• You are currently viewing our forum as a guest, which gives you limited access to view most discussions and access our other features. By joining our free community, you will have access to additional post topics, communicate privately with other members (PM), view blogs, respond to polls, upload content, and access many other special features. Registration is fast, simple and absolutely free, so please join our community today! Just click here to register. You should turn your Ad Blocker off for this site or certain features may not work properly. If you have any problems with the registration process or your account login, please contact us by clicking here.

Morbid Humor

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
As I was reading this, suddenly "Edward Scissorhands" popped into mind as something dark, a bit morbid and dangerous, a bit cynical of the average human being, yet still with that "INFP" feel to it due to the whimsy and warmth. (As I think that is Burton's type anyway. And we've had the Johnny Depp discussions.)
My INFP daughter loves that kind of stuff. My whole family loved the movie Hogfather, which is, I suppose morbid, definitely dark.

Life is dark. Hiding under the blankets and pretending there isn't a monster in your closet is okay sometimes, but there are times when it's just more fun to invite him to have some pizza and play scrabble.
 

Carebear

will make your day
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
1,449
MBTI Type
INFP
Anyway, I could only guess at the sort of humor that goes on in the private corners of the ER.

I witnessed a talk between two morticians waiting outside a funeral. They left me shocked. I do see where they're coming from though, and don't think it makes them any less healthy than other people. When one of their loved ones passes away, they'll not even think of such jokes, but back on work they'll revert back to their coping mechanism.
 

proteanmix

Plumage and Moult
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
5,514
Enneagram
1w2
And I think you still need to distinguish among the motivations of the people who laugh at it.

Yes, that's what I'm trying to get people to tease out right now. I don't think Carebear is cruel if he finds humor in that picture because he doesn't seem like that type of person. Someone, somewhere out there, I don't know. How does one tell the difference between the two, especially over the internet?

Also I'm not saying I don't "get" what makes it funny. But someone thinking that's a laugh riot just because? No, don't get it. Which brings us back to motivations.

I think it's cathartic for some. You have to laugh, to get over it, or you'd bottle it up or cry instead.

Of course. Laugh to keep from crying. I do that often enough. That's not morbid bordering or disturbing.

Monster!!!

Perhaps. I think I like bitchy, mean girls humor more than morbid I'm going to kill my parents humor. Mainly because some people actually do it.

And a good deal of when to take morbid humor seriously and when to accept it as a simple humor depends on if the person making the joke is likely to act. When tragedy occurs, a coworker snaps or there's a school shooting we here people saying, "well the said they were going to do it, but I thought they were joking." This is a response I wanted to give in Sub's thread about his child's school but you really don't know when to take someone seriously and when not to.
 

Carebear

will make your day
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
1,449
MBTI Type
INFP
My INFP daughter loves that kind of stuff. My whole family loved the movie Hogfather, which is, I suppose morbid, definitely dark.

Life is dark. Hiding under the blankets and pretending there isn't a monster in your closet is okay sometimes, but there are times when it's just more fun to invite him to have some pizza and play scrabble.

Great movie! Great answer!
 

Poser

Fe, rusted.
Joined
Jan 22, 2008
Messages
691
MBTI Type
INTP
Also: The fact that I'm not the only one who finds the image funny tells me I'm not alone in my situation. Others find the political subtext funny too. IOW I'm not alone.

Yes, you are right. There is also a large group of people that are currently in the penal system. I hope that all of you find the help that you so desperately need. :D
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Morbid, disturbing, absurd, offensive or all at once? (Don't click the link if you're easily offended people. No blood and gore, but it's still "wrong". (One of the naked running children of 'nam , holding hands with Ronald McD and Mickey.)
http://www.intpcentral.com/uploads/feeling5.jpg
I don't think it's funny, but the political commentary is eloquent in a way that no words could be.
 

proteanmix

Plumage and Moult
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
5,514
Enneagram
1w2
Has anyone seen the movie Funny Games? There are two versions: one in English and the other in German.

Is that the product of morbid humor or is it sick?
 

Totenkindly

@.~*virinaĉo*~.@
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
50,192
MBTI Type
BELF
Enneagram
594
Instinctual Variant
sx/sp
Also: The fact that I'm not the only one who finds the image funny tells me I'm not alone in my situation. Others find the political subtext funny too. IOW I'm not alone.

Actually, I didn't cover that part when I talked about the pic earlier... on some level I also picked up on it as an indictment of American commercialism linked with the American war machine. As soon as you said the word "political," all of that subtext flooded into my brain.

The girl's being brutalized by insensitive money-grubbing corporations (representative of American big business... and not even GOOD business necessarily, just the sort that lives off the culture's foibles and sentimentalism) and basically being told that she's okay, that her life hasn't been destroyed, that she hasn't been gutted and left for dead... because MickeyM and MickeyD are both around to hold her hand and make everything better.

The horror of what she is going through is what fuels the venom directed at her abusers.. the ones pretending they're doing her a favor and that nothing's wrong.

So again, it's also sarcastic social commentary about American corporate politics.

Has anyone seen the movie Funny Games? There are two versions: one in English and the other in German. Is that the product of morbid humor or is it sick?

