Laughter's Lost Art: Why Political Correctness Shouldn’t Kill the Fun

You can turn on the television almost any night and see the commercial for an insurance company where the punch line is “we can’t stop you from becoming your parents.” The idea being we Boomers have habits that define us that others will find amusing. That a Boomer might take offense is not part of the equation. I say, thank goodness. Laughter is good for the soul. A sense of humor begins with the ability to laugh at yourself.

In recent years, however, we have made it into an art form to be self-righteously indignant about any manner of things done in jest. Political correctness is not a figment of your imagination.

Just think of the evolution of Saturday Night Live (SNL) which began in 1975. They had no problem doing routines that came at the expense of Presidents of both parties. Chevy Chase kicked off his career falling down stairs imitating Gerald Ford. Dana Carvey’s impressions of the first President Bush (“not good”) were laugh out loud funny. The same for Darrell Hammond being Bill Clinton.

For a long time, you could safely present the humorous side of stereotypes. Nothing that could reasonably be construed as saying an entire group was inferior. Just different in particular and unique ways that brought a smile to your face. The late Puerto Rican comic, Freddie Prinze, did a routine of an African American male talking to his girlfriend on his right in a very low voice, while talking to his buddies on the left in a much higher pitched voice. It. Was. Funny.

These days, however, we have replaced capturing the humor for all groups and political views with a rigid definition of who can be “made fun of” of who we can laugh at/with. It is not an overstatement to say the gatekeepers of fun have decreed anything that might undermine the world view that Donald Trump is an evil, terrible person is to be avoided. Any sympathetic treatment of his supporters is not part of the game.

On the other hand, these supposed artists decided that to portray Joe Biden as not quite having all his marbles while occupying the White House was unacceptable. I was fine with routines where President Ford signed his own hand. It would have been nice to see a skit highlighting that without the help of President Obama, President Biden might still be on that stage in California.

How about “cat ladies?” Every day, data pours in confirming college educated white women, especially unmarried women, are the unhappiest group of Americans. Maybe some self-reflection that included humor would be good for them and the rest of us.

Go right ahead and show MAGA types in what might be considered an unflattering way, but that also involves more than a kernel of truth to it, and also eliminates the looking down their noses at MAGA world. There are some parts of what we do that are funny.

While doing this, could we please do a skit of a Democratic fundraiser, with a lot of quiche, brie, and white wine? Let those in the skit speak to each other in that stilted, contorted, fear for your life if you were to say something wrong, manner that is pretty much dead on the mark.

The argument here is not to add white, male Republicans to the list of aggrieved parties that will take offense at the drop of the hat. Quite the opposite. There are attributes among all segments of the public that are funny, without constituting putting down that group as somehow being inferior. Let’s start laughing together again.

Common Sense: It’s okay to enjoy what is funny. Let’s take out worrying about confirming one political narrative or another.