A ) Why do you think I wanted you to watch this episode?
B) Is using humour a good way to approach sensitive topics? Discuss.
a)
I believe that we watched that 30 rock episode, mainly because it brings up the racism and prejudice that we have today in a humoristic way. Because of the media, we find it easy to judge people by the way they look, their religion or how they dress. We find it far too easy to think that a person that is different is a bad person. For example in the episode, the lady delivers a package to her neighbor and see that he’s from the middle east, has some weird things in his apartment, and she starts believing that he’s a terrorist. I think that she’s not alone and we all judge people from time to time. The way this show brings up that topic in a humoristic way, makes it easier for us to place ourselves in that situation, and find out that we often judge people as well.
b) I think it’s a great way to approach sensitive topics, but it’s more suitable for some topics compared to others. The racism topic is good to use humor about, mainly because there’s no reason for someone to be threatened different because of their skin color. Maybe this is a too serious theme to joke about, but bringing it up in different ways could make people think more about it on daily basis. There should be more focus on accepting other people, and especially other religions. This is something that could be easier to accept if we present it with a sense of humor. When your present serious topics you have to be careful, and I think that the younger generations should be the targets here. On the other hand, many people will react when we’re joking around sensitive topics, and that is something that we should avoid.
So, presenting serious topics with humor can be a good way to do it, but it’s important that it doesn’t cross the line, and that we keep away from topics that should be handled in a serious and formal way.
