Silly Versus Serious
Take the utmost trouble to find the right thing to say, and then say it with the utmost levity. - George Bernard Shaw
Recently on another blog, a fellow commenter referred to my comment as “silly.” Hmmm…well, irreverent, yes. Silly, no. Here’s the deal - if we’re able to laugh about something - from Iraq to global warming to sexism - it gives us a bit of power over the thing and an oh-so-small start on dealing with the deep, dark seriousness of it all.
Humor of course is in the brain of the beholder - from George Bush’s frat boy antics (I think I outgrew frat boy silliness in - oh - about 3rd grade. “Pull my finger!” indeed) to high-brow “in-jokes” (which, even if I get, don’t usually make me laugh.)
As Mr. Shaw said on his death bed, “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” And, look at those silly fellas Jon Stewart and Steve Colbert. Nope, they’re certainly not making any impact or raising people’s awareness.
So, laugh about something depressing today and give yourself a little power!
Tags: comedy, power, laughter, Jon Stewart, Steve Colbert
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