Protest Through Laughter
Comedy is a form of laughter- that’s a given, but can comedy do more than just make us laugh?
Most of us have heard the phrase, “Laughter is the best medicine”. Laughter helps the soul feel at ease and at the same time, relaxes the body and helps us live longer. Almost everyone enjoys a good, hearty laugh; it gets us feeling better and cranks up our smiles.
Laughter can come from many different sources in a variety of ways. One common generator of laughter is comedy. Comedy as an industry is the professional entertainment consisting of jokes and sketches intended to make an audience laugh. A comedy can derive from a movie, a TV show, a play, a stand up show, and from many other forms of entertainment. We can think of a jester and his king as the earlier stages of comedy to our more modern forms of comedy we see everyday.
Comedy is a form of laughter- that’s a given, but can comedy do more than just make us laugh?
Let’s be realistic, we live in a totally screwed up society in which serious issues never seem to improve. For some, comedy is the only escape from their daily oppression. Andrea Canaan’s “Brownness” touches on this subject when speaking about racism.
Interestingly though, Canaan believed that this “black comedy routine” was a form of “self-oppression” for African Americans. Canaan even goes as far to say that this system of “self-oppression” is a mere adaptation to the white patriarchal society.
Although Canaan’s points are interesting, I disagree with her. I believe that many use comedy as a form of protest against the white patriarchal society. Comedians specifically hold a key role in this form of protest. Let’s take it back to the middle ages where jesters were the common comedians in monarchy systems. Jesters played a vital role in entertaining the king and his court as well as criticizing certain actions of the court. Jesters were one of the only few people who had the power to criticize the king and his court without being afraid to do so. By criticizing the king, noblemen, and noblewomen, the jester brought awareness to certain issues and also publicly criticized the people in power. Similarly now, comedians use their voice to publicly criticize while bringing awareness to certain problems by their entertainment. In height of the recent police brutality, comedian Lori Diaz states, “You get in the same room and entertain as a way to educate people without them even knowing it is happening. If you’re just pissed off about everything that has happened, we won’t be able to reach people… Get people to come to a show to laugh, but make them uncomfortable and make them think.” Lori Diaz and other comedians are joining their voices together to publicly speak out on police brutality in a show they have put together and will give the money raised from their shows to different organizations. Educating others is a big factor of protest, especially in the realms of the world we are living in today.
Professor Katelyn Hale Wood also makes a similar argument. Professor Wood believes that “Performance is a powerful tool to push against systems that regulate what those very identity markers “should” or “can” be.” Professor Wood’s current book project inclusively studies stand-up comedy and political protest; more specifically, how “black feminist comedic performances ‘stand up’ in the face of, and against, historical legacies of racialized and gendered violence, and provide opportunity for joy as a mode of resistance.” This completely contrasts Canaan’s idea that jokes keep people “self-oppressed”; instead, we see these jokes being used to take on racism and sexism hands on. This “self-oppression” turns into self-reliance utilized by comedians. Many comedians are aware of the platforms and use it to speak on pressing issues that we face in our society.
A clear example of this is the comedian and feminist, Jessica Williams, who stars on The Daily Show. She is an African American woman who consistently speaks on on racism and sexism through her bits on the show. The video at the very beginning speaks out against police brutality toward people of color. Jessica brings awareness to real controversial topic through her expression of words. Although she claims there “has been progress” we know this is simply the use of satire. The link just above contrasts how women and men should protect themselves from sexual assault on campus. This brings about the issues women face and how much more dangerous the world is for a woman. Williams not only brings awareness to issues and takes stands on them, with the use of her show, she has also made changes. In the video below Williams takes on a town with a fairly racist town sign. Through her comedy, Williams was able to spread the word and this issue was seen nationwide. The racist sign went viral and many were dismayed and angry which caused the city to call a vote to change the sign. Williams segment on this not only showed how racist some Americans are, it brought about change. This example proves that comedy does not “adapt” to a “white man’s society”, it can fight the white patriarchal system we uphold and can even change it.
Comedy is not just a mere escape from reality, it is a common form of protest. We have seen comedy used as protest for ages and it continues to do so. Comedy is a form of free speech and with that free speech, we can criticize, stand up, and even fight the system through our jokes and laughter. Comedy brings awareness and as mentioned earlier by comedian Lori Diaz, you can entertain as well as educate the audience on issues that may be uncomfortable. Once the audience is aware and a bit more educated on an issue, change, as we have seen, can come about.