It got interesting reviews (it's a remake of another movie, by the SAME director... weird... to remake your own movie? But he wanted to port it to a different audience) and so I wanted to see it.
 

Carebear

will make your day
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
1,449
MBTI Type
INFP
Yes, that's what I'm trying to get people to tease out right now. I don't think Carebear is cruel if he finds humor in that picture because he doesn't seem like that type of person. Someone, somewhere out there, I don't know. How does one tell the difference between the two, especially over the internet?

By trying to read between the lines, confront and ask and a dash of guesswork. :D For instance you've figured out that I'm not the type of person, even if you stated above that people who find it funny are "sick and twisted".

Also I'm not saying I don't "get" what makes it funny. But someone thinking that's a laugh riot just because? No, don't get it. Which brings us back to motivations.

I'm guessing you "get" it then, but still not really get it. It might be your views and experiences are not set up right for the joke. Perhaps it'd be funnier if the joke was related to Saddam instead of US foreign policy. Or the misfortune of a sexual predator or a psychopath. Or something completely different you feel strongly about. Or maybe the type of joke just happens to fall down the wrong side of the balance for you, so you get too offended to find it funny, while some others find it too funny to be offended. It's never easy to tell exactly why humor works the way it works, but who we are, the experiences we have and things like type, nationality etc play an important part.

Perhaps. I think I like bitchy, mean girls humor more than morbid I'm going to kill my parents humor. Mainly because some people actually do it.

Aren't you aware that some people actually turn into bitchy, mean girls as well? :tongue:

And a good deal of when to take morbid humor seriously and when to accept it as a simple humor depends on if the person making the joke is likely to act. When tragedy occurs, a coworker snaps or there's a school shooting we here people saying, "well the said they were going to do it, but I thought they were joking." This is a response I wanted to give in Sub's thread about his child's school but you really don't know when to take someone seriously and when not to.

Not sure I agree. I take the humor for humor and judge it based on the quality of the joke. When people say "we thought he were joking" it's normally when someone has threatened to do something concrete, not when posting morbid internet images or jokes. A threat about going on a rampage is a poor joke, and would make me fear the person posting it was serious, but that's no reason to stop telling funny morbid jokes.

I guess it could all be a matter of differences between Fi/Ti and Fe/Te. When the first pair is challenged, they don't call for any action. Not so with Fe/Te.
 

Carebear

will make your day
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
1,449
MBTI Type
INFP
Actually, I didn't cover that part when I talked about the pic earlier... on some level I also picked up on it as an indictment of American commercialism linked with the American war machine. As soon as you said the word "political," all of that subtext flooded into my brain.

The girl's being brutalized by insensitive money-grubbing corporations (representative of American big business... and not even GOOD business necessarily, just the sort that lives off the culture's foibles and sentimentalism) and basically being told that she's okay, that her life hasn't been destroyed, that she hasn't been gutted and left for dead... because MickeyM and MickeyD are both around to hold her hand and make everything better.

The horror of what she is going through is what fuels the venom directed at her abusers.. the ones pretending they're doing her a favor and that nothing's wrong.

So again, it's also sarcastic social commentary about American corporate politics.

Excellently explained. Yes, that's about it. If you don't agree with the view of the subtext, you probably won't find it funny no matter how much you get the joke. It's created as an all-or-nothing joke, I guess. Either it hits home or it misses completely, and in the latter case it will seem cruel to use such heavy ammunition.
 

Ivy

Strongly Ambivalent
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
23,989
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6
Has anyone seen the movie Funny Games? There are two versions: one in English and the other in German.

Is that the product of morbid humor or is it sick?

Ohgod, I heard about this recently. I start losing perspective when it gets into recursive patterns like this ("okay wait, are they really making fun of torture or are they criticizing a culture that takes torture lightly? but they're kind of taking torture lightly so are they criticizing themselves? AARRGGHH!!").

This is a topic I've long struggled with- the morbid and the disturbing are interesting and horrifying to me. When I was 18 I read American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis. I didn't finish it at that time, so I didn't get to the ambivalently redemptive ending which I won't spoil here. I could not at that time handle the descriptions of brutal torture and murder alongside passages cataloguing the work of Phil Collins, the art form of business cards, and so on. I actually threw the book away. As a bibliophile, having done that bothered me for many years so a couple of years ago I steeled myself and tried it again. I'm better able to detach and review the social commentary now than I was then, and while it was most definitely disturbing, I didn't consider it evil or defiling like I did before.
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
Excellently explained. Yes, that's about it. If you don't agree with the view of the subtext, you probably won't find it funny no matter how much you get the joke. It's created as an all-or-nothing joke, I guess. Either it hits home or it misses completely, and in the latter case it will seem cruel to use such heavy ammunition.
I don't know if I agree with the subtext 100%, but I can see where the artist is coming from. I think it's a perfectly valid opinion and that they are right to 'say' it. Society needs people who don't pretend the Emperor is wearing clothes and who aren't afraid to speak up. I mean, so what if from where I'm sitting the Emperor is wearing a thong? It's not exactly a tuxedo.
 
