 |
| Image Via |
Showing posts with label gallows humor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label gallows humor. Show all posts
Monday, January 14, 2013
Wednesday, August 29, 2012
Friday, June 1, 2012
We've All Been Told To Shut Up
June 1st, 2012
If you have an internet connection, it's a safe bet that you've read someone or another conflating certain recent acts of horror with the zombie apocalypse. I did. Nearly everyone I know personally has. Well, over at Jezebel, Lindy West is appalled with all of us and thinks we should be ashamed of ourselves. She writes:
But that's not her real point. She's offended at how millions of us have chosen to deal with our own fear in the face of the incomprehensible. She hedges her tirade with a "but" about how she doesn't think we should never "respond to unthinkable tragedy with macabre humor."
She just thinks we should do it when she thinks its okay to do it. Or something. With all due respect, the reason so many of us responded in the manner we did was to preserve our own mental health. This isn't some radical observation. This isn't some excuse I am making. It's established psychology. Alex Lickerman M.D. explains it better than I ever could:
What's more, I suffer from major depression. I have been through the process of seeking help for myself for years while I found most doors closed and others simply too expensive to walk through. Perhaps Ms. West would be kind enough to follow up her diatribe with a few pieces that would actually help us do something about that?
In the interim, if I need to laugh to survive being trapped in this particular culture, I am going to go right ahead and keep on laughing. As she pointed out herself without realizing it... there really aren't many alternatives.
If you have an internet connection, it's a safe bet that you've read someone or another conflating certain recent acts of horror with the zombie apocalypse. I did. Nearly everyone I know personally has. Well, over at Jezebel, Lindy West is appalled with all of us and thinks we should be ashamed of ourselves. She writes:
"Stop. Make a new thing. But more specifically, please stop aggregating gruesome crimes committed by mentally ill and/or drug addicted people so you can make some big har-har zombie punchline on your Facebook wall. Zombies are not real. Human beings are." EMPHASIS HERSOkay. Fine. To be fair, it never occurred to me that zombies were "real." I also agree wholeheartedly with her arguments that massive improvements need to be made to both access and funding for mental health services in our country.
But that's not her real point. She's offended at how millions of us have chosen to deal with our own fear in the face of the incomprehensible. She hedges her tirade with a "but" about how she doesn't think we should never "respond to unthinkable tragedy with macabre humor."
She just thinks we should do it when she thinks its okay to do it. Or something. With all due respect, the reason so many of us responded in the manner we did was to preserve our own mental health. This isn't some radical observation. This isn't some excuse I am making. It's established psychology. Alex Lickerman M.D. explains it better than I ever could:
"We're signaling ourselves that whatever horrible thing we've just encountered isn't really as horrible as it appears, something we often desperately want to believe.
This may explain why some psychologists classify humor as one of the "mature" defense mechanisms we invoke to guard ourselves against overwhelming anxiety (as compared to the "psychotic," "immature," and "neurotic" defense mechanisms). Being able to laugh at traumatic events in our own lives doesn't cause us to ignore them, but instead seems to prepare us to endure them."I, for one, am not going to apologize for dealing with the media exploitation of this terrifying set of events with humor. It's also worth noting that, aside from quoting a writer in her hometown paper who blames "right wing propagandists" for the lack of resources available to the mentally ill, she doesn't address the systemic failures much and offers not one solution whatsoever.
What's more, I suffer from major depression. I have been through the process of seeking help for myself for years while I found most doors closed and others simply too expensive to walk through. Perhaps Ms. West would be kind enough to follow up her diatribe with a few pieces that would actually help us do something about that?
In the interim, if I need to laugh to survive being trapped in this particular culture, I am going to go right ahead and keep on laughing. As she pointed out herself without realizing it... there really aren't many alternatives.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
What War On Women? Humor Edition.
May 23rd, 2012
Poor women. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could help the little dears by taking away all that worry that accompanies their having to carry a uterus with such feeble little minds? Now, there is!
Poor women. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could help the little dears by taking away all that worry that accompanies their having to carry a uterus with such feeble little minds? Now, there is!
Quote Of The Day
May 23rd, 2012
"The fear of not being able to buy guns has led to buying so many guns that now we can’t buy any guns... just like we feared."
-- Stephen Colbert cracking wise about the results of ongoing Obama Derangement Syndrome
-- Stephen Colbert cracking wise about the results of ongoing Obama Derangement Syndrome
Friday, May 18, 2012
Sunday, February 26, 2012
Borowitz Wipes Up Santorum
Feb 26th, 2012
Andy Borowitz latest is, predictably, a hoot:
"THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (The Borowitz Report) – In an effort to underscore his core beliefs leading up to this Tuesday night’s primary contests, former Sen. Rick Santorum made a campaign swing through the Seventeenth Century today.
