Question Can you laugh at stupidity/ignorance ?

[Maciamo]

I think they attach an unbelievably strong importance to being competent at something (ie not failing at careers, getting good school positions....)

Not failing at careers, getting good school positions, etc. is very different from being competent. I understand that the Japanese don't want to lose face in society, and care a lot about having a good job and money, but if they can achieve that without acquire much knowledge and abilities, then they are usually happy. Personally, I'd think the other way round. It is meaningless to have a good job, plenty of money. etc. if one remains ignorant or incompetent. Considering how easily the Japanese accept their own politicians' incompetence, their own ignorance of the world, etc. I am bound to think that they do not attach as much importance to knowledge or abilities as I do. At school, Japanese people often refrain from getting too high marks, just to stay in the class average. It is very important for the Japanese not to stand out. This way of thinking probably has deep effects on what people learn by themselves. There are few people like me who crave for knowledge, because that they would become different from the rest of the group.

 

[misa.j]

I think they tried to air "Seinfeld" in Japan and it didn't work at all because the Japanese couldn't figure out why it was supposed to be funny.

I liked some of the episodes; my favorite was the one that Jerry gets mad at his landromat's owner for stealing his money, and Jerry and Kramer decide to pour cement in a washing machine.

 

[Maciamo]

People often find humor in things that are taboo. So, maybe you're looking at it backwards. Maybe they find it funny because it's NOT accepted.

That would be ok if it was not directed at someone. But in Japanese shows it is directed at the people in the show. I can find it funny that someone has an accidental slip of tongue (e.g. some 'Bushism'), but not when the purpose of the show is to make fun of all the participants, especially that there is nothing else aside in those Japanese shows (so it becomes really boring, in addition to not being funny).

Humor is all about putting things that don't fit, together.

Some of these "tarento" are not known for anything else but being made fun of. Very pathetic, in my opinion.

Humor doesn't usually make much sense between cultures.

Of course, but there are also individual differences, not just cultural ones. In this thread I am interested to know who likes this particular type of humour. This way I will see if this humour is also considered funny outside Japan or not, and if so, where and among what kind of people.

 

[Doc]

I liked some of the episodes; my favorite was the one that Jerry gets mad at his landromat's owner for stealing his money, and Jerry and Kramer decide to pour cement in a washing machine.

Seinfeld was an okay show. The only person I liked was Newman. Personally there are shows even here in the US that aren't that humorous, or are just too politically correct to really have any humor in them. One show that I hated was Friends. kashii: There are still stuipd people crying over it being off the air! kashii: I really want to buy that t-shirt that says, "Friends is over. You can kill yourself now."

Doc:ramen::happy:

 

[TheKansaiKid]

I know the type of show you are talking about,

and many shows that may not completely be based upon the "stupid celebrity" concept have segments that seem to play along those lines. I don't enjoy this style of humor, but when I was in Japan I occasionally was going through the channels and would come accross a segment of "laugh at the ignorant celebrity" and it would make me chuckle to see someone acting so over the top stupid. Humor is very personal and what my wife (who is Japanese) and I find funny is very different. This of course has a cultural element, but I also have seen studies on how gender affects perception of humor as well so I am somewhat hesitant to generalize what causes these differences. I have been told that men find slapstick type humor more entertaining than women. In a college psych class I attended a proffessor showed us clips from the three stooges and Laurel and Hardy that he thought was comic genius. I chuckled the first time something oddball happened, but found 30 minutes of the stuff almost unbearable. Aren't these Japanese shows kind of 3 stooge-ish in nature? Can anyone really be as stupid as the front these people put on?

Then again maybe I just have a short attention span.

 

[Maciamo]

This of course has a cultural element, but I also have seen studies on how gender affects perception of humor as well so I am somewhat hesitant to generalize what causes these differences.

There surely are differences between men and women, as male and female sensitivities and way of thinking are different. The cultural differences are acquired, not biological, but we could argue that different ethnic group have different sensibilities to humour, as the brain shape is different across races. Brain shape, size, acidity, sensitivity, etc, is also different between individuals, even between siblings, which is mostly what created differences in personality and sensitivity between all human beings.

