A Little Humor, A Lot of Good

In psychoanalytic parlance, anger is often turned inward as a response to the proverbial "lost object." Of course, it is not without some measure of blame, whether it is the blaming of oneself or the blaming of an other for said loss. Anger, in this sense, is certainly destructive, but only insofar as it deteriorates the self (as Karl Abraham indicated, via depression). There are problems with such a simple characterization, to be sure.

Yet Sigmund Freud and others (i.e. Carl Jung) saw anger as much a part of hate as of love. There are problems with this characterization as well, even beyond its potential to be a mere perversion of Karl Kraus' quip ("Hate must make a man productive. Otherwise one might as well love."), but at least it points to the realm of action. That is, it speaks to anger as being reconciled with some form of human motivation--a point at which it is worthwhile to intervene.

Put simply: A little humor does a lot of good. As much could be gleaned from the recent hearings for Supreme Court nominee Elena Kagan, especially since it was illustrated sincerely by otherwise stoic Senator Specter. Indeed, Kagan's humor has helped moderate the extent to which she has been grilled, and could certainly (as Specter admitted) help to moderate the High Court.

Humor, after all, puts things in perspective. Anger knocks things out. It is easy to be angry right now. One need only consult the daily news and its headlines, from the disastrous Gulf oil spill to the ever-down-turning economy, to fuel one's depression, perhaps even one's hate. Yet a little bit of humor seems to quell anger just enough to consider a more productive and humane way of handling life's existentialities. So it is that I turn to the headlines of The Onion, and to a bit of perspective on what is nearly the birthday of our nation. In "U.S. May Have Been Abused During Formative Years," we are reminded of the abuses that hardened our forefathers.



Then again, we are admonished of the danger inherent in the abuses committed by them, as well as those that are perpetuated today--aggressive conflicts, wars that cannot be won, a will to vengeance. The "abuse" article, which was published in 2006, points, after all, to a more recent 2010 headline: "U.S. Flag Recalled After Causing 143 Million Deaths."



These articles certainly do a lot of good. The humor in them provides renewed perspective. It counters anger. It commends comedy. It censures tragedy. But it also speaks to humor's limitations.

That is, humor does not itself stop the oil leak. It does not end the war in Afghanistan. It does not recover the market. It also does not confine itself to moments of redemption. In an earlier post I commented on the humor of dominant discourse and its capacity to simultaneously discipline humor's regenerative spirit and reify the old way of doing things.

A little bit of humor can do a lot of good. It can help us laugh. Better yet, it can help us judge each other and our world more humanely and thus project outward less righteous and violent anger, more acceptance and good will. It can provide insight on the more humane elements of humanity. Then again, it can help us smile while we kill.

Photo Credits: The Onion.