Self-Degradation

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zkUzU1Ce7rQ

This video is one of a group of American Economists, from the American Economic Association. In 2010, they held a humor session, in which they exchanged “jokes” relating to economics, or those which mock the stereotypical economist.

This video is representative of American humor because of the type and style of humor being portrayed. One man stands at the front of the room, telling jokes that would be, in normal circumstances, offensive to the group of people sitting before him. The jokes that were being told ridiculed and mocked the average economists, which presumably, made up the entire audience. As previously mentioned in another blog post, one characteristic of American humor is being able to say things or ridicule things in an acceptable manner which would not be acceptable otherwise, in normal, non-humorous circumstances. Another way in which this video is reflective of American humor is that there is one person, amongst this group of many, who is standing at the front of the room and is entertaining his colleagues, his equals. In this way, the man is essentially making fun of himself when he tells a joke that mocks his audience. Additionally, he is calling attention onto himself, and then ridiculing the exact type of persona that he embodies. In this way, the humor is potentially self-degrading and demonstrates a characteristic of humility amongst the American public—a willingness to be mocked, for the larger sake of entertainment.

The role which YouTube plays in propagating this type of humor demonstrates its role as an international source of information. It reflects the values of American culture as typically as possible; ie this video depicts self-mockery, humor, and a collaborative spirit. As YouTube projects this image of America, even the most ostensibly pretentious of Americans, economists, being somewhat self-degrading and showing a sense of humility, America’s national image is being affected. Sure, politics, sports, and the arts are demonstrative of a culture—but in a similar vain, humor is reflective of a culture. YouTube effectively creates and spreads the projects of American culture created through technology, and is a way for people of different cultures to understand, witness, and be a part of American culture.