I found this third essay to be extremely hard at times. I'm usually good with argument essays but providing feedback for this project was difficult for me. I had trouble picking what to write about because I'm neutral when deciding what side I’m on when to ethnic humor. I couldn't find enough points for one side of the argument. I started with the same routine. Sketch and then find ideas for the updraft. After thinking and research I could find ideas but I couldn’t put them in order. I had trouble with descriptions too. I would read the articles we saw in class related to Key and Peele. I also ready writing of John Montreal. Toby Amies’ article was also great help. I had all these ideas to put in my paper but I had no idea how to accept them and in what order.
The day I gave Villanueva my updraft for her to review was the day I could finally organize my paper. She pointed out many ways I could fix my problem with assembling my ideas and connecting them all together. I had to look into the book The Curious Writer to find ways to organize. I also relied on the book to help my thesis go with my paper. I guess what I learned the most was accepting people’s views and directions on how to fix my assignments. Even bad feedback is good feedback. I also wrote about the movie “Blazing Saddles” which did add to my argument. I learned how to cite properly by the end of the project.
Andres
Argaez
English 101
Hollie
Villanueva
Dental draft
The Harm in Ethnic
Humor
Humor is a
language known worldwide. The beauty of humor is the connection it brings
between people. Unfortunately, it also brings conflict. Not everyone seems to
agree with one another when it comes to humor, especially when a persons’ life
is being targeted. My view on ethnic humor is simply, “don’t take it
personally”. Although many seem to let ethnic humor pass, not all people feel
the same. There are those who are more delicate and take offense to certain
jokes. The main point I want to argue in this paper is that although ethnicity
can take part in a good joke, much worse can come out of ethnic humor and it
shouldn’t be taken lightly.
One reason
why ethnic humor can be bad is that it can simply offend a person because of
their ethnic background. How many times have you heard that social networks are
so much drama? Ethnic difference is the reason why the internet spreads hatred.
How many YouTube videos have you seen involve violence because of ethnicity?
Ethnicity is a very delicate subject and shouldn’t be taken lightly. Instead of
ethnic humor people should rely on making jokes on other less delicate
subjects. For example, in Toby Amies’ article “The Art of the Perfect Prank” he
mentions a prankster by the name of Karl Power. Karl would pull pranks in England.
He liked to base his jokes on sports. In 2001, he decided to pull a prank at a
soccer match between Manchester united and Bayern Munich. While Manchester
United was getting ready to take a team picture, Karl quickly dressed up in the
same uniform as Manchester United and sneaked on the pitch to join them. His
prank was a success and he was loved by the fans of football. Instead of making
ethnic jokes, Karl chose a less delicate subject and was successful. Maybe
people should tone down or avoid ethnic humor. No harm came from Powers’ prank.
Maybe ethnic
humor isn’t the best way of expressing how funny you are but there are
exceptions. In Key and Peele’s’ article “Make fun of Everything” they suggest,
“To not make fun of something is, we believe, itself a form of bullying”. Their
theory is that by making fun of every ethnicity and race, they remove their
“target” and nobody feels like they are being attacked personally. An example
of this theory can be found in the movie (Blazing Saddles) where three
different groups of ethnicity sing at a railroad track. This scene is filled
with satire and racial stereotypes. Even though it’s filled with harsh humor on
race and ethnicity, it seems to not offend as much because blacks, Caucasians
and Native Americans are all being targeted. Now if only one group was being
targeted then it would seem more offensive. The point to Key and Peeles’ theory
is to make fun of all races not just specific ones to avoid targeting specific
ethnicities making it hard to take.
With the
exception of targeting every race, I believe that ethnic humor does more harm
than good. As I’ve said before, humor is an international language that we
humans all comprehend. It is beautiful and we must not taint it with ethnic
hatred and racism continuing in the world. John Montreal wrote a piece that
says’ “Perhaps the most extreme manifestations of the contagious laughter is
the ‘laughter epidemic’ in which large numbers of people are made to laugh
convulsively not by any organic cause but just by the laughter of others”.
Laughter should unite people not seclude one another. I also believe that we
should our best not to offend each other when it comes to ethnic humor. Either
target everyone, not just a specific race or avoid ethnic humor.
Work Cited
Morreall, John.
"The Social Value Of Humor." The Social Value of Humor (1983):
51-55. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
Key, Keegan Michael, and
Jordan Peele. "Make Fun Of Everyhing." Time 13 Mar. 2014: n.
pag. Print.
Blazing Saddles. Dir.
Mel Brooks. Perf. Cleavon Little, Gene Wilder, and Slim Pickens. 1974. DVD.
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