Why do people laugh at me and call me ugly?

Why is it that when comedians talk about social issues or express difficult ideas as jokes, people laugh and say 'oh, that's so true' but, when those same ideas are talked about in a serious way people call it 'pessimism', 'negativity', or worse...

• Answer:

  I don't know for sure, but perhaps it is because people react spontaneously and to peer pressure with humor, especially if they are in a paid venue for that purpose. Irony and "sacred cows" are easy marks for comics in a public trend best highlighted by Lenny Bruce in the 1960's. He would say naughty words and convey imagery that was not part of what "polite society" would normally experience. This novel approach gained him both fame and notoriety and continues to be used today. Unfortunately Mr. Bruces compulsive tendencies pushed him passed his own limits and he died as a result. Some attribute moral decay within our society to this trend. I would think it more a symptom than a cause. When people give pause and think about the stereotypes this type of humor often plays on, or its rudeness and are not in the safe confines of a crowd, I suspect they are not as prepared to back their impulsive laughs up as you suppose they should be. In my limited experience I have learned that my initial reactions are not always my best ones, though they may be indicative of subconscious thinking. By making my reactions more consciously integrated with my thinking, my deeds (laughing) should be able to match my words.... nice thought, not sure the ideal is obtainable. I hear though, that practice helps. As to why reactions within "civil" society might be as you suggest, I suspect this too may be because we set our standards at levels to which we aspire, rather than those we are at. For example, while in the US "all are created equal" in law, such is not the case in practice. Obvious barriers such as race, religion and gender, which BTW, used to be much more accepted targets for comics, have slowly been lowered by court challenges and public sanctions. It is for example, no longer "OK" to ask someone to sit at the back of the bus. Those who think it is are now, interestingly, the subject of humor. I am not sure this is any more moral than the opposite position, but as people do not like be laughed at, it does make them less inclined to be verbal. Eventually, albeit over generations, when one stops talking the talk, so too is the walk (e.g. to the back of the bus) stopped. Lastly, though I did not like all of what Mr Bruce had to say, I do support the idea that he had, within limits the right to say it. He actually stated that sometimes this is why he said what he said... to push the limits and expand the norm. This right is enshrined in law in the US and several other countries. The caveat on this right is the "public good" and is best demonstrated by the case law around such things as yelling "FIRE" in a crowed theater. When what one speaks is knowingly likely to cause harm to others, the speaker has a moral and legal responsibility to govern themselves responsibly. If Mr. Bruce has stood on the steps of a legislature and advocated that all women should be sexually abused and we lesser beings and that Muslims were inferior beings and should be shot for this reason, I suspect he would now be quickly shouted down and perhaps charged with crimes of hate or insisting a riot. If he said this in a theater, he might be booed and loose audience, but because people paid to hear him, I am not sure anyone's rights would have been offended. As was the case in this guy's personal and career highs and lows, poor audiences sometimes are the best controllers of taste and words.