Response to Faith

Leading off of this post, Trump is known for making inappropriate jokes and comments. People notice the wrongdoings of his, but he starts normalizing the issues in our American society. People in power need to be cautious of the underlying messages, when publicly speaking,  in order to not continue a vicious cycle of injustices brought on to the people. I agree with Faith in how "interactions with people, comedic or otherwise, often alter or shape our own opinions of those controversial topics." With Trump normalizing controversial topics, such as gun violence, we become insensitive to the real issues. Refer to Trump's Humor article explaining why it's an issue at hand. 

Response to Lucy

I like how you hinted on the fact that if this show aired today, it would most likely fail in today's societal environment. In today's age, it's like we are all walking on eggshells trying not to offend anyone (which is an impossible task). Michael Scott makes inappropriate jokes throughout the entire series; such as gay jokes or that's what she said jokes. It leaves us questioning how he became a manager in the first place and how he hasn't lost his job. Michael Scott doesn't seem to have much depth to his character, but through his childlike qualities and insanely inappropriate jokes, one gets a clearer sense of his mental state. He cover's his sorrows through humor, or bad humor I should say, trying to distract himself and the rest of the employees from what's really bothering him. This makes the audience feel superior to him in the way where we can laugh at how Michael embarrasses himself on the daily and continually makes a fool out of himself.

Response to Paige

I am a firm believer in alternative medicine for the sole purpose of a healthier lifestyle and relying on myself instead a cluster of chemicals that's supposed to "help me". The phrase "laughter is the best medicine" really can make a turnaround in one's mental state helping your overall health mentally and physically. Your thought pathways can enable you to feel the range of extremes (good or bad) in order to help or hurt you. Our brain is magnificent in its ability to attempt to heal the body without the use of any medication. Bringing in laughter to equation gives a more positive energy creating a more healthy environment within our own body. Freud added that we can use humor and laughter to help us get over harder events or happenings. Allowing us to relieve stress and chaos through laughter enables us to cope in certain situations, which usually can help the poor mental state you were once in.

Response to Caroline

Could it be that we can imply the superiority theory to ourselves without us knowing it? For instance we put ourselves in some sort of ranking system in our head comparing ourselves to the peers around us (whether you realize it or not) and when you do something embarrassing or something worth laughing about, we can laugh at ourselves. By being able to move ourselves up an down, it's like our alter ego could either be superior or inferior to our consciousness. I see it that way because maybe you can be superior to yourself in some aspects of the way you think. We are our hardest critic and by nitpicking at yourself and making fun of yourself potentially belittles you. Most people know their self worth and know they are better than their circumstances. With this being said, we can pull in incongruous thoughts and/or actions from the scenarios we put ourselves in (theoretically in our head). By implying incongruity we can laugh at ourselves in the past, present, and future like John Mulaney given his example of him driving. 

Response to Alexis

First off, the attached video had me geeking! I was laughing way too much at the commentary and the whole roasting session brought by Kody Ko and his friend Noel Miller. This is by far one of the funniest YouTube videos I've seen in a while. I love the fact that it's inappropriate, making it funnier to me (being a fan of inappropriate jokes). Talking and laughing about the misfortunes of poor Skippy not getting laid was the perfect example of benign violation humor. I agree where you said that the video represents a good mix between not being too inappropriate and not being too boring. By taking apart every aspect of Skippy and what he's doing wrong made an awkward video hilarious to watch. Skippy's naive personality was the icing on the cake. Him trying his best to be with a woman basically resulted in him embarrassing himself. For example, having his mom as his wing man and making terrible shirts about himself does not usually attract women (especially if you're trying to get them into bed). You feel bad for Skippy but can't help but to laugh at his mistakes and misfortunes. That's where the superiority theory of humor comes into play. I agree how you stated that the use of this theory also plays a key role in the making of this video. I thoroughly enjoyed the video and your blog post! Each component connected with the video and made it easier to pinpoint the theories corresponding with it.