Absurdism in pop culture seeks to have grown a very large amount these past few years, and I think it is due to the breadth and detail of information available to such a large part of the population now. Far away ideas are not wispy myths and unreachable wonders anymore. So many people now can ask for an instruction manual, a book, a story, a piece of music, a video of the life of complete strangers, many unabashed and desirous to be seen worldwide, others inadvertent projections. But so many of them have something different to say or to show, thus so many have so very few, if any, myths left in their lives. People's capacity to know more and to extrapolate from what they perceive has augmented n-fold, and new generations face a far different scenario from what older ones did. One where they know other cultures quite up close, often personally, and the barriers between cultures are gradually dissolving due to the contents on either side osmosing through in the form of information.
Why does Absurdism rise then? One cause I think about is a common ground for humor. Humor is often set on the topics of the little known, as it exploits the common stereotypes of foreign peoples and cultures, in the lack of further information exaggerates them, and produces humorous, if quite unreal, stories. But when unknown cultures diminish to the wealth of information, and the reality of the once-possibly-funny stereotypes is brought to front in full detail and crudeness, reality manages to straighten its humor until it simply becomes fact.
But people will continue being humorous, and seek to make fun of things in Life. But which common topic can all people find universally funny, regardless of their geographic, social, or economic status? One which none of them has experienced personally: the impossible. Hence, Absurdism rises.
Absurdism manages to circumvent several traditional caveats on humor. Making fun of other people can seem offensive, and be called racist, sexist, etc. And once it is so called and the description is widespread, both the humor's and the humorist's reputations can swiftly plummet into public disgrace. With information moving as fast as it does these days, humorists have more of a motivation to keep away from risque topics. Many humorists today still manage to exploit cultural topics and be successful, however, so cultural topics have not been discarded. But those who fall into disgrace can be discarded from the reputable community, and might find it difficult to recover trust. It makes sense then, that so many more humorists today use Absurdism as their principal style.
Self-deprecating humor is another one readily allowed by most communities, as long as it is elegant and not excessive. Trivialism is another recently augmented branch of humor. It might seem that comedians are running out of topics when they decide to talk about pillows, night tables, juice flavors, and tedious conversations. But I think that they are exploiting a recent asset in society: a more standard mode of living. Delving deep and haphazardly into the personal life of a random individual is more certain to strike a chord with another such person because these days they are more likely to share activities, problems, small joys, anecdotes, mood fluctuations, and social interactions than in the past, either recent or far. A side effect of a more standard society is that people's lives are less variant and more predictable between each other. And pointing out that often-ignored property of our lives is a kind of self-deprecation, not for a culture but for each individual out there. And as individuals rarely have complex allegiances like cultures and governments do, this kind of humor will most often also be well accepted by the public.
Why does Absurdism rise then? One cause I think about is a common ground for humor. Humor is often set on the topics of the little known, as it exploits the common stereotypes of foreign peoples and cultures, in the lack of further information exaggerates them, and produces humorous, if quite unreal, stories. But when unknown cultures diminish to the wealth of information, and the reality of the once-possibly-funny stereotypes is brought to front in full detail and crudeness, reality manages to straighten its humor until it simply becomes fact.
But people will continue being humorous, and seek to make fun of things in Life. But which common topic can all people find universally funny, regardless of their geographic, social, or economic status? One which none of them has experienced personally: the impossible. Hence, Absurdism rises.
Absurdism manages to circumvent several traditional caveats on humor. Making fun of other people can seem offensive, and be called racist, sexist, etc. And once it is so called and the description is widespread, both the humor's and the humorist's reputations can swiftly plummet into public disgrace. With information moving as fast as it does these days, humorists have more of a motivation to keep away from risque topics. Many humorists today still manage to exploit cultural topics and be successful, however, so cultural topics have not been discarded. But those who fall into disgrace can be discarded from the reputable community, and might find it difficult to recover trust. It makes sense then, that so many more humorists today use Absurdism as their principal style.
Self-deprecating humor is another one readily allowed by most communities, as long as it is elegant and not excessive. Trivialism is another recently augmented branch of humor. It might seem that comedians are running out of topics when they decide to talk about pillows, night tables, juice flavors, and tedious conversations. But I think that they are exploiting a recent asset in society: a more standard mode of living. Delving deep and haphazardly into the personal life of a random individual is more certain to strike a chord with another such person because these days they are more likely to share activities, problems, small joys, anecdotes, mood fluctuations, and social interactions than in the past, either recent or far. A side effect of a more standard society is that people's lives are less variant and more predictable between each other. And pointing out that often-ignored property of our lives is a kind of self-deprecation, not for a culture but for each individual out there. And as individuals rarely have complex allegiances like cultures and governments do, this kind of humor will most often also be well accepted by the public.
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