Laughter: the Best Medicine?

Show me a group of people that can laugh at themselves, and I'll show you a well-adjusted bunch. Comedy's become an immense part of our society; we have stores, college classes, and clubs dedicated to it, not to mention entire TV channels. Most people see comedy as a simple past-time, something they use to unwind. But I wonder if sometimes, for better and worse, if we make light of the issue.

To me, it's the Juno phenomenon: why did thousands of young adults find a movie about teenage pregnancy so witty, while their parents watched in acute shock and disbelief? Are we millenials a generation of irreverant cultural blasphemers, or do we represent something very new and curious in a society that has always seen its young members do something different with the status quo? Because we're not those free-thinking hippies, preaching free love and militant equality. We're not shouting, "screw the establishment." We're opening up the establishment with this unexpected, underground weapon that has crept up on our culture in the night. We're slowly killing the outdated mores, not with violence, protests, or boycotting, but with what no one ever saw coming: the startling and unusual ability to laugh at all of our biggest problems.

Jokes about hamburger phones and orange tic-tacs aren't the half of it. Maybe I'm different than most, but my group of friends represents a wide range of ethnic backgrounds, political philosophies, and religious views, yet we've learned to be the most tolerant by laughing at each other. Some of our nights out have included more offensive cracks than a Lisa Lampanelli stand-up--and they're often targeted at one another, all in good fun, of course.

That's the difference between the old world and the new, with no offense intended to my ancestors. Whereas we used to cry and complain, shout and loudly protest, our approach has changed. Now we laugh, and I truly believe we've killed 'em with kindness, broken down a lot of walls because we first had the courage to be a little irreverent. Mostly, we've gained the confidence to laugh at who we are--as people, as a nation, as a global community.

It's not all sunny, I have to admit. As lighthearted people everywhere have gotten closer for their love of comedy's effect on society, there's a dark side, too. I truly believe that the 2008 election was influenced (probably unfairly) by comedy sketches. Sarah Palin was not the winking, blundering, wisecracking beauty queen that Tina Fey and her SNL writers decided to spawn. Perhaps she had some elements of her caricature that showed up on TV, online, and all over the news in the weeks leading up to the election. But she was (and is) a real person, with real opinions and views, and in a way, I think those were overshadowed to the point where people forgot who was Palin and who was her impersonator. Her image was blended into a combination of the two, and that, I believe, is where comedy went too far.

To get this across, (in case I haven't enough already), I despise Palin's views. I wouldn't have voted for McCain if my life depended on it, and it wasn't his politics I disagreed with. Palin's views were dangerous and reactionary and harmful, and no comedy sketch could have made me dislike her any more than I already did. But I believe in the American election system and I value honesty. Therefore, I believe that the comedic media did her a disservice. 

Comedy has made light of everything in our society, something I feel is relatively new in such a widespread capacity. Perhaps in general, we should be careful what we laugh at. That being said, I think it's overwhelmingly done us more good than bad. It's taught us all to be open-minded on a whole new level--something that institutionalized mandates of any kind never could have taught us. I tend to personally lean towards irreverence, and I truly embrace most of this casual approach to age-old controversy.

So keep on laughing--you're doing your part to help mankind.

Good Night and Good Luck

I wrote this over 8 months ago, but it still rings true to me.

"This instrument can teach, it can illuminate, and yes-it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it towards those ends. Otherwise, it is merely wires and lights in a box. Good night, and good luck."
-Edward R. Murrow

If those words were applicable 55 years ago, they are ten times more moving and relevant now. I just finished watching a very well-made film about the sparks that flew between Murrow and McCarthy during the fear and paranoia of the early '50s. I can't believe it took me three years to watch "Good Night and Good Luck."

What is our role in this convoluted mess of journalism, politics, corporate profit, and the struggle for viewer interest? How far are we, as journalists, willing to go to defend the truth? Perhaps many would just rather keep their jobs. One has to wonder, with all of the (much-needed) talk about fair coverage and objective reporting, at what point we're all allowed to step in and editorialize. Where does the line exist between the watchdog and the pundit? Yet where does the line exist between the stone face of fact and the talking head who merely reads the prompter? These are the questions I find myself asking, as an aspiring journalist who hopes to someday make a difference, yet who has never really shown an obvious affinity for editorial writing.

The head of CBS at the time, at the end of the movie, claims he's never outright censored Murrow, who answers that "not saying no" doesn't equate to a complete lack of prior review. To which Paley replies that even Murrow has been guilty of making decisions of what to and what not to report-a form of censorship in its own way.

We read our books, we go to class, and we work on our respective publications with objectivity in mind. We are incredulous as we watch FOX News reporters scream their opinions to civilians and shamelessly advertise the protest movements that seem to best fit their side of the coverage. We are equally as incredulous as we watch CNN belittle FOX, making a mockery of the business in a childish political shooting match.

As students eager to report the truth, many of us also have a small flair for activism. On one hand, we're told to curb our opinions and remain unbiased--even if our gut and many of our mentors and teachers advise us to continually strive to act as the watchdog. On the other hand, the world whispers that if we take these journalistic skills to the world of comedic commentary, we could make a whole lot of money. Some people are very tempted and many are able to resist.

This business isn't dying--it's changing rapidly. But as I, with many others, struggle to decide on a sequence, it's becoming apparent to everyone that the news business is muddled and confusing right now. 

Luckily, as I saw in the movie tonight, we have the examples of a major few who have successfully gone before us; to keep us on the right track when we can't even see the road.