
Secondly, it seems that relief theory is able to accommodate exaggeration as well. For example, by exaggerating a foible about something we might typically look at as scary, it becomes less scary. Zombies are typically pretty disturbing creatures, but if we exaggerate the zombie's slow movements to the extent that one can just walk circles around a zombie, the zombie looses its ability to scare us. As a matter of fact, we would probably laugh. Because it is unable to scare us, we no longer need to suppress thought about zombies. This creates the relief Freud spoke of in his theory.
Thirdly, we can use incongruity theory to explain exaggeration as well. Since its October, let's stick with the zombie example. Part of what makes up our idea of a zombie is that zombies are presented to us in movies and video games as very disturbing and dangerous. Nevertheless, if we exaggerate the slow walk of the zombie, we are not likely to look at it as being particularly dangerous or formidable. This is the incongruity. We have an object(zombie) which is connected to something we typically do not associate with zombies(harmlessness.) This is done by means of an unexpected pattern (exaggerating the slow walk the zombie has.)
Lastly, exaggeration can fit pretty well into the benign violation theory. Sticking with our zombie example, there is a social norm that we have regarding horror movie creatures such as vampires, zombies, ghosts etc. That is, the norm in the horror genera is to present all of these creatures in such a way that it promotes fear in the audience. However, these creatures can only fulfill this role by means of presenting these creature as being formidable or threatening. By exaggerating the slowness of the zombie, we make it harmless. So our socially expected attitude regarding the horror creature is violated. So, because the creature is being represented as harmless in this case, the social norm regarding our attitudes to the zombie is violated.
So, we can see that exaggeration is a feature of comedy that can apply to all the major theories. I feel that Lauren's pointing out that exaggeration is a key feature of comedy was quite useful.
Lauren points out that in the video she posted, we see both the relief theory and exaggeration at work. This seems to be obviously true, so I would like to point out how some of the ways exaggeration fits into the theories of comedy.
First of all, it seems very easy to see how exaggeration fits into the superiority theory. After all, exaggeration makes it very easy to highlight faults. That is, it amplifies a certain foible or oddity so that it appears to be something ridiculous. Because of this we have sense of superiority over and above the person who has these foibles or oddities.
Secondly, it seems that relief theory is able to accommodate exaggeration as well. For example, by exaggerating a foible about something we might typically look at as scary, it becomes less scary. Zombies are typically pretty disturbing creatures, but if we exaggerate the zombie's slow movements to the extent that one can just walk circles around a zombie, the zombie looses its ability to scare us. As a matter of fact, we would probably laugh. Because it is unable to scare us, we no longer need to suppress thought about zombies. This creates the relief Freud spoke of in his theory.
Thirdly, we can use incongruity theory to explain exaggeration as well. Since its October, let's stick with the zombie example. Part of what makes up our idea of a zombie is that zombies are presented to us in movies and video games as very disturbing and dangerous. Nevertheless, if we exaggerate the slow walk of the zombie, we are not likely to look at it as being particularly dangerous or formidable. This is the incongruity. We have an object(zombie) which is connected to something we typically do not associate with zombies(harmlessness.) This is done by means of an unexpected pattern (exaggerating the slow walk the zombie has.)
Lastly, exaggeration can fit pretty well into the benign violation theory. Sticking with our zombie example, there is a social norm that we have regarding horror movie creatures such as vampires, zombies, ghosts etc. That is, the norm in the horror genera is to present all of these creatures in such a way that it promotes fear in the audience. However, these creatures can only fulfill this role by means of presenting these creature as being formidable or threatening. By exaggerating the slowness of the zombie, we make it harmless. So our socially expected attitude regarding the horror creature is violated. So, because the creature is being represented as harmless in this case, the social norm regarding our attitudes to the zombie is violated.
So, we can see that exaggeration is a feature of comedy that can apply to all the major theories. I feel that Lauren's pointing out that exaggeration is a key feature of comedy was quite useful.
That is true that exaggeration, which we think of as a way of making something more extreme, can paradoxically minimize the violation that something poses. If someone's anger seems particularly over the top, it loses its edge. Less is more, but more is sometimes less.
ReplyDeleteI like the spin you took on Lauren's lead blog post. Exaggeration is an interesting topic to think about in terms of comedy, for sure. I also like how you looked at it from the perspective of each of the major comedy theories. Great post!
ReplyDeleteI like the way you took exaggeration and tried to fit into the different comedy theories. I also think it could fit into the benign-violation theory. It is a little more complicated, but if you think about it, exaggeration makes things less realistic and more hyperbolic. For this reason, if you exaggerate a flaw rather than outright attacking someone's flaws, it seems less harmful since it was an exaggeration, kind of like how some sarcasm can do this.
ReplyDeleteYou have a good point about exaggerating the zombie's stupidity, but at what point does that become the norm? If lot's of movies about zombies have at least one scene where zombies end up running around each other in circles, will people still find that situation to be funny?
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