I have been told that men find slapstick type humor more entertaining than women.

According to the BBC's Sex ID test, and the quite different test in Why men don't listen & women can't read maps (see explanation here), my brain is quite masculine (about +50%, on a scale from -100 to +100). My favourite type of "TV humour" would be "Friends" (watched the 10 seasons several times, and laughed harder each time). I especially like the witty and unexpected remarks.

I am divided for the Monty Python, Austin Power or Mr Bean type of humour, which I can find hilarious, not bad or really too overdone and tiresome, depending on the scenes. I usually don't like gross humour (people falling on a banana peel, farting, getting a cream pie on the face, etc.) and laughing at people's ignorance/stupidity.

 

[Doc]

I think that paticular culture demands over the top stupidity in their comedy. Now I'm going out on a limb here, but I'm guessing that in Japanese culture people shouldn't show their ignorance in public. Doing so only gets you mocked. I see why such shows in Japan are a hit. Personally I find them rather insulting, then again watching David Letterman making fun of our President's stupidity is rather amusing at times. However, I can only take so much before I call it a night. Sure a joke or two is funny, but these people have the camera on them all the time. With that in mind everybody sees the constant mistakes a celeberty makes.

People find that funny. You know what? Here's what you should do, you should take a camera and put it on an average citizen for a day and watch them screw up. I'm sure it wouldn't be too funny then. The point I'm trying to get at is that constantly making fun of celeberties with their mistakes is rather childish. They're just like you and me only in a different social class. That doesn't mean that they aren't prone to error, and neither does it mean that you aren't prone to error either. They should do something like EdTV to somebody. I think people will realize that we all are guilty of doing stupid or ignorant things no matter what the intelligence or social status of a person is.

Doc:ramen::happy:

 

[TheKansaiKid]

I am divided for the Monty Python, Austin Power or Mr Bean type of humour, which I can find hilarious, not bad or really too overdone and tiresome, depending on the scenes.

I agree with you on the Python and Powers Movies, Mr. Bean I only saw the movie not the series and was less than impressed maybe the series was better.

My favorite comedy TV show was an American series called Tough Crowd it featured 4 comedians and a host debating current events and social issues. It was very irreverant and politically incorrect and was cancelled.

 

[Maciamo]

Personally I find them rather insulting, then again watching David Letterman making fun of our President's stupidity is rather amusing at times.

I also don't mind that. There was such a programme in Japan a few weeks before the last presidential election. Shingo Katori (a member of the pop band SMAP) was making fun of a fake GW Bush. But this was funny because they were exxagerating the truth to absurd proportion. For example, the fake Bush said to the audience something like "Dear Japanese viewers, remember to vote for me on November 2nd". To which Shingo Katori would reply "But Mr President, you know that Japanese people can't vote for you at the US presidential election". Then Bush "You are kidding, right? (pause) Oh, you are serious? But Junichiro said he would vote for me.", etc. Because that was caricatural, I found it quite entertaining.

However, when you are making fun of the real people in front of you (not a character they are playing), and they genuinely don't know many things asked, there is no wit in the questions, all the people around laugh at them, and that is the sole purpose of the show, I don't find it funny.

 

[mad pierrot]

Whoops!

Misconstrued the point of the thread. Gomen, ne!

Maybe they find it funny because it's NOT accepted. They might make light of it on the shows, but maybe it's funny to them because it goes against how they would usually think/act.

I agree with Brooker. Look at Takeshi Kitano. Every Japanese person I know thinks he's a weirdo. Why? Because he doesn't behave like the average nihonjin. For the record, I loved his dance number at the end of Zato Ichi.

About the humor in question; I don't care for it much. The best example I can think of is Bobby. Is anyone else here familiar with him? An African who's sole purpose on televison is to make mistakes to the delight of the audience. It's demeaning, in my view.

That being said, I can enjoy making fun of people, if they can take it.