At the first stop of his ambitious journey, Mr. Santorum restated his reason for seeking the White House: “I am running for President today because the position of Spanish Inquisitor is no longer available.”
The former Pennsylvania Senator served up red meat to his seventeenth-century supporters, telling them, “Since we all agree that contraception is a bad idea, it’s time to take a harder look at electricity and soap.”
Mr. Santorum, who said that in his first day in office he would repeal the Age of Enlightenment, stressed that he had home-schooled all seven of his children: “That means there are at least eight people in this country who don’t understand evolution.”
In a lighter moment, Sen. Santorum told his audience what he said was his favorite joke: “A Kenyan, a Muslim and a socialist walk into a bar. And then he makes everyone get an abortion.”
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich scored points with this comment on education: “We should leave no child behind, only wives."
Andy Borowitz latest is, predictably, a hoot:
"THE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY (The Borowitz Report) – In an effort to underscore his core beliefs leading up to this Tuesday night’s primary contests, former Sen. Rick Santorum made a campaign swing through the Seventeenth Century today.
At the first stop of his ambitious journey, Mr. Santorum restated his reason for seeking the White House: “I am running for President today because the position of Spanish Inquisitor is no longer available.”
The former Pennsylvania Senator served up red meat to his seventeenth-century supporters, telling them, “Since we all agree that contraception is a bad idea, it’s time to take a harder look at electricity and soap.”
Mr. Santorum, who said that in his first day in office he would repeal the Age of Enlightenment, stressed that he had home-schooled all seven of his children: “That means there are at least eight people in this country who don’t understand evolution.”
In a lighter moment, Sen. Santorum told his audience what he said was his favorite joke: “A Kenyan, a Muslim and a socialist walk into a bar. And then he makes everyone get an abortion.”
Elsewhere on the campaign trail, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich scored points with this comment on education: “We should leave no child behind, only wives."
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Charles Addams... Thank You
Jan 7th, 2012
I really don't have the words.
As a small, relatively odd and decidedly introverted little boy, my Granddad gave me a hardbound "Chas" Addams collection.
 |
| He taught us to revel in the odd things |
As a small, relatively odd and decidedly introverted little boy, my Granddad gave me a hardbound "Chas" Addams collection.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Monday, November 14, 2011
Smoke, Smoke, Smoke...
Nov 14th, 2011
Cletis suggested we post this with a dedication to Judge Richard J. Leon, apparent darling of tobacco's corporate death merchants.
Cletis suggested we post this with a dedication to Judge Richard J. Leon, apparent darling of tobacco's corporate death merchants.
Wednesday, November 9, 2011
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Monday, September 5, 2011
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Monday, August 29, 2011
Dominionist Watch - Bachmann's Humor Edition
Aug 29th, 2011
I swear, this year's motto really ought to be the phrase, "No, I am not making this up."
Speaking to a crowd of GOP loyalists and conservative activists in Florida this weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said this:
"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."
Her campaign spokesperson, Alice Stewart reportedly told TPM "Obviously she was saying it in jest."
Oh. Funny. Ha ha. It was a joke when you said that God caused widespread devastation and 30 deaths reported so far because He wants America to tax the rich even less and cut services to the poor even more. Got it.
It actually was a joke. A very ugly, nasty and not at all funny spectacle of a joke. A joke built on horror and pain and death. And her audience laughed... and laughed... and laughed. That's the GOP base. It's not just candidate Bachmann's judgment that is suspect.
I swear, this year's motto really ought to be the phrase, "No, I am not making this up."
Speaking to a crowd of GOP loyalists and conservative activists in Florida this weekend, Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-MN) said this:
"I don't know how much God has to do to get the attention of the politicians. We've had an earthquake; we've had a hurricane. He said, 'Are you going to start listening to me here?' Listen to the American people because the American people are roaring right now. They know government is on a morbid obesity diet and we've got to rein in the spending."
Her campaign spokesperson, Alice Stewart reportedly told TPM "Obviously she was saying it in jest."
Oh. Funny. Ha ha. It was a joke when you said that God caused widespread devastation and 30 deaths reported so far because He wants America to tax the rich even less and cut services to the poor even more. Got it.
It actually was a joke. A very ugly, nasty and not at all funny spectacle of a joke. A joke built on horror and pain and death. And her audience laughed... and laughed... and laughed. That's the GOP base. It's not just candidate Bachmann's judgment that is suspect.
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
