Black Humor in America
Black Humor
One of the most underappreciated and unrecognized forms of comedy is black humor. Black humor often deals with events that are not often associated with other forms of comedy, such as war, murder, insanity and death. The main reason that this form of comedy is so underappreciated is that it requires some thinking on the part of the audience and many people are not willing to do that. The types of humor that are popular today do not require much thinking and can be characterized as one-liners. However, black humor has been used as an effective means of satire usually towards a tragic event. One of the biggest misconceptions about black humor is that it involves race. Black humor is not a form of African American humor but rather it "is used in literature, drama, and film to express the absurdity, paradox and cruelty of the modern world" (Black, Columbia). This form of comedy is often reflective of the situations going on in the world. One example of this is the movie Dr. Strangelove, a film about nuclear war, being created during the Cold War era. There are many different forms of black humor but they almost always deal with a serious event. Black humor first began in American film in the middle 1920s. Many scholars agree that the first film was Gold Rush in 1925. However that movie only slightly embodied black humor and the first true film was The Bride of Frankenstein in 1935. Many American black humorists were influenced by black comedy in Britain. Many of today's movies or books today contain elements of British black humor. "In America, black comedy as a literary genre came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. Writers such as Terry Southern, Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Ellison and Eric Nicol have written and published novels, stories and plays where profound or horrific events were portrayed in a comic manner" (Black, wikipedia). Black Humor is as prominent today as it was in the 1960s. According
One of the most underappreciated and unrecognized forms of comedy is black humor. Black humor often deals with events that are not often associated with other forms of comedy, such as war, murder, insanity and death. The main reason that this form of comedy is so underappreciated is that it requires some thinking on the part of the audience and many people are not willing to do that. The types of humor that are popular today do not require much thinking and can be characterized as one-liners. However, black humor has been used as an effective means of satire usually towards a tragic event. One of the biggest misconceptions about black humor is that it involves race. Black humor is not a form of African American humor but rather it "is used in literature, drama, and film to express the absurdity, paradox and cruelty of the modern world" (Black, Columbia). This form of comedy is often reflective of the situations going on in the world. One example of this is the movie Dr. Strangelove, a film about nuclear war, being created during the Cold War era. There are many different forms of black humor but they almost always deal with a serious event. Black humor first began in American film in the middle 1920s. Many scholars agree that the first film was Gold Rush in 1925. However that movie only slightly embodied black humor and the first true film was The Bride of Frankenstein in 1935. Many American black humorists were influenced by black comedy in Britain. Many of today's movies or books today contain elements of British black humor. "In America, black comedy as a literary genre came to prominence in the 1950s and 1960s. Writers such as Terry Southern, Joseph Heller, Thomas Pynchon, Kurt Vonnegut, Harlan Ellison and Eric Nicol have written and published novels, stories and plays where profound or horrific events were portrayed in a comic manner" (Black, wikipedia). Black Humor is as prominent today as it was in the 1960s. According
Cited: "black comedy." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 09 Mar. 2006. "Black Humor" in Merriam-Webster 's Encyclopedia of Literature © 1995 "Black Humor" The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2005, Columbia University Press. infoplease. © 2000–2005 Pearson Education, publishing as Infoplease. 26 Jan. 2006 . "Catch-22." Computer Desktop Encyclopedia. Computer Language Company Inc., 2005 Department of Language and Literature . Dept. home page. Bucks County Community College . 29 Jan. 2006 . "George Orwell." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Columbia University Press., 2003 "George Orwell." The New Dictionary of Cultural Literacy, Third Edition. Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002 "Lewis Black." Popular Artist Biographies. All Media Guide, 2006. Answers.com 09 Mar "Slaughterhouse-Five." Wikipedia. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 09 Mar. 2006. "Stanley Kubrick." The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition Columbia University Press., 2003. Answers.com 09 Mar. 2006. "The Ruling Class." Wikipedia "Tim Burton." Sensesofcinema. Wikipedia, 2005. Answers.com 09 Mar. 2006. "Tim Burton." Who2 Biography