:blush:

 

[Doc]

However, when you are making fun of the real people in front of you (not a character they are playing), and they genuinely don't know many things asked, there is no wit in the questions, all the people around laugh at them, and that is the sole purpose of the show, I don't find it funny.

I know exactly what you mean. Jaywalking would be a classic example of that. On the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, they would interview real people on the street. Some of these people don't even know the capital of the United States of America! Sure it's might get a chuckle the first time around, but it's gets annoying real quick. Watching real people make an ass out of themselves is not funny at all. As a matter of fact, I usually change the channel because I can't stand to watch the stupidity of some of these people. Hell I don't even watch tv anymore except for the three CSI shows (CSI, CSI: Miami, and CSI:NY). With all this reality tv crap, I'm starting to get pissed with people's obession on this junk. If I was in Japan I'd probably throw my damn tv out the window and stick with the newpaper or the internet.

Doc:ramen::happy:

 

[Maciamo]

I know exactly what you mean. Jaywalking would be a classic example of that. On the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, they would interview real people on the street. Some of these people don't even know the capital of the United States of America! Sure it's might get a chuckle the first time around, but it's gets annoying real quick. Watching real people make an ass out of themselves is not funny at all. As a matter of fact, I usually change the channel because I can't stand to watch the stupidity of some of these people. Hell I don't even watch tv anymore except for the three CSI shows (CSI, CSI: Miami, and CSI:NY). With all this reality tv crap, I'm starting to get pissed with people's obession on this junk. If I was in Japan I'd probably throw my damn tv out the window and stick with the newpaper or the internet.

Exactly how I see it !

 

[mad pierrot]

Best comedy TV shows?

Conan O' Brian
The Chapell Show

 

[Brooker]

I didn't watch much TV while in Japan because the shows just seemed silly and wouldn't make sense to me because I wouldn't know anything about the people they were talking about, and I didn't understand Japanese well enough to get it anyways.

 

[Doc]

Best comedy TV shows?

Conan O' Brian
The Chapell Show

For me:

The Chappell Show
Tough Crowd with Collin Quinn (when it was still on the air)
Blue Collar TV
Monty Python (The best show ever!)
Benny Hill
Home Improvement
The George Lopez Show
Fraiser
Get Smart
The Munsters

Doc:ramen::happy:

 

[Brooker]

For me, Simpsons and Seinfeld. Very clever and entertaining.

 

[Doc]

Speaking of The Simpsons I forgot to add a couple of shows that are on my top ten favorites. ATHF (Aqua Teen Hunger Force), Sealab 2021, Robot Chicken, and The Venture Brothers. God I love those shows. They're all pretty much smart humor shows.

Doc:ramen::happy:

 

[Maciamo]

I didn't watch much TV while in Japan because the shows just seemed silly and wouldn't make sense to me because I wouldn't know anything about the people they were talking about, and I didn't understand Japanese well enough to get it anyways.

Don't worry, you didn't miss much. Even understanding what they say and knowing the "tarento" in question doesn't make it less silly.

 

[jeisan]

umm i can and do laugh at everyones stupidity even my own.

though stupid people in places of power scare me.

 

[Elizabeth]

Not failing at careers, getting good school positions, etc. is very different from being competent. I understand that the Japanese don't want to lose face in society, and care a lot about having a good job and money, but if they can achieve that without acquire much knowledge and abilities, then they are usually happy.

???{?Ƃ??????͎??͎Љ??Ȃ??́H?@ ?@Actually I don't know Japan on that level to know whether you can say it is developing into a meritorious society or not....I was using competence in the strict sense of "sufficient means for a comfortable existance....adequate for the purpose, passable, getting by" as opposed to fully capable.

As for good or funny Japanese shows, I like the improv comedy ones especially with maybe a prop (conceit) to get things rolling but it has to go beyond that to either making light of each other's mistakes (English always a popular embarrassment) or of a sometimes crazy acting third party (train conductors, uptight obasans etc). :relief:
?@