Alain De Botton

It justifies the difference in what we got and what we expected and analyzes our innate tendency to be amused by scenes that are clearly absurd or contradictory. Incongruity is the foundation for all the other theories and ends up overlapping with them when analyzing. I think for me certain jokes just fly over my head if I am not concentrating and really trying to get the meaning, which is known as the cognitive theory. Like it said in the reading after stating the Moses and Mount Sinai joke, “In order to get the point, you would have to know who Moses was, what the Ten Commandments were about, the meaning of adultery, and the fact that one of the Commandments forbids it (Rappoport 18).

Humorists are often seen as insignificant contributors of society. People consider humorists no more than just “entertainers”, willing to make fun of anything in order to make a crowd laugh, however, has the audience ever contemplated why humorists are the some of the only people who are allowed to critique anything that crosses their mind without consequences? Alain de Botton, claims the vital role of humorist is, “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” I agree with Alain de Botton’s claims, that humorists do hold an important role in society, which is far more than to entertain. They break the ice on delicate topics, communicating the messages to society. Political cartoons and the Colbert

The main social group portrayed in the cartoon “On Satire” by Joe Sacco, published in The Guardian, is the cartoonists. “On Satire” portrays other cartoonists as obnoxious, insensitive cavemen who often cross the line between satire and just outright offensive mockery of the religious beliefs of Muslims. The purpose of the cartoon is to ridicule the black and white way of representation/depiction of all Muslims as terrorists. Also he is aiming to get governments and news outlets to consider ways in which to stop terrorism by understanding where they are coming from instead of just eradicating all Muslims and hoping that terrorism dies with them.

Modern society allows humorists to touch upon offensive topics without receiving much criticism. As Alain de Botton claimed in his 2004 book, Status Anxiety, humorists’ role is not merely to entertain but “to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” De Botton’s argument proves legitimate. Many humorists, such as cartoonists and television hosts, decide to use their humor as a tool to prove an idea or express a belief that cannot be voiced candidly in public.

Many comedians have been talking a great deal about politics and the government as a way to spread a variety of messages to the community expressing how they feel about how things are going for America. Therefore many comedians have become more popular in this past election season and with Trump 's new presidency. Stephen Colbert an American comedian, television host, and author uses his spotlight in media as a way to attack President Trump and his administration within his comedy. Colbert uses Juvenalian satire and satirical techniques while discussing politics to reveal his opinions as a way to spread messages to society about the Trump Administration and uses his comedic platform to do so.

In Status Anxiety, author de Botton correctly claims that humorists are expected to not only entertain their audience, but to make statements about controversial events that may be too sensitive to say directly and causally present them in a way that is easy for the public to understand. This is demonstrated through various forms of media such as television shows and political cartoons.

It is very important to be aware that the media is capable of controlling the flow of information that citizens receive. Furthermore, much of the content suppressed in this country is for fear of retribution from others. When governments and other institutions suppress information, citizens are not able to address matters concerning their country, as well as around the globe. In ‘The Decline of American Press Freedom’ by Anne Applebaum, Applebaum explains a recent controversy with Yale University and the publishing of a contentious comic in a scholarly report on the global consequences of political comics. The comics in question were satirical in nature and displayed the Islamic prophet Muhammad in an offensive manner. In an aniconic religion where visual depiction of the prophet is inherently blasphemous, the Islamic response to these comics were violent. When an analysis of the comics and the cultural backlash was written, instead of publishing it, Yale University swept it under the rug for fear of offending Islamic extremists. Applebaum argues that if “Yale University Press refuses to publish [the comics], then that makes it much harder for anybody else to treat the cartoon controversy as a legitimate matter for scholarly and political debate” (Applebaum 640). By not allowing the publishing of this analysis, Yale University is censoring what the American populace have access to in terms of global controversy. The issue becomes trivialized because institutions fear retribution from extremist groups. Without these scholarly points of reference of this issue and others, it is difficult to have a serious conversations about the ramifications of political and religious satire. This leads to people remaining uneducated and ignorant of these serious issues, and liable to repeat these same actions that so sorely offended an extremist

