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Jan 12, 2009 10:38 pm US/Central
Good Question: Why Do We Laugh When We Shouldn't?
(WCCO)
"Gran Torino" is the number one movie in America and its lead character is an unabashed racist. There are many moments in the film where audiences find themselves laughing out loud. So why do we laugh at things we know are inappropriate and wrong?
"Discomfort is something that makes us all laugh," said Dr. Lisa Jack, an assistant professor of psychology at Augsburg College in Minneapolis.
"It makes us uncomfortable and it's a socially acceptable way to divert discomfort," said Jack. "Also, we still yet don't know how to talk about racial issues in this country with one another."
"The entire theater was laughing," said Minneapolis resident Rich Goldsmith. "And you do feel a little guilty. But I think that's part of the point. He throws around these racial epithets like candy. It's so over the top it's essentially a caricature."
"I think it's because we feel uncomfortable," said Janine Lilke via Twitter. "And sometimes [people] don't want to admit they have similar feelings."
Jack explained that the disconnect between how we know we should feel about a racist character, and how we do feel in this case is "classic cognitive dissonance."
"We can't live with clashing thoughts," said Jack. "We take something that we know we shouldn't be laughing at. We think it's funny. It makes us think about it and somehow we have to resolve that issue."
As long as there have been ethnicities and races there have been jokes about ethnicities and races.
"And so you laugh. It's a socially acceptable way to deflect something going on that we don't know how to talk about," said Jack.
There are those who don't find the movie's racist character amusing.
"Great message: White man saves minorities from themselves while insulting them all along the way with his 'funny' racist comments," said Ellen Bracken, sarcastically. "Eastwood's character starts out a racist, then meets some nice, "exemplary" Hmong folks (along with some "bad" Hmong folks), is surprised to find that Asian American people can be nice (wow!)"
Jack said that she believes that the discussion emerging is interesting, and the fact that some laugh at something they know to be racist, can have a positive outcome.
"Why is this funny? Is it funny? Do I think this way? It's quite thought provoking, actually. Some people will be offended, but others, like you, will think about that and go, 'What are my views?'" she said.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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