2. What is social commentary?
“a spoken or written act of rebellion toward an individual or group;
commentary on social issues or society.”
(http://www.dictionary.com/browse/social-commentary)
“Social commentary is the act of using rhetorical means to provide
commentary on issues in a society.”
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Social_commentary)
“A social commentary is a work of art that makes a comment on society.”
(https://www.reference.com/education/social-commentary-
cd4e90da33d62d35)
Basically, social commentary is a way to express or highlight issues within
a given society that enables the audience to gain new perspectives.
3. Why did I choose this topic?
Humor, American comedy in particular, is a popular medium for
expressing social commentary. My husband and I had a conversation
one night about how a lot of the comedians we enjoy watching include
social commentary in their acts and that is what made me want to
explore: why? Why do comedians include social commentary in their
acts? What impact does the commentary have on the audience, our
society, and our culture? Do other countries convey social commentary
in humor?
4. Examples of social commentary in humor
“We live in an age when a pizza gets to your home before the police.” –
Jeff Marder
“I do this real moron thing, it's called thinking, and I'm not a very good
American because I like to form my own opinions.” – George Carlin
“I’m glad mushrooms are against the law, because I took them one time,
and you know what happened to me? I laid in a field of green grass for
four hours going, “My God! I love everything.” Yeah, now if that isn’t a
hazard to our country…how are we gonna justify arms dealing when we
realize that we’re all one?” – Bill Hicks
“Suffering and humans go hand in hand. Look at comedy. It's dominated
by black people and Jewish people. That is American comedy. And if
blacks and Jews didn't do comedy, we'd be relying on the Irish. 'Cause
they were the next funniest thing. . ..” – Dave Chappelle
5. What is the purpose of
social commentary in
American humor?
In American society, we are constantly bombarded with exemplifications of social injustice,
intolerance, prejudice, inequality, and many other societal problems in our daily lives. One way to
convey these issues is through social commentary, and infusing it with humor can help make
people comfortable talking about and taking action against these issues. Humor can also help
shed light on problems that only segments of our society face that the audience may not be aware
of or realize as a problem.
Good comics are playing an important function in society by holding up a mirror and forcing
us to confront realities that we would often prefer to ignore. For minority groups, humor also
serves as a tool to neutralize the power of stereotypes that obstruct their path to equal
participation in society. Stand-up comedy can give social critique and instigate transformation in a
way that leaves many audience members wanting more. (Cohen, Richards)
6. What is the purpose of
social commentary in
American humor? cont.
Humor exposes ugly human phenomena (those that render the world almost unbearable)
to mockery, in the hope of thereby eliminating them. Man makes a mockery of man. (Ziv, 1988).
Since American society was built on the ideals of democracy but is awash in the realities of
social and political imperfections, comedy can bring awareness to these discrepancies in a way
that we can hear. This makes humor a powerful communication tool and potential change
agent and expands its value far beyond its common role as entertainment. (Walker, 1998)
By bringing to light these issues that our society faces in a humorous way, it points out the
absurdity of the issues, raises awareness and also showcases different perspectives to the same
issues. It also serves as a way to bring taboo subjects into the spotlight to encourage
conversation, thought, and action on social issues in our country.
7. Can humor be effective at conveying the
issues presented in American social
commentary?
Humor, like all forms of communication, requires context: to find it amusing, the audience
must have certain knowledge, understanding, and values, which are subject to evolution from
one century or even one decade to the next. (Walker, 1998) Without understanding the
context the sketch still has the ability to be humorous, but the critique is harder to
acknowledge. (Jones, A.) The audience must be aware of both the historical and the social
references for the commentary to come through in the humor.
In order for social commentary to be conveyed successfully and effectively, the presenter
must ensure the material is not only funny, but also current, relevant, and purposeful for the
audience they are targeting. A comedian making jokes today about Richard Nixon’s policies
as President in the seventies will not get a laugh out of most of today’s millennials because
they do not have a common frame of reference.
8. Can humor be effective at
conveying the issues
presented in American social
commentary? cont.
