Response to "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved"

“The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” by Hunter S. Thompson is an interestingly worded and put together short story.  There are many details that the author spends so much time on describing, but then never finishes or explains these thoughts.  Also, it was the longest story we have read so far from The 50 Funniest American Writers according to Andy Borowitz, and the simple point of it is to show the irony of the narrator and Ralph Steadman becoming the people they were searching to portray at the Kentucky Derby.

The details that were left unanswered may not have been fully pertinent to the story, but nonetheless, left me curious.  First, the narrator spends time describing his failed attempts to get press passes, but then, all of a sudden, he has passes! It is never really explained how these are obtained.  Also, the narrator tells other people that he works for Playboy as a photographer.  It is told, though, that the tag on his bag was merely given to him and that it is not who he actually works for.  However, who is it that he works for?  These two details may not have been all that relevant to the story, but still, irked me in a way that left me thinking and wanting to know the answers (and wondering if somehow I missed these details!).

The last item about “The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved” that I found intriguing is some of the word choices.  The language was used in such a way that makes a point as to how the narrator, Steadman, and others at the Kentucky Derby were acting.  I sometimes found the word choices Thompson used as slightly offensive.  One thing that shocked me was how soon this language was used (as in, the second page of the story).  The contextual meaning of the words he uses, especially in today’s society, and maybe even more so in the 1970s, can be offensive; this is in particular response to a word in the story that can have a negative connotation towards those that identify as being homosexual.  This word was just used freely and in a way that I do not agree is appropriate, nor should be used at all.  Another area in the story that surprised me was the last paragraph, particularly the last few sentences.  Personally, I get uncomfortable when people say these words, even in a joking matter, as we as society should be more mature and less offensive when we speak; these words though, were still uncomfortable just reading, despite when used in this drunk, joking, morally corrupt sense that the story exposes. 

Three Important Points from Comic Relief

Comic Relief: A Comprehensive Philosophy of Humor by John Morreall may not have been my preferred book of choice (hence the vent session in a previous post), but it did lay a great foundation concerning humor in regards to this course.  There were some arguments made that were very true and some that I agreed with.  In conclusion from Comic Relief, three points that I find important or beneficial are:

1)      Humor Increases Health: Humor increasing health is a point that was mentioned many times throughout Comic Relief, which I took note of and really liked.  I mean, how cool is it that humor and laughter is actually increasing our health?!  Well, I think it is pretty darn awesome.  Laughter “reduces heart rate, blood pressure, muscle tension, and stress chemicals in the blood” (Morreall 66).  Normally, negative emotions suppress the activity of the immune system, but laughter is able to actually enhance the immune system.  In fact, many psychological studies show that “humor serves as a buffer against stress, and that people with a good sense of humor go through fewer and less pronounced emotional swings” (Morreall 68).  Also, hearty laughter involves several areas of the brain, nervous system, and muscles groups; in addition, it is estimated that 20 seconds of hearty laughter gives the heart and lungs a workout equivalent to three minutes on a rowing machine, and 15 minutes of laughter can burn 40 calories!  These health facts are very beneficial, which gives me a reason to make people laugh more, right?  I’m only trying to help their health…

2)      Harmful Effects of Humor: While humor and laughter can be fun and beneficial, there are some cautionary things to be careful of while joking.  Morreall discussed how “the practical and cognitive disengagement in humor can have harmful effects” (Morreall 102).  He focused on three effects: irresponsibility; blocking compassion; and promoting prejudice.  In regards to irresponsibility, humor can cause us to neglect actions that are called for, or cause us to do things that should not be done.  In our lives, we can be notorious for simply laughing off a problem instead of taking the required action.  By doing this, we are treating a problem as trivial, instead of giving it the necessary attention.  Secondly, another harmful effect of humor is blocking compassion instead of helping those who need it.  In this way, humor can displace an action or insult on those who are suffering, which in turn increases suffering.  Morreall stated that the “most widely accepted moral rule is to not cause unnecessary suffering.  From that it follows that we should not laugh at someone’s problem when compassion is called for (Morreall 105).  The third harmful effect is that humor may be promoting prejudice. This effect is cognitively disengaging us from the object of our amusement.  In personal opinion, these jokes are widely used in our society today, which is spreading false and exaggerated stereotypes of “the other.”  In fact, these jokes are categorizing “all members of a group as being interchangeable and as having certain shortcomings” (Morreall 108).  In this case, we are saying that anyone who is different than us is inferior, and therefore showing the harmful effect that some forms of humor can cause.  While humor can be beneficial and create a fun atmosphere, there is also a line that cannot be crossed with humor.     

