The Role of Comedy

When I think about comedy, typically it's not something I automatically associate with tragedy, simply because people tend to categorize them as opposites. There's no difficulty in watching a funny movie and laughing at the humor in it, not needing to do any more. But when you think about humor in the sense of it relating to life as a meaningful, dramatic experience, then this type of humor seems practically insane. In fact, many will see it as offensive and obtrusive to deep brokenness that is so real, so inevitable.

But this is just the place where comedy is born. Thinking about the circular graph illustrating life, it is in the dead of it all, when all hope is completely lost, that absurdity comes out and shakes us once again. We might very well find it offensive - Jesus certainly offended a lot of the people around Him when He came into the world - but it seems equally foolish to remain in a state of denial and despair when a hope that could never be predicted or anticipated suddenly offers you new life - and right where you needed it!

I think that what we've been learning about the meaning of comedy really makes life so much more beautiful. Before, I honestly thought of comedy an escape, or a way of showing what heaven will be like...eventually when we get there. But now that I understand a little better what comedy is actually here for, laughter seems so much more meaningful! To laugh at life is to get the cosmic joke- that yes, we are destined for destruction, and this is inevitable, BUT (and this is where the joke starts, since if something is indeed inevitable there can really be no "but") God said that He doesn't want it that way, so He gave us a way out by GRACE. I really am starting to get how crazy and whacky the idea of grace is....i mean basically it says "I don't give a crap that you don't deserve me, I love you and that trumps anything and everything." This is ultimate comedy, I think. And it sure makes me laugh - not just a "laughing at something" kind of laugh, but a laugh of joy and awe at the mystery and absurdity of that which should be too good to be true, but somehow is true.

Like I said before, knowing the real significance of comedy really helps me appreciate humor more, and also I can see the links between the divine comedy and other comedic things we like to watch/read. Unforeseeable absurdity is present in practically every piece of comedy you will see.

This scene is from one of my favorite zombie movies, Shaun of the Dead. I think it perfectly portrays the ridiculousness that makes comedy so hilarious.