Is humour a serious enough topic for discussion in this commentary? Those who last Monday watched The Name of the Rose on Italian TV (it was the second time I watched it) know that the Venerable Jorge’s answer to this question would be a very angry and definitive No for he believed that laughter and humour are tools in the hands of the Evil One.
I used to love watching Dave Allen. His jibes at priests and religious were hilarious- Fr Joe Borg
His belief was so strong that he murdered anyone who came upon a copy of the only extant copy of Aristotle’s Poetics, which Jorge hid well in a secret enclave of the monastery’s library.
Jorge would be close to desperation had he lived to see that that humour is the subject of study of several academic disciplines.
Moniek Buijzen and Patti M. Valkenburg developed a typology of humour in the audiovisual media.
Their study, published in the journal Media Psychology, identified 41 humour techniques and seven categories of humour: slapstick, clownish humour, surprise, misunderstanding, irony, satire and parody. Their research found that there are marked differences in the humour techniques and categories in commercials targeted for different age and gender groups.
This research, which showed that the battle between the sexes extends also to the field of humour, is corroborated by others that indicate that the males are winning.
A doctoral dissertation presented by Hugo Carretero Dios, a researcher at the University of Granada, concluded that both men and women over 45-50 laughed more at jokes degrading women than those degrading men. At the same time, both men and women manifested more rejection to jokes degrading men.
Women of the world beware and unite.
Perhaps appealing to the females of ‘the world’ would be pointless, since jokes are not appreciated in the same way in all parts of the world. In fact, we now have – (as if we needed it) – confirmation based on doctoral research that there are no universally good or bad jokes.
I discovered how very true this is during one of my lectures. It was the last session before the exams. Students always start asking question about the exam paper. I told them they could buy if from the Faculty office and even mentioned its price. They inquired whether I was referring to the previous year’s paper.
I quipped that it does not make sense to spend money on that paper. I was offering this year’s. The Maltese students took the joke in their stride. However, some foreign students went to the office to buy the paper!
If my jocular style earns me the condemnation of the Venerable Jorge for breaking the mother (or is it, the father?) of all commandments – Though shalt not have a sense of humour – I find solace in an eminent member of the august College of Cardinals.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York takes humour and jokes so seriously that together with the famous television comedian Stephen Colbert he agreed to address a forum on faith and humour that will be held at Fordham University in September.
It is a pity that we will not get to know a lot about the contents of the discussion as the humourless organisers decided to ban media coverage. In a culture where only what’s on the tube of the net is deemed to have existed, the forum risks being relegated to a non-event.
Commenting on the forum, Fr James Martin, the popular Jesuit columnist and author of Between Heaven and Mirth who will chair the forum, says that the Catholic Church needs the gift of humour. Truth be said, all society needs the gift of humour.
A sense of humour is not just a laughing matter. They say it is good for relationships, betters your health, pacifies troublesome circumstances, gets you places when other means fail, and is very good exercise for certain facial muscles. One can get all this for free. This is not a bad deal, particularly in this age of recession and economic downturns.
I have been brought up believing there is no subject so sacred or a situation so serious that a touch of humour will not cheer it up. I used to love watching Dave Allen. His jibes at priests and religious were hilarious. The best clerical (or is it anticlerical) jokes I know, I got to know from a bishop and several priests!
If money makes the world go round, as Liza Minelli sings so well, during Cabaret, humour makes it go round in a more pleasant way. Even a little bit of humour suffices.
• The Neanderthals were big news last week.
Five exemplars suitably attired in shorts and tattoos were seen entering our courts on Monday. They left their females back home undoubtedly doing the things Neanderthal women are expected to do. Instead of arming themselves with massive cudgels, they went hip and just carried plastic soft-drink bottles.
Since this was their occasional trip to town courtesy of police drivers, they wanted to be on their best behaviour. One of them went so far as to stick his tongue out so that any doctor who happened to pass by could give them a clean bill of health.
This visit to the city built by gentlemen for gentlemen was part of a package tour. It started 24 hours earlier, where they were allowed to stretch their arms and exercise their poetic use of language at a village where prehistoric remains are still standing.
And they got all of this for a paltry sum of €60.
It is very true that the Neanderthals have never had it so good!
• I am not a festa man. I do not even remember the last time I went to a festa. But whenever August 18 comes along I always feel a little tingle of excitement. It is not strong enough to make me carry myself along the beautifully decorated streets of Birkirkara or to accompany the band marches (mind you, the tal-Bagri one not ta’ l-Għama) or participate in the procession of Santa Liena.
However, the tingle is strong enough to show that the village boy in me is alive and kicking still. Il-festa t-tajba to all Karkariżi.