Why Do We Find the Ugly Funny? Should We Even Chuckle?

I saw a video of U.S. Senator Rick Santorum call down President Obama. In the video Santorum is about to say the forbidden Nigger Word*.  In many of the media debates that followed all sorts of excuses and other words came to light. It was in 2012 but this video clip didn't catch my attention until now. When I saw it I laughed. I laughed because I know one hundred percent that Santorum just caught himself. You know it was not a mistake, the "government nig" was a phrase that he must coined many times before in front of his contemporaries. That is why it flowed so easily from his mouth, and it is not a common phrase to say the "government nig-ha". I laughed at the excuses that followed. Me, I said maybe he was trying to say "government Ninja". 

Another thing I heard was about a cousin of mine who sells hand made jewellry at the local market. This White Woman was asking for 'Dream Catchers'.  My cousin had some that were big. The White Woman wanted some that were smaller. She wanted to put it on her car mirror. "I heard that Natives won't steal from your car if you have a Dream Catcher?."  That is what she said to my relative; who happens to be fair skinned. I laughed when I heard this about the Dream Catcher. My Wife didn't think it was funny. I thought it was hilarious. 

There is a park in Central Winnipeg that many poor people use. It is quite a nice park (Central Park); it has a nice soccer pitch, a couple of playgrounds for children, some super big slides and a splash park. I have been taking my grandkids there for a few years now (even though I don't live in the area). There are many kids of many different ethnic backgrounds. Lot of Native kids, and some new immigrants, along with poor white people.  I was driving past the park the other day with an old friend of mine. He was saying "what do they call that place again?"  Before I could answer he said, "I think they call it Nigger park, no! They call it Monkey park, that's what its called.  I heard it called Monkey Park".  I was shocked but kind of chuckled and shook my head. "Man," I said. 

I am sure you can remember many many times when something so repugnant was spoken that you just had to laugh. In our Reserve there are many that are laughing about the Residential school experience.  For many that experience was a horror of events. So now even talking about them some of these people are laughing about it. There were some settlements for the sexual abuse some of the residents went through. They got some money. So a few of them are laughing and saying you got a "pooch-tay-gay truck (pooked in the arse)".  In our Reserve there we some bad Priests that took advantage of many a young boy. Growing up we heard lot of teasing about being "washed" by the old priest. Today I wonder with all the re-opening of wounds about being raped or sodomised by the priest, if it will stop the laughing? 

Hey did you see Madonna of television? I guess she was singing at some awards show and her cape was suppose to let loose as her dancers pulled it off her neck. It didn't come undone and she fell down the stairs. She got up of course and continued to sing. I didn't see it until just now. It must have been funny.  People laughed of course. You know because she's old and trys to be young?

Watching at home, my heart stopped. Is that all it takes to kill a queen? Milanese outerwear?
The hateful hashtags #shefellover, #Fallenmadonna, immediately began toxifying Twitter: “I get it, Madonna. My grandma is exactly the same.” “I hope grandma’s ok. A broken hip at her age could be a death sentence.”

That is something we do often, laugh at the expense of others. Me, I am no fan of Madonna. I think she is a media whore. Can I say Whore? In any case I think she will do almost anything to get media attention. I am saying Whore not because she is a woman, Michael Jackson was a whore as well, and so is Donald Trump.

*Just for your info*, I deplore the use of the dreaded "N-word". It pains me to write, and to listen to it. But I use it here as illustration. I don't like it even when Black people are re-clamining that word. You know guys like 50 Cents and those guys. Maybe I can accept it only when Samuel L Jackson is saying it. And maybe only Denzel Washington as well. But no one else. Will Smith? No way, no how. I don't even think the coolest White guy can use the "N-word". You know that guy? Quentin Tarantino. He may seem cool or want to be cool, but he doesn't sound cool when he says it.  Johnny Depp thinks he's cool and all groovy but even he couldn't get pull off the N-word.  Brad Pitt?  Nope.

Anyway - - What is my point on bringing up these ugly statements and how the heck can they be funny?
I think we laugh because there is some funny stuff happening. It is not that we are accepting the ugly but we are laughing because IT IS UGLY. I think we can only shake our heads and laugh. Not with the joke but at the joke. You know what I'm saying?

But we do it all the time. "she's so muttly, she's cute".  "He's so fat, he's cute".

I'm don't use racist jokes at least I don't think I do or sexist jokes. Still I make many a joke that is upsetting. It gets me in trouble all the time. I can't help it. Or can I? It might be the timing of the rotten jokes I do. People seem to get upset. Like when I was giving eulogy for an Elder in our Reserve. I looked out in the crowd and told them that some of them would have to pay people to go their funeral. It didn't go good. People asked me after the funeral if I was talking about "so and so".
Or at the timing of my brother's hospital emergency when the doctor came in and told his wife to let him go. We asked her why she was shoveling dirt on him before he's dead. Or when at my friends Wake I told his brother that his wife was hitting on me and his body is not cold yet. It seems my sense of humour is not a funny one.





What do you get if you cross The Queen and Prince Charles?

Killed in a tunnel.

Courtesy of Sickipedia.org: http://www.sickipedia.org/hot/today#ixzz3bJ5wbXV1

And a very timely ugly funny.

Just heard about the death of Ben E King.

Anyone know what he'd been arrested for?.

Courtesy of Sickipedia.org: http://www.sickipedia.org/racism/american/just-heard-about-the-death-of-ben-e-king-anyone-1635729#ixzz3bJ7EhwFJ