Journal #5 Generation of Comedy

The Office (comedy TV series)
http://wallpapercup.blogspot.com/2011/12/office-background.html

 

Did you ever wonder why our parents do not always enjoy watching the same TV shows that we find hilariously comical? Elizabeth Charlotte Grant wrote an article called Make ‘em Laugh: Sitcom Humor for Millennials, which answered that very question (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/feature/164601-make-em-laugh-sitcom-humor-for-millennials/P1). The article explains that there is a generational funny divide when it comes to watching television. Some TV shows that people aged 18-30 find to be funny and entertaining, such as Arrested Development, The Office, 30 Rock, Parks and Recreation, and many more, may not be entertaining for the older generations.

There are three reasons behind this divide in generation comedy explained in this article, laugh values, humor for humor’s sake, and from funny to absurd in 30 seconds. Laugh value is explained as the fact that we enjoy these series because the comedy of real life excites us, whereas for our parent’s generation this comedy is so true to real life that it makes it stressful to watch. Humor for humor’s sake is describing how even though the comedy is very similar to real life we understand this isn’t our life we are watching. Lastly, from funny to absurd in 30 seconds is the relief we find in the absurdity of the comedies because it give us hope for the future.

I really enjoyed reading this article and it brought up a lot of points that I had never thought of before reading this article. The article itself was well written with lots of examples. I agree with all of the observations that the author makes during the article and can relate to all her reasonings.

Journal # 4 Is Post-racism here?

http://www.fotopedia.com/items/flickr-2214318838

       Everyone has an opinion on racism, if it is still around today or not, but it is not something that it brought up very often, until after the elections. Molly Brown wrote an article on this topic, Color Television: What Diversity Looks Like in America Today  (http://www.popmatters.com/pm/column/165353-color-television-what-diversity-looks-like/). In this article the author brings up a very interesting observation, during the filming of the election results it shows an almost too perfect mix of race in the audience. Brown brings up the idea that either this is staged or maybe the world is really finally going to be at the post-racist time.

        After reading her article I agree with her suspicion that either the filming was staged or it was a very perfect incidence. In all reality I would like to think that there is no more racism in the world, however I feel that even now the world is not ready to put aside all their prejudgments. I feel that the world is headed in the right direction, but after this election it seems to be pushing back as people who are not fans of Obama complain and make racist comments in anger of the results. Racism may not be as bad today but we aren’t completely in post-racism yet.