There are many functions of joking. Comedy, especially satire, is intended to be a reflection of society and ourselves. Every person or group of people have their vices and virtues, and comedy takes these traits and emphasizes them to make a statement in a humorous way. This is a great method of reducing power imbalances, painting a benevolent perception of people, and expressing currently tabooed opinions. In comedy, powerful political figures such as George W. Bush can be represented as an everyday-man, as he often was when he was portrayed by Will Farrell on Saturday Night Live. Comedy functions as a way to overcome insecurities. Laughing at yourself is often seen as a token of maturity, as it means that you are able to see your own faults without being too defensive …show more content…
An example of this is shown in a First Nations joke from Me Funny. The joke is, “I’m an aboriginal citizen living in Canada. And I just want to say to you, on behalf of all of us: we love what you’ve done to the place” (Taylor, 2005). This joke is effective because it turns a large scale issue that features racism and the belittlement of an entire race and culture into a situation that is reminiscent of a conversation that would be had between a home buyer/seller. This would also be described as an “in joke” because it would only be understood by people familiar with the situation (Macionis & Gerber, 2014). In this case, the aboriginals are the less powerful giving feedback to the Canadian government and perhaps all Canadians of European descent. It implies that Europeans, who are the proverbial home buyers, took Canada away from the aboriginals, who are the proverbial home sellers in this example. Saying “I like what you’ve done with the place” is a sarcastic line that adds humour to the joke and implies that Canada has changed since it was taken from the