How powerful is humour when dealing with serious issues? any theory out there?

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SarahDenise

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I need evidence to back up my notion that humorous films can deal with serious issues. Trying to find some theory to support it. Going crazy..!
 
Well, it is said that laughter is the best medicine, and perhaps a few moments of levity here and there could relax some of the crisis situations, without compromising the seriousness of them. I've even heard jokes and anecdotes told at funerals, which seems to ease some of the tension experienced by mourners and attendees. Try your notion and see if it works. My dad, the philosopher in our family, used to say: "Laugh and the world laughs with you----cry, and you cry alone."
 
An excellent example is a film called "The darkside of the moon" or alternatively "Kubrick, Nixon and the man in the moon".

It is a spoof ("mockumentary") on the "America never landed on the moon" conspiracies, and features people who were "probably" involved in real CIA conspiracies.
Very difficult to explain it, but it's worth looking around the net for reviews, and if you can get a copy you will laugh until you cry. Behind the humour are some very serious issues though.

Start here and google about for more info:
http://www.mindgap.org/index.php/2007/10/kubrick-nixon-and-the-man-in-the-moon-the-darkside-of-the-moon/

Here you go. It's at youtube:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k_q-BJ8okpI
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RlbsKhxKF4k&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2I7bMe5w5n0&feature=related

I've sort of blown it. What made the film so funny was that when you watched it you thought it was serious. A bit like when "The Office" started.
 
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