Who to Laugh At

2004-01-16 - 4:32 p.m.

I'm increasingly uncomfortable about the hierarchy of ridicule that permeates blogging. I have the feeling that if you don't fit anywhere on it, you just get ridiculed anyway, and I'm not at all sure that I want to be at the top (or anywhere near it).

For example:

1) The lowest level would be the mindless masses, as the general population are stereotyped if they don't ridicule anyone. This usually includes the oh-so-familiar illiterate typists of OMG U $UK!!! fame, but there's nothing to say that the levels don't mix.

2) The people who make fun of them tend to be teenagers or young adults with an inflated opinion of their own deviances. Goths come to mind immediately, in particular for the slogan, "You laugh because I'm different, I laugh because you're all the same." This is where we get a lot of the Christian-bashing, art snobbery, and general misanthropy.

3) The next level up is the one that most of us here probably fall into, if any. Jhonen Vasquez sums a lot of it up: the people of level 2 are more annoying than the people they ridicule, and also stupid enough to be funny. The point is that they repeat each other so much that it becomes cliche and they don't get it.

4) This is where it gets tricky. After all, anything can turn cliche, including goth-bashing and related shenanigans. Are there people who ridicule level 3? I wouldn't be surprised. The second and third levels often share a lot of traits and interests- your basic geek stuff- so there's always this looming threat of hypocrisy.

And then what? If I make fun of you for making fun of the people who make fun of the people who make fun of the general public, am I better than you? It sounds awfully easy to just not make fun of anyone and passively slide out of the drama, but it's much, much more subtle than I can really get into. The slightest thing can slam you into a category whether you want to be there or not.

I'm part of level 1 because I'm a white Christian Republican of middle-class suburban America. I'm level 2 because I read indy comics and like to shop at Hot Topic, and folks, that's all it takes to criticize normality even if you like normality just fine. I'm level 3 because I know what fursuits are for and think it's a riot.

Beyond that, well, the most I can say is that humor targeting any particular group, even a very stupid one, gets old fast and is cruel from the start. I've kind of had it with JTHM, South Park, and 665, just because I don't really feel like I want to be the kind of person who laughs at that stuff. Take that at face value. I haven't snapped my Bloodhound Gang CD. I've spent this whole entry criticizing what people do and I'm not really comfortable with that, either.

It kind of feels like the levels either get closer and closer to nihilism, a staggered acknowledgement of the absence of meaning in anything that anyone says (which would, indeed, render it all ridiculous), or a mystical point in which there isn't any more targeting, just acceptance of the silly things people do.

What bugs me about the whole thing is that I'm always watching my step. Those third levelers can be merciless.

But then, why do I care?

~Arixis

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