It's only slightly sick that the majority of the things that come to my mind at the mention of "humor" are crude to the bone. I don't exactly understand why gross things an blunt presentations of topics are so hilarious. It makes sense in some respects when you consider the fact that messages that cross new paths in our brain trigger a response (usually a laugh), which is why we find ANYTHING funny in the first place. This is why old jokes stop being funny after a while-- that path in the brain has become normal. When humor is used to present a topic very bluntly, we can not only discover new content but also a new manner in which to receive content.
The Book of Mormon is a primary example of crude humor. The writers of South Park took every aspect of the Mormon religion and made fun of it primarily by contrasting it with the Ugandan culture. The entire musical is one atomic bomb of innuendo, stereotypes, gore, flamboyant homosexuality and jazzy dance numbers, all of which are somehow able to offend anyone in the audience regardless of sexual orientation, race, or religion. Many people get up and leave the show before the first act is over due to their inability to handle the crudeness of it all. I myself have seen it twice (once from the front row) and spent too much time laughing my butt off at the jokes to be too offended by any part of the performance. I can't help but dwell on the fact that the main reason the musical could be so consistently hilarious was because there was so much material to base it off of. I'm not making an attempt to denounce religion, but when you look at the concept of religion in retrospect it can be pretty funny. I'm not saying Mormons were asking for any of this, but they are a religion founded in a traceable human being who claims the ancient document known as the Bible actually took place on American soil. More than that, the religion is being upheld by a primarily white demographic in the great state of... Utah. Wait, people live in Utah? Apparently so. The Almighty and Righteous Bo Burnham is another example of crude humor in its purest and most quality state. Without repeating my entire 5 Reasons Why Bo Burnham Is The Best Human Being Under the Age of 25 post, I'll tell you that Bo Burnham is the master of humor with a purpose. He touches on various social issues by presenting them in a traditionally humorous tone that ends up causing the audience members to reflect upon themselves. On top of that, he does about 80% of it in song! Oh heck yeah! (See example at right)
Part of the reason I appreciate crude humor so much is because it says things that need to be said without feeling the need to skirt the subject and drown it in euphemisms. The Book of Mormon points out some of the absurdities of religion that have serious negative impacts on society, such as forcing LGBT youth to stay closeted (often having serious negative impacts on mental health). The musical makes continuous references to rampant AIDS and infections in the Ugandan community where the majority of the musical takes place, which is totally offensive... or is it? Disease and infection are serious issues on the African continent, and the musical seems to be making a mockery of the fact that we do not give this fact nearly as much attention and care as it deserves. Bo Burnham wrote the song "Repeat Stuff" as a parody of, well, basically every pop song made in the last decade or two. While the song contains references to Nazi Germany, doing sexual favors for the devil, and writes off youths with handicaps, it sheds a heck of a lot of light on the cruel motives of the modern music industry. Bo acknowledged the fact that so many people are either blind or ignorant to what is behind the curtain that the only way to make it apparent was to be as blunt as possible while still being accessible through humor. I can't think of a time where crude humor had more of an effect on my than the line in Bo's song "Repeat Stuff" that said (from the perspective of a pop star):
"I'm in magazines, full of model teens, so far above you. So read them and hate yourself, then pay me to tell you I love you."
Like, what? It hit me hard.I like that punch to the gut and the rawest (and most entertaining) way to get that punch is through crude humor.
I really actually love poetry so much and I cannot believe this is the first year I've been asked to spend a decent amount of time studying it. That is, at Black River. When I was in 8th grade I was a part of the PATH program (I have no idea what PATH stands for) at Hope College, where a couple dozen middle school students are plucked from their normal classes at school and placed in college-level courses taught by incredible teachers who know how to get college-level work out of 13 year old children. Being a part of the program for two years was one of the best decisions I ever made for my academic career (even though I practically waged war on a sub-par 2nd year teacher, but that's beside the point). The poetry unit of my first year at PATH challenged me, but I don't think I challenged me, you know? I wasn't pushing myself to write quality stuff and I didn't give myself enough time to roll things over in my mind before trying to get them down on paper. My poems were somewhat crappy, looking back on them, but I learned that putting words into a rhyming scheme based on a simple theme is not enough. It's easy enough, but without any sense of satisfaction, it doesn't feel like poetry at all. This is why I really wish we had the opportunity to write poetry in AP Lit. In applying the things we are learning about figurative language to our own ideas, we could better understand the poems we are closely observing and hopefully better appreciate the work that went into writing them. IN THE WORLD OF POETRY I am a big fan of three things: #1: Slam poetry #2: Spurts of inspiration that find themselves in notes on my phone #3: Sonnets I think the slam poetry thing is pretty self-explanatory, to be honest. People who don't like slam poetry are either lacking a soul or have never seen "Ursula" by William Giles, "OCD" by Neil Hilborn, "Poem for Guys Who Spit After Smoking Cigarettes Between Slicing Pizzas" by Harlan Kelly, and, of course, "Shrinking Women" by Lily Myers. Do you ever get these little phrases or pairs of words that sound SO FREAKING GOOD in your head that you have to write them down? I definitely have that every once and a while and I cherish those moments like I cherish new Julian Casablancas songs and Choxie chocolate bars. They might sound like crap when you actually say them out loud or even see them on paper, but it feels good to feel creative in the moments where you can go back to those little phrases and say "dang, that was a good line, Hannah." When I'm not creative or inspired enough on my own but feel like writing poetry, sonnets will usually do the trick. I find that the structure squeezes ideas in just the right way to at least make them SEEM more profound. I just dug up my collection of poems that I wrote as a 13 year old in PATH; since this blog post is scattered and probably very very boring, I will put my pride and reputation in a vulnerable spot for entertainment purposes. Here's the first sonnet I ever wrote: There is nothing so glorious as sleep. From my bed into another world I manage to float. I push away from the dock, tying spider web ropes to the bow of the boat, Out to sea, into the ocean-- green, wide and deep. And with no fear, I run and leap Into an abyss, breaking through a paper thin coat Of struggle, triggering the lowering of a bridge athwart a moat. This sense of rest forces me to sit and weep, And I've learned that nothing comes from risks you don't take. Through the journey of sleep, my honor and bravery is tried, Every moment spent not regretting is enjoyed. With each minute I sleep, a thin stick of dynamite is deployed, But the lighter is my joy, and now would be fine if I died. I drift in paradise, where I will remain 'til I wake.
Clearly I was a fan of sleeping. It's good to see that not much has changed.
