This is my response to McKenna's lead blog.
In her blog, McKenna talks about SNL's Debbie Downer. I think that the video is very funny and we can apply the comedy theories quite well to it. Perhaps the theory which applies most clearly to the video is incongruity theory. First of all, by the fact that Debbie Downer is talking about all the terrible things that could happen at Disney World, there is an incongruity between the typically carefree and joyous experience of Disney World and the terrible things that Debbie Downer is talking about. Of course, Benign Violation theory applies to the video as well. When people go to Disney World, we typically don't talk about all the terrible thing that could(at least theoretically) happen; this is because there is a social norm which dictates that we not discuss topics at an amusement park that are considered too heavy or too dark. It would ruin the light and fun mood that we typically associate with Disney. Debbie breaks this norm, and as a result of this, she commits a benign violation. Now, in my opinion, the way that SNL is able to cause a benign violation and an incongruity is due to exaggeration. The exaggeration is caused by the fact that everything Debbie is worried about is very far-fetched and unrealistic. That is, we do not really need to worry that all the things that Debbie is worried about will actually come true. We should note that the unrealistic aspect to Debbie's worrying is what makes the incongruity an incongruity and the benign violation benign. That is, the incongruity is exactly the vast disparity between Debbie's made-up nightmare scenarios, and the reality that Disney is a very benign and harmless place. If Disney were the type of place in which these things actually occur, there would not be an incongruity at all between Debbie's nightmare scenarios, and Disney World. Also, if Disney World were the type of place in which horrific things occur with frequency, we would not be violating any norm because we would not be ruining any otherwise good time or anyone's high spirits. So, we can see that exaggeration is what provides the conditions for both the incongruity and the benign violation in this case.
In her blog, McKenna talks about SNL's Debbie Downer. I think that the video is very funny and we can apply the comedy theories quite well to it. Perhaps the theory which applies most clearly to the video is incongruity theory. First of all, by the fact that Debbie Downer is talking about all the terrible things that could happen at Disney World, there is an incongruity between the typically carefree and joyous experience of Disney World and the terrible things that Debbie Downer is talking about. Of course, Benign Violation theory applies to the video as well. When people go to Disney World, we typically don't talk about all the terrible thing that could(at least theoretically) happen; this is because there is a social norm which dictates that we not discuss topics at an amusement park that are considered too heavy or too dark. It would ruin the light and fun mood that we typically associate with Disney. Debbie breaks this norm, and as a result of this, she commits a benign violation. Now, in my opinion, the way that SNL is able to cause a benign violation and an incongruity is due to exaggeration. The exaggeration is caused by the fact that everything Debbie is worried about is very far-fetched and unrealistic. That is, we do not really need to worry that all the things that Debbie is worried about will actually come true. We should note that the unrealistic aspect to Debbie's worrying is what makes the incongruity an incongruity and the benign violation benign. That is, the incongruity is exactly the vast disparity between Debbie's made-up nightmare scenarios, and the reality that Disney is a very benign and harmless place. If Disney were the type of place in which these things actually occur, there would not be an incongruity at all between Debbie's nightmare scenarios, and Disney World. Also, if Disney World were the type of place in which horrific things occur with frequency, we would not be violating any norm because we would not be ruining any otherwise good time or anyone's high spirits. So, we can see that exaggeration is what provides the conditions for both the incongruity and the benign violation in this case.
This makes me think of the notion that incongruity contains congruity. Perhaps what makes this funny is that Disney probably has been the source of many family vacations that went horribly wrong, and that is part of the attraction.
ReplyDeleteI also think the incongruity theory is a good theory to comment on this clip and why it is funny. I think that, in addition to the argument you made for the incongruity theory, I think another valid argument is that incongruity theory shows that this clip is funny due to a violation of our normal mental patterns, not just a violation of expectation.
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