If material is presented in the right way, audience members can have their feelings reflected back to them and
receive acknowledgement they may not receive elsewhere in their lives. (Walker, 1998) For example, Jon Stewart
provided nightly commentary on racial, political and financial issues in our country, but he did it in such a way that it
was funny, relevant, purposeful, and very current. He acknowledged the plight that different racial and socio-
economical groups go through; he acknowledged the divide between the majority of the US and the one percent; he
acknowledged government and police corruption. This type of acknowledgement helps connect the performer with
the audience and helps make the audience more receptive to the messages being conveyed.
9. What impact does humorous social commentary have
on the audience, our society, and our culture?
By integrating the topics of race, religion, inequality, xenophobia, among a long list of others into our comedy, it can allow the
audience to feel connected, to be aware of their own views, to see issues in a new light, and become aware of issues they might
not have realized existed. But it can also lead to the audience feeling justified in their own beliefs, right or wrong, believing the
negative perpetuations of stereotypes portrayed in the act, or seeing a negative attribute that has never been noticed before.
During the filming of a sketch on Chappelle’s Show, where Dave (Chappelle) is in blackface and trying to get black people to act in
stereotypical fashions, a white crew member laughed condescendingly at the sketch. Dave started to feel like part of his audience
was getting the wrong message and he began to feel “socially irresponsible.” "That concerned me," he says. "I don't want black
people to be disappointed in me for putting that [message] out there. ... It's a complete moral dilemma.“ (Powell, K.) This example
shows that while intentions can be good (Dave was trying to satirize negative stereotypes regarding black people), if the audience
doesn’t have the context necessary to understand the commentary being presented (being black, or understanding the racism
black people have suffered), the attempt can backfire and end up reinforcing the negative.
10. What impact does humorous
social commentary have on the
audience, our society, and our
culture? cont.
On the other hand, Kristina Wong, a solo performer, incorporates taboo topics, such as suicide, mental illness, and
depression into her acts. Being an Asian-American, her candidness regarding these issues helps her connect with her
audience, and Asians in particular. Wong says, “[Humor] makes it easier for people to feel safe…It softens the space and the
stigma around mental health issues.” (Walker, 1998) When she performs on university campuses, there is an increase in the
number of students that seek help from the schools’ psychological services. (Walker, 1998)
Audiences respond to humor depending on their personalities and socio-demographic backgrounds. ( Popa, D., Tsakona,
V.) Because of this, it is unlikely to convey social commentary through humor that will be received by 100 percent of the
audience. Even if the entire audience was of the same socio-economic background, the personalities, and even the levels of
intelligence in the audience would still be diverse enough that not everyone would fully grasp the underlying messages
within the humor. But American society is slowly becoming more aware of the issues facing different demographics. While
we are still far from where we should be as a society, finding ways to express social commentary, such as through comedy,
has the potential to enlighten us, help us realize that we are more than our differences, and encourage change.
11. Do other countries
convey social
commentary in humor?
As we have seen, American humor is littered with commentary. This can be said for other countries with Westernized cultures as well, such as Great
Britain, Australia, and Canada. While we, in the US, have the right to free speech and can insert commentary and humor wherever we please, not
every country allows this same freedom.
Many Asian and Middle-Eastern countries do not have the same laws regarding free speech and do not approve of such commentary. People who
do speak out or post social commentary can risk arrest. One of the reasons for this is because the governments do not want their citizens being
able to question authority and instigate change. If they can control the messages being broadcast to their citizens, there is less chance for social
upheaval.
In China, for example, social commentary is heavily censored in the media. China spends the most money of any country on flagging and
censoring content deemed inappropriate which can range from people voicing their opinions on the government, corruption, economic inequality,
and many other subjects that threaten to challenge the system. This has led to Chinese people increasing their use of humor, mainly satire and
sarcasm, to encode their social commentary as to not get flagged by censors. Hu Yong, an internet expert and associate professor at Peking
University states, “It forces people to invent indirect ways to get their meaning across, and humor works as a natural form of encryption.” ( Larmer,
B.)
