Over the years I have tried to remain aware of cultural trends. My first and only failure on a assignment in high school was a paper that was to highlight current affairs as reported in newspapers. We didn’t get newspapers at the time so I just didn’t do the assignment. Shame on me. For the last 50 or so years I think I’ve made up for that!!!
As COVID wound down in 2022 a number of TV series (or Netflix series, or Disney+ series, or . . . ) have been recorded. While I generally do not enjoy the salaciousness of many edgy videos, some of the series sound interesting or have actually been insightful. The ones I enjoy are based on humour that points out inconsistencies.
I was remarking yesterday that often the ability to laugh in our day and age means we are at least aware of the culture around us. We may be restricted to an echo chamber of our own social group – but can we see the inconsistencies (and hypocrisy)? Or we may study more widely and understand a “world” culture and see the strangeness of the system.
For me, gut-wrenching laughter comes when a contradiction is pointed out in such a way that you know the speaker has put some thought into the monologue. At the same time there is a sense that this contradiction needs to be remedied. Good comedy pushes for change.
My morning thoughts in not such an ordered way . . . almost comical!