Dark Humor: Defense Mechanism or Psychological Issue [graphic]

reply to post by seabag

Imagination was given to man to compensate him for what he isn't. A sense of humor was provided to console him for what he is. Horace Walpole

www.brainyquote.com...

Everyone needs a sense of humor, have a twisted one at times.

Hmmm.

I think sometimes it's for shock value, and laughing at the people that get horrified. Perhaps some test of weakness back in the day, an attempt to shame people into being tougher, or celebrating that you aren't easily affected/are tough. There are a ton of different humor mechanisms that can be exploited even after a tragedy, puns etc...

Sometimes I think it's a coping mechanism. When you look at cops/firefighters/medics/doctors/etc. you'll see this kind of humor often, and I think it's the minds attempt to deal with the horrors. When you know you may be met with another atrocity the next day, you don't want to dwell on what you witnessed a few hours ago. You make a joke, and I believe that helps people to mute the pain they feel. A sort of mental transference.

Sometimes I think it's a way to look at the pain of living, and give it a brighter side.

Forgive, O Lord, my little jokes on Thee
And I'll forgive Thy great big one on me.
-- Robert Frost

reply to post by seabag

Originally posted by seabag
Does this desire to make people happy drive people to make jokes about tragedy?

Or, it can be the other way around. They are happy and therefore they don't take the tragedy to seriously and they stay playful with life.

An example would be a person tripping and falling on the floor. For a serious person, that may cause embarrassment; for one who is already happy they may laugh it off.

Originally posted by seabag
Was the guy (or girl) who made the press release I highlighted in the OP trying to cope with his/her own tough situation at the expense of others?

At the "expense" of others? Possibly. Sometimes people do things without thinking all the way through and it offends others. It could be that he was coping, laughed, and wanted to share the "joke" and didn't think it all the way through, or it could be that maybe he thought the mood was too depressing and heavy and wanted to put those Asian name jokes in there. I guess we can't know for sure.


EDIT:

and I'm not saying I don't have compassion for the people offended by this, I do.

It makes sense that if a person is so scared or suffering over something that happened, and they see another person still able to maintain their smiles, humor, and happiness - that it would be annoying or offensive to the person since they would feel like they are suffering alone and everyone should be suffering with them in order for the empathy to be felt.

From my way of thinking, this is my way, people can do it their own:

I will not join a person in their crying. If it is real sad, I do become sad myself, but I will not break. I'll listen to them, give advice, and help them back up to their happiness and accept that it takes time until their sadness will lessen.

If someone feels "weak" , that something is always happening to them, I'll remind them of the good things and let them know that "this too will pass".

I want to empower people, I want them to be happier even if by a little bit, not keep focusing on the sadness.

The reason why sadness lessens over time is because they begin to focus on other things as life go on. Bringing a little happiness back them instead of talking about it over and over or even trying to lessen the mood with small jokes to bring smiles will help them.

Unfortunately, in today's day and age, dark humor usually goes right to "tasteless"... I appreciate good dark humor... movies such as "Heathers" and "Grosse Point Blank" are most definitely dark. The NTSB name fiasco? That was just very bad form...

I grew up watching shows like M*A*S*H where laughter seemed to tame down the horrors of warfare... and that has always stayed with me... as bad as things may be, if you can still manage a laugh you will probably be just fine. Just a little bit of levity can go a long way...

I have been in some pretty messed up situations, but I have always kept my heart light

Its what warriors do to amuse themselves and it is emulated as a desirable trait.
Some are just dark inside.

I despise dark humor, and I would love to beat the crap out of people who revel it...until they run out of sick jokes.

The idea that it's a defense mechanism helps me to curb that desire, out of pity for the people who need to use it.

reply to post by BlueMule

Beating people up is illegal, I checked,unless you are intelligent enough to press the right buttons and get THEM to swing first then you can do as you please...dark humor.

reply to post by cavtrooper7


press the right buttons,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,which of course was Mr. Zmans,,,meek,,,"no",,,,,seen through different eyes,, u might say.

reply to post by BobAthome

A wannabe who went too far with it.

Originally posted by cavtrooper7
reply to post by BlueMule

 

Beating people up is illegal, I checked,unless you are intelligent enough to press the right buttons and get THEM to swing first then you can do as you please...dark humor.

I didn't say I was going to beat them up, I said I would love to. There's a difference, I checked.

