Dark Comedy

A Dark Comedy is a comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo.

• Context:
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • Joseph Heller's "Catch-22": Soldiers can't escape dangerous situations because their desire to do so makes them sane.
  • Mikhail Bulgakov's "Master and Margarita": The Devil visits Stalinist Moscow, creating chaos and absurdity that satirizes the Soviet regime.
  • Voltaire's "Candide": Repeated disasters befall an ever-optimistic protagonist, critiquing the philosophy of optimism.
  • a Dark Comedy Film, such as:
    • Stanley Kubrick's "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb": Humans plan to live in mineshafts after a nuclear apocalypse, highlighting Cold War paranoia.
  • …
• Counter-Example(s):
  • a Light Comedy.
• See: Grotesque, Taboo.

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References

2023

• (Wikipedia, 2023) ⇒ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_comedy Retrieved:2023-2-14.
  • Black comedy, also known as dark comedy, morbid humor, gallows humor, or dark humor is a style of comedy that makes light of subject matter that is generally considered taboo, particularly subjects that are normally considered serious or painful to discuss. Writers and comedians often use it as a tool for exploring vulgar issues by provoking discomfort, serious thought, and amusement for their audience. Thus, in fiction, for example, the term black comedy can also refer to a genre in which dark humor is a core component. Popular themes of the genre include death, crime, poverty, suicide, war, violence, terrorism, discrimination, disease, racism, sexism, and human sexuality.

    Black comedy differs from both blue comedy—which focuses more on crude topics such as nudity, sex, and body fluids—and from straightforward obscenity. Whereas the term black comedy is a relatively broad term covering humor relating to many serious subjects, gallows humor tends to be used more specifically in relation to death, or situations that are reminiscent of dying. Black humor can occasionally be related to the grotesque genre. Literary critics have associated black comedy and black humor with authors as early as the ancient Greeks with Aristophanes.

2023

• chat
  • Q: What is dark comedy in literary fiction, provide some examples and explain why?
  • A: Dark comedy in literary fiction is a genre of literature that uses humor to explore topics that are often seen as taboo or difficult, such as death, illness, and social issues. These works can be challenging, but they can also provide a fresh perspective and help readers to cope with difficult emotions.
  • Here are some examples of dark comedy in literary fiction:
    • “Catch-22” by Joseph Heller - A novel about a World War II bombardier who is caught in a bureaucratic trap, featuring a range of absurd and darkly humorous characters and situations.
    • "The Crying of Lot 49" by Thomas Pynchon - A novel about a woman's search for the truth about a secret underground mail system, featuring a mix of paranoia, absurdity, and humor.
    • "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole - A novel about an eccentric and dysfunctional man living in New Orleans, featuring satire and dark humor.
    • “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov - A novel about a man's obsession with a young girl, featuring dark humor and an unreliable narrator.
    • “White Noise” by Don DeLillo - A novel about a family living in a postmodern world, featuring satire, irony, and dark humor.
  • These works use humor to explore difficult topics and highlight social issues. They can be challenging to read, but they can also provide a fresh perspective on these topics and help readers to cope with difficult emotions through humor.

2023

• chat
  • Q: What is dark humour and what are some examples of dark comedy? Explain why.
  • A: Dark humor is a type of humor that uses topics and situations that are typically seen as serious, taboo, or even offensive, to create comedy. Dark comedy can help people to cope with difficult situations and emotions by finding the absurdity or irony in them. It can also be used to highlight social issues or to satirize current events.
  • Here are some examples of dark comedy:
    • “Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb” - a satirical film about a nuclear crisis, directed by Stanley Kubrick.
    • "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia" - a TV show about a group of dysfunctional friends who run a bar and get into bizarre situations.
    • "Death at a Funeral" - a film about a British family dealing with a chaotic funeral.
    • "American Psycho" - a film about a wealthy investment banker who leads a double life as a serial killer, based on the novel by Bret Easton Ellis.
    • "The Addams Family" - a TV show and film franchise about a creepy and macabre family with a dark sense of humor.
    • "Fargo" - a TV series about a series of murders in a small town, with quirky and darkly humorous characters.
    • "The Death of Stalin" - a film about the chaotic power struggle that occurred after the death of Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin.
    • "In Bruges" - a film about two hitmen who hide out in Bruges, Belgium, after a job goes wrong, featuring witty dialogue and dark humor.
    • "The Office" - A TV show about a group of employees at a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania, that features cringe-worthy situations, satire of corporate culture, and characters with deeply flawed personalities.
    • "BoJack Horseman" - A TV show that uses anthropomorphic animal characters to explore addiction, mental health, and the entertainment industry, often through absurd and dark humor.
    • "South Park" - A TV show that satirizes American culture, politics, and social issues, often through outrageous and offensive humor.
    • "Fight Club" - A film about a man who joins a fight club and discovers a larger conspiracy that uses dark humor to critique consumerism and toxic masculinity.
    • "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" - A film that parodies the legend of King Arthur and the Middle Ages through absurd and often violent humor.
• These examples use dark humor to critique society and explore difficult topics such as addiction, mental health, and social issues. They can be challenging for some audiences, but they can also provide a fresh perspective and help people to cope with difficult emotions through humor.

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