Last edited:

Carebear

will make your day
Joined
Apr 23, 2007
Messages
1,449
MBTI Type
INFP
Ohgod, I heard about this recently. I start losing perspective when it gets into recursive patterns like this ("okay wait, are they really making fun of torture or are they criticizing a culture that takes torture lightly? but they're kind of taking torture lightly so are they criticizing themselves? AARRGGHH!!").

Lol, I know. It irritates me when people aren't clear on exactly what they're making fun of. I normally skip it all together if I can't understand what they're trying to say.

This is a topic I've long struggled with- the morbid and the disturbing are interesting and horrifying to me. When I was 18 I read American Psycho, by Bret Easton Ellis. I didn't finish it at that time, so I didn't get to the ambivalently redemptive ending which I won't spoil here. I could not at that time handle the descriptions of brutal torture and murder alongside passages cataloguing the work of Phil Collins, the art form of business cards, and so on. I actually threw the book away. As a bibliophile, having done that bothered me for many years so a couple of years ago I steeled myself and tried it again. I'm better able to detach and review the social commentary now than I was then, and while it was most definitely disturbing, I didn't consider it evil or defiling like I did before.

Oh, a book is too much for me. I can withhold judgment for a while, but not for that long. I probably won't read the book or watch the film. Too disturbing. It has to be a quick reaction or nothing for me. Feel too confused and dirty otherwise. Still, I can totally understand why others come to a different conclusion. I'm just a bit too sensitive, so though I can rationally see why it's probably a great book, my Fi will make me put it somewhere low on my "books I should read" list and keep putting new books above it. :)
 

Ivy

Strongly Ambivalent
Joined
Apr 18, 2007
Messages
23,989
MBTI Type
INFP
Enneagram
6
I'm not sure I consider it a "great book," actually- it's interesting, and it makes a number of salient points, but it's certainly not on par with, say, Faulkner IMO. But I feel pretty strongly about the power of language and communication and blah blah blah, so I felt like I had closed off a part of my mind when I threw a book in the trash. (That would be my idealist streak, I guess.) So I had to make peace with the book. I won't be reading it again though.
 

cafe

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 19, 2007
Messages
9,827
MBTI Type
INFJ
Enneagram
9w1
I can't watch real horror. I mean, I don't even enjoy The Three Stooges, so anything depicting someone (or something) being hurt repeatedly is not something I can do. I can handle fight scenes, but only if they are fast and light. Buffy the Vampire Slayer kind of stuff is about the worst I can handle. I run out of the room crying if it's real, like once in a documentary when a stallion was killing a sick colt and another time when my husband was watching something about the aftermath of a tornado. That stuff just tears me up.
 

JustDave

New member
Joined
Jan 20, 2008
Messages
992
MBTI Type
xNTP
Lol, I know. It irritates me when people aren't clear on exactly what they're making fun of. I normally skip it all together if I can't understand what they're trying to say.



Oh, a book is too much for me. I can withhold judgment for a while, but not for that long. I probably won't read the book or watch the film. Too disturbing. It has to be a quick reaction or nothing for me. Feel too confused and dirty otherwise. Still, I can totally understand why others come to a different conclusion. I'm just a bit too sensitive, so though I can rationally see why it's probably a great book, my Fi will make me put it somewhere low on my "books I should read" list and keep putting new books above it. :)

I know I will get in trouble for this as it's off topic, nevertheless I think you probably have the coolest avatar ever. I always knew those bears were little hell spawns.
 

Nadir

Enigma
Joined
Dec 17, 2007
Messages
544
MBTI Type
INxJ
Enneagram
4
proteanmix said:
There are several people on the forum who use morbid humor very well like Mort Belfry.

I think that's because he doesn't actually follow up with any morbidity --
Morbid humor is not so morbid, unless it's really morbid.
 

GZA

Resident Snot-Nose
Joined
Aug 13, 2007
Messages
1,771
MBTI Type
infp
Morbid humour?

The Perry Bible Fellowship


!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Morbid humour is great because it turns something that is specifically not funny into something funny. Anyone ever heard George Carlin's explanation of how rape can be funny ("imagine Porky Pig raping Elmur Fudd", he says)? Hilarious. Or his rant on how Micky Mouse embodies everything wrong with America and how he hopes Micky dies? Hilarious.


So why is morbid humour so funny? I don't really know... all I can think of is that it takes soemthing that isn't funny and makes it funny, which magnifies how well you receive it. This also relates to how a poorly placed morbid joke is met with anger.
 

swordpath

New member
Joined
Oct 24, 2007
Messages
10,547
MBTI Type
ISTx
Enneagram
5w6
From reading and talking to people I know that morbid humor aka "gallows humor" is prevalent in jobs that deal with death, suffering and just plain ole fucked up things (police, EMT, Fire, etc.). I know this has been mentioned but it's a detaching mechanism, used to try to preserve the mind from letting it have a lasting affect. If you can find a reason to laugh at something it helps make the situation more comfortable. This is one reason people use it but for others it's just naturally funny I guess.

The point has already been made but I wanted an excuse to introduce the phrase "gallows humor." :D
 
Top