3)      Disengagement in Humor: Humor and disengagement is one of the first ideas presented in Comic Relief, and is also mentioned many times throughout.  Morreall uses this idea of disengagement in amusement to build some of his other arguments and theories off of.  I found the idea that emotions such as fear and anger cause us to be cognitively and practically engaged to what is going on around us, while amusement involves cognitive and practical disengagement.  The emotions cause us to be serious and focused on the dangers or opportunities around us, which prepares us to take further action if necessary; therefore, we are aware of our surrounding and engaged in the situation.  Amusement, however, makes us not serious or concerned about dangers or opportunities that could be around us, and does not prepare us to act.  If we are amused or laughing at someone, it is not possible to also be angry or upset at them; this shows the differences between engagement and disengagement, which is an important point that is continually referenced throughout Comic Relief. 

The Inferiority of the Joke Teller in “The House of Mirth”

“The House of Mirth,” included in The 50 Funniest American Writers according to Andy Borowitz, portrays a theory, as stated by the husband, that the institution of marriage can be improved by extending the domestic relationship to the social sphere. The social aspect is a matter of teamwork between himself and his wife.  The husband proceeds to script jokes with his wife based on the expected conversations of the dinner parties they will attend.  However, his jokes only work with specific wording, which his wife continually messes up.  The husband tries to explain to the wife his beliefs about his theory, but she replies that there has to actually be a domestic relationship first, in order for there to be a socialized relationship outside of the home.

While reading, I was reminded of an argument that Morreall posed in Comic Relief; while this did not completely relate to the meaning of this story, it does relate to the foundation on the philosophy of humor that Comic Relief presented for the purpose of our class. Morreall proposed that the wit is better than the joke, for many reasons.  These reasons include: the joke teller is a performer, not an instantaneous creator; the joke teller is limited to the jokes he can remember; and the joke teller interrupts the conversation (Morreall 84).  The husband in “The House of Mirth” exemplifies many of the negatives of being a joke teller.  In accordance with Morreall’s argument, the husband illustrates the inferiority of joke tellers.  The husband’s jokes were obviously not adaptable to every situation; rather, they were memorized and had to be set up correctly otherwise they would fail, as they did.  The wife would change the wording of her line that was to set up the joke, which therefore ruined the punch line.  In one situation, the wife is supposed to say, “Was he on your mother’s side?” (Borowitz 107).  The husband planned on answering, “Yes, except in money matters, when he usually stuck up for my father” (Borowitz 107). This joke makes sense, but at the party, the wife changes the wording saying, “I keep forgetting, was he your maternal grandfather” (Borowitz 108).  The husband, regardless, proceeds to say the exact scripted punch line, which no longer makes sense, nor is humorous.  This form of humor, therefore, was actually interrupting the conversation, opposed to keeping the conversation going and enhancing it.  The husband, during this sequence, proved that as a joke teller he is a performer and not a true creator of humor, as he was not able to adapt his joke to still make sense; also, in order to be funny he had to script it.  In this way, “The House of Mirth” is able to defend Morreall’s case that the joke teller is inferior to the wit.

Conversation Number 2!

The second conversation with Alex went great! At first, though, I showed up to meet him, and he wasn’t there! Luckily, he texted me a few minutes after we were supposed to meet and said he was running late at the bank, and asked if we could move our meeting back 30 minutes.

A great topic once again was the weather; Alex was very relieved that it has cooled off a little bit!  He is enjoying the cooler mornings and nights, and of course, so am I!

Our next topic of interest was videogames, which is a topic I rather enjoy.  He said he has been playing Call of Duty a lot recently, which, is a videogame I will play (no shame).  Videogames led to the topic of sports.  We talked about the TCU football game; Saturday was Alex’s first American football game!!! He explained how different and awesome the atmosphere was, such as how important and into the game the students are, how everyone stands the whole time, and he even enjoyed the band (near where he was watching) who danced to their songs sometimes.  It was very interesting to hear about his football experience, especially since it is not really played in China.  I am so thrilled to hear that he plans to attend the next home game!  Next, I told him that my favorite sport was baseball, which he also said is not played often in China.  He is used to playing/watching soccer.

