I think Chile is REALLY getting to me. Because I now find morbid things HILARIOUS. That is the trademark of the Chilean sense of humor, cracking jokes at funerals (even if it's just a light one), breeching topics unsuitable for your grandma's ears, right in front of her, humorously subtitling the most dramatic part of a movie about the fall of one of the (if not the) most notorious people of contemporary history. I swear they have a BLACK sense of humor. Basically it's all about making fun of anything and everything that you shouldn't. P.C. is non-existent. In fact, its almost like the less p.c. you are, the funnier it is. (I'm going to be a pc-wreck if I ever go back to the States. My family and friends will shun me.)
Anyhoo, I saw this article on the Santiago metro news station and then googled it to find out if it's true. So I'm going to end this blog right now. Bye.
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5 comments:
you know... sometime you should post more extensively on this black humor. sometimes when i read other people's blogposts i ask myself if we are living in the same Chile.
I feel like I can't exactly place the type of humor you're talking about in the context of things I've seen or heard about. Not that it doesnt exist, but I just don't get what your talking about exactly. The humor I see here is usually just the typical slapstick, non-pc, or double meaning. I don't think the issue is that its gone over my head (probably has sometimes too though) as much as I cant pull up examples or don't realize things fit into this category. take notes for more examples update sometime haha
Oooooook, come back from the dark side now :)
I think you are right. Chileans have a, shall we say, unique sense of humor. They laugh about things I WOULD NEVER laugh about anywhere else.
wikipedia... "Themes for black comedy include death, suicide, war, terrorism, political conspiracy, insanity, marital infidelity, domestic violence, drugs, HIV and crime. By contrast, themes for "blue comedy" include sex, obscenity, sexism, racism, homophobia, and mockery of religions and disabilities; although any of these themes may be present in black comedy, especially when depicted as antisocial or criminal behavior."
(that's it? i was thinking of something way more subtle than the above two categories. nevermind)
I get it then, but in reality I dont think its especially Chilean. I think a lot of that stuff can be quite funny in the US as well (pretty much every comedian plays off these) we just feel restricted sometimes with PC and another sort of taste and consideration issue. The difference is greater in everyday life though, where there you'd be more restrictive or shunned like you say haha.
I guess not everyone feels that way, but "the less PC you are, the funnier it is" totally holds true for a ton of the really funny people in US culture too, think of the Un-PCness Sarah Silverman or many of the other personalities on Comedy Central. Others are just more subtle or tongue in cheek too.
I think the thing that struck me by these comments is that the examples I can think of of stuff like this, I haven't found particularly funny. (hence kinda thinking I've missed something about it.) I can think of tons of examples of things verging on "black humor" but so many of them have just seemed stupid or really disrespectful to me (examples galore), but perhaps that's just my company not pulling them off well.
Sara, agreed they have such a different sense of humor.
Lydia, I'll try to remember some jokes. I have one friend who specializes in these: black, blue and un-pc humor. He makes me laugh non-stop. But, yes, I can't remember any examples at the moment. Like you said, comedians can be un-pc, but can regular gringos use un-pc humor without being censures by are co-nationals?
But when I caught myself laughing at the fact every time I use the internet, I'm contributing, perhaps significantly, to global warming, I realized I've gone over the edge. (Emily, I'll do my best to come back. However it may be too late.) hehehe.
The fact I'm addicted to the internet makes it that much more funny that I'm destroying the Earth one click at a time. Morbidly funny.
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