America is a culture that enjoys having some time away from the reality of political issues within society. Comedic entertainment has found ways to also inform its audience about important political statements that is used to “refer to any act or nonverbal form of communication that is intended to influence a decision to be made for or by a political party”( Wikipedia), or ideas through a comedic point of view. Comical news is what brings our attention with ease because listening to straight political debates can lead a person to not want to sit and become informed on latest political topics. The culture that society has developed into became accustomed to finding it better to have a laugh about serious news because through humor an audience

The power of comedy is that it takes contemporary issues and stretches them to the extreme and then puts the exaggerated picture of who we are as a society back in our faces. Back a while ago, comedian great Mike Myers played Pitka in the movie flop "The Love Guru". During a number of scenes, Pitka would make comments, realize that they were catchy, and then quickly tack on and little "TM" to his statement. The idea was that he was trademarking everything clever that he said. Ridiculous? That's why it's comedy.

In Alain de Botton’s book, Status Anxiety, he claims that a humorist’s purpose is “not merely to entertain, but to convey with impunity messages that might be dangerous or impossible to state directly.” Humorists have more leeway when discussing controversial topics, thus they serve a vital function in society; however, humorists also have other intentions such as entertaining their audiences and earning revenue.

In the event of the cartoon, President Roosevelt sent American Naval so that the Europeans can calm and negotiate and back away. President Roosevelt goal was to protect the “relations between the Western Hemisphere and Europe, but it did serve as justification for U.S. intervention in Cuba, Nicaragua, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic” (Roosevelt Corollary to the Monroe Doctrine, 1904, n.d.). After the incident, United States was appreciated and looked up to

In Jenny Allen's essay "The Trouble With Nature" humor is utilized in order to entertain the reader and inform them, and let them know that in nature no matter what you try to dodge and ignore there is always going to be something else. This is because nature goes as it pleases and there really is no boudaries or rules that it has to go by.

Celebrities are everywhere in the news, the latest gossip appears in the weekly magazines without fail. Whether they be an actor, athlete, dancer, designer, model, singer or just rich; there is someone out there who is watching that person like a hawk, not letting a single breath go unnoticed. Such is the life of the rich and famous, under the incessant gaze of journalists and the paparazzi. Lives that many people take a great interest in and admire to the point where others would liken this great interest and admiration to a cult-like worship of celebrities. This is a brief description of what I think to be celebrity culture.

During the first five years of the July Monarchy, fines and the chance of incarceration plagued the press, however, according to Gabriel Weisberg in the article, The Coded Image: Agitation in Caricature, the government reached its breaking point in 1935. He stated that “they reacted by restricting the freedom on the press, which had been bitterly won in the Revolution of 1830, through the institution of censorship control invoked by the September Laws” . These laws regulated the press and banned all criticism of King Louis-Phillipe and constitutional monarchy. Although Charles Philipon and Honoré Daumier were not the sole components of the censorship, for hundreds of talented satirists flooded France with political commentary, Philipon and Daumier’s work was exponentially influential to kindling ideas of discontent that were potent to the monarchy. Despite the artist’s initial disregard of imposed fines and police confiscation, the implication of significant punishment, “artists were forced to be extremely careful about their themes” . As a result, satire began to move away from its traditional political nature and began lampooning issues regarding social classes. With the help of Philipon’s Soap Bubbles, The Replastering, and Les Poires and Daumier’s Gargantua, the reception and distribution of the political satire and caricature during the July Monarchy was blacklisted from popular culture. Fast-forward less than two centuries, although Louis-Phillipe and the July Monarchy attempted to distinguish political satire and caricatures for good, cartoonists throughout the world continue to rival against their government to comment on their leader’s appearance, failed promises, and

One recent case where the mass media poked fun at and satirized the government was the year 2000 election. In the time where ballots and votes became confused and the state of Florida became the punch-line to many a water cooler joke, shows such as the ones above took the story and ran with it. From the very beginning the satire of political figures played its role in the election. According to the Washington Post and the Pew Research Center, 47 percent of Americans under the age of 30 receive around 26% of their information about candidates, amongst other political matters, through late night comedy television. This trend has been labeled by many “Infotainment.” The viewers are receiving information about political issues and their government, but through a sarcastic or humorous filter that creates a different culture of informed citizens.