Can "punching down" humor ever work?

[Kat]

I was thinking about this yesterday when I was listening to a music radio station yesterday afternoon. A woman called in asking if she could request a song because it was her birthday. The male DJ replied that he would give her a song, and proceeded to sing one that he made up on the spot. The gist of it was, "So you're a woman and it's your birthday. It's all downhill from here because you'll gain weight, never be below a size 4, your boobs will sag, no one will like you and crows feet only look good on crows."

Unsurprisingly, it wasn't very funny hearing a guy who has both an audience and power rehash a bunch of sexist stereotypes about women. Not really sure what this guy was thinking, but I changed the station shortly afterward and did not turn it back.

Is this type of humor (where the comedian has more power than the listener and makes fun of them) ever actually funny? I can't really think of a single good example. I have to tell my students a lot that it's ok to make fun of yourself for some shitty situation you're in, but not ok for others to do it. Like I can talk about how I live on a radioactive island with my ex because the housing market here is so shitty, but if one of my friends in the tech industry decided to characterize my neighborhood the same way and laughed about it, I'd probably disinvite them from future social events.

So is it ever funny?

[eyenon15]

Yeh, Howard Stern took over the world by doing it.

[Seli]

I don't think it is ever funny for the people at the receiving end of the 'humor'. It does seem to be funny for audiences that could also punch down though, which is probably why it persists.

[Leonardo]

I view this in the same category I put shock comics.

It's a cheap laugh. It's like the McDonalds of jokes, there's just not much real nutrition going on there in light of everything else going into it.

[eyenon15]

it's difficult to find any good humor anywhere that isn't hurtful to someone somehow.

I'd rather have my feelings hurt on ocassion than all of us be forced to only tell knock knock jokes

Even The Daily Show which is liberal headquarters is full of nonstop punching down humor

[karaddin]

Yes the Daily Show is full of punching down humour which is why I stopped watching it. When you are on the bottom you get really sick of being a reliable and safe source of ridicule and personally I don't have much time at all for any comedy anymore. Things that happen to be humorous that aren't comedy can be fine, but straight up comedy is very rare that I appreciate it.

[eyenon15]

I'd only laugh like once a year if I waited for perfect jokes that are funny yet don't hurt anyones feelings.

laughing is important to health

[Arkhangel]

Depends what you mean by "work". Can you get the right audience to laugh at it, absolutely. Can you use it to demonstrate power relations, certainly. Can you use it to segregate and alienate people, for sure. Can you do it without offending or hurting someone, almost certainly not.

[Ramsay B.]

Kinda off-topic but the OP makes me really appreciate my satellite radio. Obnoxious DJ's trying to be funny are the worst. They love that type of cheap humor and some people eat it the fuck up.

[HexMachina]

The idea that all humour has to hurt someone's feelings is wrong, as far as I'm concerned eyenon. And I especially don't see why a woman who simply put in a song request on the radio deserves to be the butt if such ridicule

[karaddin]

I'd only laugh like once a year if I waited for perfect jokes that are funny yet don't hurt anyones feelings.

laughing is important to health

I'll take that over everyone else getting to laugh at me. I thought given your past comments on similar topics you'd understand this, since you don't like it when you feel that the world says its OK to laugh at people like you (although when that happens its punching up not down)

[Inigima]

Not usually, no.

it's difficult to find any good humor anywhere that isn't hurtful to someone somehow.

I'd rather have my feelings hurt on ocassion than all of us be forced to only tell knock knock jokes

Even The Daily Show which is liberal headquarters is full of nonstop punching down humor

This is not what "punching down" means

[Jo498]

As "adding insult to injury" or similar phrases are common in several languages I am pretty sure that this kind of humor DOES work.

Of course, it's mean, but it can be funny, although it is very often more entertaining if someone powerful and respectable gets into awkward and funny situations (and there is a long tradition in humurous art for that as well).

[Leonardo]

it's difficult to find any good humor anywhere that isn't hurtful to someone somehow.

I'd rather have my feelings hurt on ocassion than all of us be forced to only tell knock knock jokes

Even The Daily Show which is liberal headquarters is full of nonstop punching down humor

?

The daily show typically punches up.... At people in office, or people with outlandish viewpoints and methods who are in positions of power like Nancy Grace.

I need some examples of this honestly, as I don't think most people are understanding the point of the OP.

[HexMachina]

As "adding insult to injury" or similar phrases are common in several languages I am pretty sure that this kind of humor DOES work.

Of course, it's mean, but it can be funny, although it is very often more entertaining if someone powerful and respectable gets into awkward and funny situations (and there is a long tradition in humurous art for that as well).

If I understand what sort of humour we are talking about correctly, I think its not so bad in stand-up comedian shows where you get "hecklers". They are, essentially, trying to bait the comedian, so in those situations I see it as fair game. But, I'm not sure if I've misunderstood what kind of humour we are talking about

[eyenon15]

I'll take that over everyone else getting to laugh at me. I thought given your past comments on similar topics you'd understand this, since you don't like it when you feel that the world says its OK to laugh at people like you (although when that happens its punching up not down)

meh, I don't want to have a stroke by age 40 because I refuse to laugh at anything.

I also find it hard to believe everyone laughs at you

[karaddin]

meh, I don't want to have a stroke by age 40 because I refuse to laugh at anything.

I also find it hard to believe everyone laughs at you

I laugh about lots of things, most especially myself (making jokes at your own expense is very different to others doing so). As for being laughed at, try looking up how comedy treats trans women, see how many jokes paint us in a positive light or attack the transphobe, and how many revolve around "man in a dress" or "that chick has a dick" or any number of other jokes that so many people find hilarious and are extremely harmful to the mental health of people like me. They weren't on The Daily Show or Colbert all the time, but it was enough to make me uncomfortable watching them and I stopped.

To Leo - Yes TDS tries to punch up most of the time, which proves my point even more, if you are seen as a legitimate target even the wonderful progressive comics still punch down at you.

[HexMachina]

meh, I don't want to have a stroke by age 40 because I refuse to laugh at anything.

Don't be ridiculous, nobody is saying that is what we should do at all. Humour does not need to offend others

[Theda Baratheon]

I laugh ALL the time tbh and that's without laughing at mean spirited jokes

[eyenon15]

Sure I've seen people make fun of Trans but it's not like that's the bottom of the barrel of things that are made fun of.

from what I see it's not even the most common thing that's made fun of.

Making fun of yourself can be hurtful to others as well. If a Jewish person tells some joke about how he loves money and has no athletic ability, he might not care. But other Jewish people might be like fuk that guy for spreading jew stereotypes through jokes