12. Reflection
Going into this assignment, I thought I would be able to find information on studies that have been conducted determining how effective or not
incorporating commentary into American comedy is. I was expecting to be able to find hard facts showing the impact social commentary in American
comedy can have on our culture and society, and polls or studies to back it up. While I learned a lot while doing my research, I found it difficult to find in-
depth works directly addressing social commentary in American humor or vice versa. I feel most of the information I found was regarding either humor
with social commentary as an afterthought or humor with the commentary as an afterthought. In the end, I had to locate relevant pieces of information
that were included in broader works and tie those into my presentation. I was surprised how hard it was to find interviews where comedians directly
addressed the topic of social commentary/criticism/critique in their work. I watched and read many interviews from many different comedians and actors,
I was shocked at how little information I could find that directly addressed my topic. I feel like there is more information out there and I am just not
looking in the right places.
I am still curious to find out more about the impact social commentary in humor can have. I would like to be able to find a link between a specific
commentary in a piece, or pieces, of humor, and what kind of large scale conversation and/or change spawned from it. While I think that spawning even
the smallest change for the better is great, I want to know more about how much of the change within the last, say 50 years, can be attributed, at least in
part, by social commentary in American humor.
After putting together this assignment, I would say that my skills as a researcher need some improvement. I think that I could have let my research help
form some new questions, or even change my topic question altogether. I found lots of different information regarding commentary and American
humor, but I picked the parts that I felt tied in with my existing question instead of letting the research guide me. I also think I could have done a better
job overall with my storytelling, but even now, I am not sure how I would begin to do that.
13. Works Cited
"Jeff Marder Quotes." Quotes.net. STANDS4 LLC, 2016. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.
<http://www.quotes.net/authors/Jeff Marder>.
TheVonHash. "George Carlin on ((( American ))) Foreign Policy ~ Bombing Brown
People." YouTube. YouTube, 16 June 2011. Web. 09 Nov. 2016.
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDw-zFFhFgc>.
Heaton, Andrew. "10 Best Quotes of Bill Hicks - POP & SCOTCH." POP SCOTCH. Pop and Scotch,
09 Feb. 2015. Web. 11 Nov. 2016.
Powell, Kevin. "Heaven Hell Dave Chappelle." Kevin Powell: Activist, Writer, Public Speaker. N.p., 29
Apr. 2006. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Cohen, Roger, and Ryan Richards. "When the Truth Hurts, Tell a Joke: Why America Needs Its
Comedians." Humanity In Action. Humanity in Action, 2006. Web. 08 Nov. 2016.
Ziv, Avner. ""Humor as a Social Corrective"" Writing and Reading Across the Curriculum. 3rd ed.
Glenview: Scott, Foresman, 1988. 356-60. "Humor as a Social Corrective" Michigan State University.
Web. 09 Nov. 2016.
14. Works Cited
cont.
"What Is Humor? Why American Humor?" Introduction. What's So Funny? Humor In American
Culture. Ed. Nancy A. Walker. Wilmington: Scholarly Resources, 1998. 4-30. Print.
Popa, Diana-Elena, and Villy Tsakona. "Chapter 5 Entertaining and Enraging The Functions of
Verbal Violence in Broadcast Political Debates." Studies in Political Humour: In between Political
Critique and Public Entertainment. Amsterdam: John Benjamins, 2011.
114. IndependentAcademia.edu. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
"Chappelle's Story." Oprah.com. The Oprah Winfrey Show, 03 Feb. 2006. Web. 21 Nov. 2016.
Jones, Abigail, "How Does Context Shape Comedy as a Successful Social Criticism as Demonstrated
by Eddie Murphy’s SNL Sketch “White Like Me?”" (2012). Honors College. Paper 58.
Larmer, Brook. "Where an Internet Joke Is Not Just a Joke." The New York Times. The New York
Times, 29 Oct. 2011. Web. 26 Nov. 2016.