Our final topic of the day was his classes and what they have been discussing.  He also showed me his self-teaching English book; the Chinese symbols were so foreign and confusing to me!  I can’t imagine how hard it would be to learn English after knowing Chinese your whole life (or vice versa)!

I have really enjoyed my conversations with Alex.  I have learned so much regarding the differences between culture here and in China.  It has been fascinating and educational, and cannot wait to learn more from him! Agenda for next meeting: discuss humor! J

First Conversation with Alex

After receiving the contact information for Alex, I emailed him with potential times to meet up.  However, I did not hear back from him.  Zheyna suggested that I try texting him, and as soon as I did, there was an instantaneous response!  We decided to meet today, Wednesday, September 5, at 2:00 PM at Union Grounds.

I am always nervous when it comes to new situations and meeting people, and my first meeting with Alex was no different.  Some concerns I had were being able to recognize him and what we would talk about.  Luckily, we were able to guess who one another was, and so we began our talk! Alex was very talkative which helped subside my reservations. 

First, I learned that he was from China (the Shanghai area) and he is thinking of majoring in Business.  He told me a lot about where he was from, such as the weather, and described the nature.  Besides the awful heat, he enjoys the landscape of Fort Worth more because there are trees and green space, as well as a very blue sky; due to the amount of pollution in China, this is not the case there. 

What I found most interesting from our talk is the Intensive English Program.  He explained what he has been doing these past three weeks and what the classes are like.  He says that he is good at speaking, but his writing and grammar needs work before graduating from IEP.  What was interesting is that in China, Alex learned British English, not American English, so this is a bit of an adjustment for him.  Also, Alex said that he feels lonely sometimes at TCU because he doesn’t feel like he fits in with the other students on campus.  He wants to fit in with the American culture and life that we are so accustomed to.  This made me feel a little empathetic for him; I can’t imagine going to another country, away from my family, and trying to learn and understand a whole new language and lifestyle.  I hope that our talks help him feel a little more comfortable and included at TCU!

Comic That Was NOT a Relief

After reading the first two chapters of Comic Relief, I was excited to continue the reading over the philosophy of humor.  The author, John Morreall, shared some very interesting ideas, such as the conversation rules and the different theories regarding humor.  He presented ideas that I had never thought or heard of, over material that I personally find interesting.  I mean, what is better than laughter and humor?!

Unfortunately, my enjoyment of Comic Relief ended shortly after the first assigned reading.  This second chunk of reading (Chapters 3 and 4) has been a bit more of a struggle to be entertained by, and therefore to have a desire to read.  Particularly in regards to Chapter 3, many things irritated me.  Not only was some of the language choices hard to understand and follow, many ideas were repetitive.

First, the repetitive nature of the text irked me.  I felt like a dog that was attempting to chase his tail.  All the information presented seemed to combine and overlap with one another.  Instead of multiple new and enlightening ideas being presented, it was the same sort of ideas just slightly tweaked over 28 pages.  Also, the text within a section was repeated multiple times, almost over-stating an idea.  This leads me to my next point of Morreall expanding self-explanatory ideas unnecessarily into two or three pages.  For example, the 4 aspects of amusement were initially simply explained, but then expanded.  The expansions of these, for the most part, just drug on as he almost over-explained his thoughts, which causes repetition in his explanations.  And lastly, Morreall reuses exmples from chapter to chapter, because the ideas overlap accordingly so.  Morreall uses an example about “Oedipus the King,” which he also used in Chapter 1 (59).  This just shows how the ideas he presents from chapter to chapter are similar and overlap, therefore repeating his views.  In short, I guess what bothers me is feeling like I’m reading the same thing, but getting confused in the process because of the wording, length and wordiness of the text, and trying to overthink the point he presents.

Thank goodness, though, for the summary at the end of chapter 3, one thing that was brief, to the point, and logical.  Maybe I should have saved myself confusion and just read that to begin with…

On the bright side, and to end on a positive note, there was at least one thing that I absolutely loved in chapter 3: “I love to sleep. It really is the best of both worlds.  You get to be alive and unconscious” (57).