When Being Fake Is Funny
When Elaine Benes pointed out that she had "faked it," the majority of the time when she was dating Jerry on the hit sitcom Seinfeld, it was funny. When she admitted that she faked it, "all the time," it was very funny. When Kramer admitted he sometimes faked it, it was hilarious.
But Heidi Montag is not at all funny.
When Google offered up a dog translation app on April 1, it was funny.
But the Arkansas law that allows dog owners to rightfully euthanize their healthy pets when they want to bury them in the casket with them is not very funny. (It's a little funny, a lot odd, but not VERY funny.)
When War of the Worlds went out as a broadcast show for Mercury Theater on Halloween night 1938, it seemed like a funny idea. But some people were not in the least amused.
When BP's CEO announced that the Gulf of Mexico is a really big ocean and that the oil spill was only in a tiny, tiny portion of that ocean, it was not funny. When news that a fake BP twitter account had more than twice the followers of the real deal, it was kinda funny.
Then when this stupid YouTube video of a coffee spill at BP leaked out into the www, it was a reminder of what funny is. And Leroy Stick is a reminder of what funny does.
What funny is and what funny does is entertain. It's a reprieve from more somber things to think about and more serious subject matter to ponder on. Funny is necessary. Even if it's fake.
But Heidi Montag is not at all funny.
When Google offered up a dog translation app on April 1, it was funny.
But the Arkansas law that allows dog owners to rightfully euthanize their healthy pets when they want to bury them in the casket with them is not very funny. (It's a little funny, a lot odd, but not VERY funny.)
When War of the Worlds went out as a broadcast show for Mercury Theater on Halloween night 1938, it seemed like a funny idea. But some people were not in the least amused.
When BP's CEO announced that the Gulf of Mexico is a really big ocean and that the oil spill was only in a tiny, tiny portion of that ocean, it was not funny. When news that a fake BP twitter account had more than twice the followers of the real deal, it was kinda funny.
Then when this stupid YouTube video of a coffee spill at BP leaked out into the www, it was a reminder of what funny is. And Leroy Stick is a reminder of what funny does.
What funny is and what funny does is entertain. It's a reprieve from more somber things to think about and more serious subject matter to ponder on. Funny is necessary. Even if it's fake.
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