Eating Poopoo Watching Others Suffer & Comedy Why Is It Funny?

Ok so I think this is hilarious and I dont feel that I am the only one.

When I think about it & I know its not real I just laugh.

However I wonder why suffering needs to be in comedy to make it funny, for example it wouldnt be funny if he was made to eat a pizza or natchos, but bring out the poopoo and I cant stop laughing.

I wonder if we are hardwired to laugh at and feel joy at others in negative situations?

Think ancinets used to watch gladiators kill each other for entertainment.



Here are people getting punched on SNL which may have led to the knockout game in real life as people emulate what they see on TV.

Are we hardwired to enjoy the suffering of others as entertainment?

So what is it that makes this so entertaining to watch people fall and get hurt?

a reply to: FormOfTheLord

Generally we laugh at what we fear. In the case of eating poo, we fear being embarrassed and looking foolish also illness, depending if you are OCD or not. Taking humor apart, makes it not funny at all. Comedians have a really dark side, and this is where most of the jokes come from, touching that dark place in us.

Not everyone finds pleasure in other peoples misfortune. This trait says a lot about a person, and the world is full of these people. The show JackAss is a good example of this. There is something wrong with these people, it is so pervasive that is has just about become the norm... a very good reason to get out of the cities.

Sadistic Personality Disorder...
Pervasive pattern of behavior which characterizd by cruel, manipulative, demeaning and possibly aggressive behavior towards others. The behaviour usually begins in childhood and is consistent thereafter. It is evident in social, personal and occupational situations to varying degrees. The SPD takes pleasure in the humiliation, control and domination of others.

What's not funny about that?
It would have been funnier if he asked for some habanero sauce.
It's "Comedy" folks.
It's funny when Mo smacks Curly over the head with a wrench.
It wouldn't be funny in real life, but comedy is funny because you can do things you can't do in real life.

I can't stand those "funny videos" where people get hurt. The two year old that gets knocked on her face into the cement when a dog bumps into her, the person who slips off the roof and lands on their neck, the kid who falls on his bike and explodes his balls....... no haha here.

I never liked the Three Stooges either. But my husband and boys roar with laughter at this kind of thing.

A person who eats poopoo unknowingly and loves it is something else- no pain involved, they are feeling fine, so that makes me laugh. I like the idea that we can be utterly wrong about how awful an experience might be, fearing it, and find out it isn't.

Maybe that's what my guys like about those videos- they are assuming the person just got up and laughed after. I'm thinking they were rushed off to the emergency room, or else got up, laughed, and then cried in agony in the privacy of their bedroom........

Now here is a bunch of comedy scenes from various movies, funny as ever of course, however all have a negative aspect to the comedy. I am begining to think if its not negative in some way it may not be funny. . . .

I love being able to cite a source with Idiocracy.

a reply to: FormOfTheLord
Thanks for the laugh. You have enriched my life.
Now go suck an egg and choke on it, ya knucklehead. Boink.
No, seriously, that was funny. Imaginary people got imaginarily hurt, and it was funny.

a reply to: FormOfTheLord
The world's funniest videos, whilst at times amusing, are usually followed by the most horrific pain suffered by the poor buggers in the flick. We seem to get pleasure from others misfortune; sad really when you think of it.

originally posted by: Volund
Not everyone finds pleasure in other peoples misfortune. This trait says a lot about a person, and the world is full of these people. The show JackAss is a good example of this. There is something wrong with these people, it is so pervasive that is has just about become the norm... a very good reason to get out of the cities.

Sadistic Personality Disorder...
Pervasive pattern of behavior which characterizd by cruel, manipulative, demeaning and possibly aggressive behavior towards others. The behaviour usually begins in childhood and is consistent thereafter. It is evident in social, personal and occupational situations to varying degrees. The SPD takes pleasure in the humiliation, control and domination of others.

See I think Jackass is funny because they do it to themselves.

But I am really bothered by the "Punched Before Eating" skit. I don't find it funny at all. Accidental painful things are funny like the all the AmericasFunniest videos of baseball to the nuts, or kid whacks dad in the head/shin/nuts... LOL

For me it's all about intent. Even though the SNL sketch is fake, it portrays people viciously hitting others for no reason, so its not funny.



Pain is only funny when it's accidental and non serious injury. Then I think we laugh because we feel like "YESS thank God that wasn't me!!" haha

In a way when these things are done for "entertainment" by comedians, it is for our enjoyment so as to lessen the severity of our approach to life.

Comic relief in other words, trivialising things that are usually serious or disturbing when they occur without a humorous intent.

a reply to: LittleGreenAlien

Dunno if it'd go there. Don't think that's fair nor accurate by and large. Comedy can be a lot of things.

Something easier and more pertinent to life, real actions, is like the video with the Iraq pilot shooting people. That's real. Laughing at whatever on video...

That perspective may be akin to those that partake in videogame shooters are "bad" and probably do x y z. When they were found to, interestingly enough, be more empathetic or whatever word the study used, than people that didn't play videogame shooters.

Maybe rather than people being "worse" for this stuff, it helps them be better.

originally posted by: Bluesma

I never liked the Three Stooges either. But my husband and boys roar with laughter at this kind of thing.

You need your head screwed on straight with a monkey-wrench.
The Stooges are gods.
You probably have no idea what those guys suffered just to make you laugh.

Here is some more evidence of negativity being as funny as ever. . .

a reply to: FormOfTheLord

There are numerous forms of comedy; you're referring to cringe and physical/slapstick in particular. Not everyone enjoys all types of humor, and those forms can be especially polarizing. I've never understood how someone could laugh or otherwise take pleasure in seeing someone be hurt or humiliated, and I never will. Some people feel that way about satire - I've heard a lot of people say they 'don't get' Stephen Colbert, but I think he's one of the funniest men that's ever lived. It's all a matter of taste, just like any other kind of art.

originally posted by: Bluesma

I never liked the Three Stooges either. But my husband and boys roar with laughter at this kind of thing.

I think the Three Stooges were close to the pinnacle of slapstick humor.

But I don't watch Jackass or "Funny people getting badly hurt" videos. Just can't watch it.

The difference is, the Stooges are fake, and it's obvious they aren't hurting each other, but as a guy, I watch it and can see things I secretly worry about or expect to happen a lot of the time. Women don't "get" Stooges; I am not sure I've ever seen a woman who did. But I would bet you could develop a sort of parallel for women.

Maybe where you had three women, one fat, one skinny and one nerdy, and they do things women find cring-y like wear plaids and stripes or the wrong shoes or a strapless dress with a bra that's not, and they're too stupid to understand why people are reacting to them the way they do.

Here is another series of various comedy clips most involve people or animals in a negative context of some sort. I am exloring what makes comedy funny with this thread, and have been wondering for some time if we are hard wired to enjoy viewing negative situations.

Most entertainment involves solving some problem of some sort, wether it be love, war, aliens, misunderstanding, or comedy etc. . .

I wonder if we need the negative situations in movies in order to be interested in them at all?

For example would anyone be interested watch a movie where there was no negative situation to solve?

originally posted by: skunkape23

originally posted by: Bluesma

I never liked the Three Stooges either. But my husband and boys roar with laughter at this kind of thing.

You need your head screwed on straight with a monkey-wrench.
The Stooges are gods.
You probably have no idea what those guys suffered just to make you laugh.

Yeah, well, I don't really want anyone to suffer for me. I hold no value on martyrism.

This is funny as ever, the comedy is a bit off and a bit about verbal abuse.