Humanity needs Humor

Humor covers countless aspects, whether socially, culturally, economically or politically, thus accompanying the human being since its existence. It has no restrictions, it is transversal and crosses continents and oceans, provoking a wide range of expressions in those who feel it and in those who practice it. It is because it belongs to everyone and it does not belong to anyone that its limits or what “should” or “should not” be said are constantly a point of debate in the world we live.

There is a dichotomy between two of the expressions that we have all heard and that are present every time I think about this theme, they are: “With serious things, you don’t joke” and “Laughter is the best medicine.”

I quickly managed to demystify these two small phrases, highlight the correlation between them, and refute them. In my opinion, for great ills, great remedies. As simple as that. And without a doubt, it is the serious things in life that need the greatest and strongest medicine.

The truth is that there is no definition of the term “Serious things,” everything is linked to the values, beliefs, and principles of each one, which makes one fall into the abstract when using this argument.

The way we receive a matter as serious or not is like MVG Semester Ticket. It is personal and non-transferable.

Each one has its theme “serious,” and unfortunately, there is still no ATDWSTA (Association That Defines What Serious Things Are), to define the seriousness of a subject.

It remains for us to realize that defining what serious matters are, is like a Portuguese not having a cold in Munich in the winter semester, it is impossible.

Wanting to delineate the boundaries of what can or cannot be said about humor, based on what may or may not be offensive, is like wanting to line the world with pillows so that no one is injured. You have to have the intellectual capacity to be able to discern when you see or hear something you don’t like, turn the page and realize that life is like that and, no matter how much you want it, there will always be things that irritate us in the crazy world where we live.

The truth is that everything mentioned in the previous paragraph is not so linear. The compulsion for anger, in many cases, propagates a common hatred for someone or for a particular event, and this is where things get dire.

There are several events of high social impact, in which someone or some group revolts against a humorous or satirical content. Attacks that make me think about what planet we live on, where some die for making us laugh. Referring to the case, at the beginning of 2015, when the headquarters of the French satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo was the target of a terrorist attack, killing twelve people and seriously injuring five others. All because of a satirical cartoon to Máome.

The most recent event of this nature was the vile attack, through the launch of Molotov cocktail, to the headquarters of the production company responsible for the Porta dos Fundos channel in Brazil. This happened after the producer made available on the Netflix streaming platform its new Christmas special, which represented Jesus as homosexual.

The controversy in Brazil was huge around this, even having a petition with a million signatures circulating to force Netflix to withdraw the content.

In response to all the offended, Netflix signed with the producer the elaboration of the 2020 Christmas special.

This decision makes my point that the only person who can put limits on humor is the comedian himself and also that the offense is like the boxes of newspapers in the metro stations, they are there for everyone, but only take one who wants.