Sometimes dark humor gives us a vision into our darker inner selves.
After the first shuttle disaster,I was hearing jokes within days.
After the second disaster,and the popularity of the internet, I saw jokes on line almost before all the parts landed.
I'm sure there were jokes about almost every disaster in history.
I remember watching Bugs Bunny cartoons where he pokes fun at Hitler.

Overheard on the Titanic: Captain on the intercom "I've got some good news and bad news, The good news is we are making record time crossing the North Atlantic.
The bad news is we gotta stop for ice".

It is what it is
The recent muder by the athlete coined the bladerunner because of his prostechtic limbs desgined for running is a prime example.

Why the bust up why the use of deadly force

Apperntly is started OVER AN AGUMENT ABOUT THE BUYING OF A NEW BATHROOM DOOR

He was all for the purchase

But She was dead against it.

Originally posted by cavtrooper7
Its what warriors do to amuse themselves and it is emulated as a desirable trait.
Some are just dark inside.

I know this to be true. I've laughed at some terrible times....to cope and keep morale up (sometimes my own). This type of thing has led to some bad mischaracterizations about the military though. It may appear heartless and distasteful from the outside but that's typically not the intention.

reply to post by seabag


I feel similarly to you. I hate that it's funny, and I think whoever did this has a serious screw loose, but by itself, the names are funny;

Somethings wrong
Were too low
Holy F-uck
Bang, Ding Ow

It takes someone with maturity and life experience to resist those urges to make tactless puns on Asian names after a tragic plane crash. I can understand why and how it is funny. What I can't understand, or what disturbs me, is how someone could rate the need to be humorous as higher than the need to be considerate of what actually happened: two people died. Two families are mourning the death of two young girls who died way too early in life.

It's either the person who did this simply didn't care to make this consideration, or they are so emotionally withdrawn from the sufferings of others that the only thing they can truly appreciate is the humor of changing their names to reflect the nature of the accident.

I really do hope that whoever did this lost their job.

reply to post by Astrocyte

I can understand why and how it is funny. What I can't understand, or what disturbs me, is how someone could rate the need to be humorous as higher than the need to be considerate of what actually happened: two people died.

It was funny as hell but you’re right. It was a conscious decision to put humor over consideration for the suffering of those affected. Though this could have been an inside joke that wasn’t meant to be released. I’ve seen something like that happen before.

I really do hope that whoever did this lost their job.

Yes, the intern who did it got fired according to the report.

And as for why dark humor is funny?

Dark humor is like TNT. It's dangerous most of the time, but if carefully handled at the right time and place, it can be detonated without causing any harm.

Right after a disaster is most certainly not the right time and place. It is unconscionably tawdry and goes to show how little maturity the person who did it had. But, lets say some time passes - and South Park notices this phenomena with their "Aids" episode - the emotional impact has somewhat faded, and what remains is the shell of the memory, loosed from the strong emotions associated with it.

Personally, there's some things I really do resist making jokes about: the holocaust, hiroshima, genocides. But that doesn't mean I haven't laughed if I heard someone make a joke about this. Family Guy did this in one of their random skits; the scene opened with "Hiroshima, 1945" - setting up our expectations. The Japanese man hears what sounds like a falling projectile, and he says "Oh...a-my....G--od" and a monkey falls on him". As tawdry and vulgar as that joke was, it was extremely funny. Why is that?

Basically, humor reflects the paradoxes of life, I've noticed. When two things are utter opposites from each other, when they are so out of place together, we laugh. Humor is the coming together of opposites. So when a tragic event - something with a strongly negative aura - is made to be funny in some way, combining it with some ridiculous image, likely incongruous and very different, the effect is humorous. Some comedians, like Seth Mcfarlene, seem to revel in honing this technique like it were an art. The more heinous, the more inappropriate the humor, the better the effect (it's assumed).

Although humor is essentially the coming together of opposites, I can't let myself abuse that fact for the sheer "thrill" of enjoying a good laugh. There is more to life than being funny. Sometimes, restraining an urge to deprecate and deride can be more satisfying then indulging in ribald humor.

I'm sure, someone would reply: that because you think you're so "holier than.". No, it's about considering the people involved, and being sensitive to their plight, to the tragedy. Of course, I enjoy the feeling. But besides the subjective feeling of doing what was right, is the objective fact that I didn't diminish the objective pain that the event had caused. And I think that is a worthwhile consideration to make.

me i love dark jokes and the idiots reading out the news story were idiots a 7 year old can get those names .

nothing like phoning up your local bar and asking them to shout out if there is a willie puller in the bar or mike hunt works every time