I went to Jon’s roast tonight, which was hilarious and made me happy to know intriguing and odd people. Dressing up is always enjoyable as well. Various conversations and interactions left me into a rather introspective mood. Introspective about introspection that is. What is the end of self-analysis?
Some comedic theorist I read for my thesis last year argued that we laugh at the misfortune of other (specifically actors etc.) because it is only plausible response to the realization of our own morality. We laugh when he slips on the banana peel because we too have fallen, and do not know how to handle that pain. We see our self in the foolish or doomed comedic actor, and laugh because other wise we might go crazy.
Is laughter the end of self-knowledge (or maybe a key stop along the way)? To see our naked selves and laugh because of our small-ness in comparison to the Creator, and laugh because we know ‘all shall be well and all manner of things shall be well’?
“‘…By the way, do you know why people laugh and animals don’t?’
‘No,’ she said, trying to remember if she had ever seen an animal laugh.
‘Because people live in a crooked and imperfect place, full of inconsistencies and contradictions. Animals don’t laugh because they don’t need to: nature is perfect. We have to laugh when we look upon what we have made and what has come of our finely calculated ambitions. Laughter saves us by reconciling our pride to what we really are. Animals – except for cats – have no such need…’”
~Swan Lake, as told by Mark Helprin
Oh my gosh… I don’t know who you are, but you just quoted one of my favorite books of all time! csc
only too glad to return the favor
I actually tumbled onto this site because I currently have no idea where I left my copy of “The Once and Future King”, and as I was searching for a passage that fit my mood at the time, I did a brief google search, and here I was led.
*Note to self: ought to get around to reading other Mark Helprin works…*