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Benign Violation Theory

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In times of loss, those who are inclined to forget about or feel better about the situation they are in will turn to comedy. Comedy is simply a guy or girl telling jokes that they hope will elicit a response in the form of laughter. The art of humor is something comedians have mastered and are able to call upon at a moment’s notice. Whether it is stories about the comedians past or just something they saw, the best comedians are able to make a crowd of people laugh by just relaying the information. However, comedy is perceived differently in every person and it adds a degree of difficulty when one is trying to tell a joke. While the general population may think a joke is funny, there may be one, two, or even dozens of people who view the joke as insensitive or just not funny. There is a predominant theory that makes finding what people think is funny easier to narrow down known as benign violation theory, which breaks down what is and isn’t funny. To understand how benign …show more content…
It happens every day between lovers and is generally accepted in the world. Applying this benign act to a situation, say two men were kissing. There isn’t a violation against kissing in public which wouldn’t make this situation funny. Using the transitive property, the Charlie Hebdo cartoon depicting the prophet Muhammad kissing the male representation of the magazine company isn’t funny either. This also doesn’t cross the line because it doesn’t violate any of the American people’s norms. In order for a line to be formed, let alone be crossed, there has to be some sort of violation. To the American people, the prophet Muhammad is just the Islamic version of Abraham, according to those who study the Islamic bible. The guy labeled Charlie Hebdo would merely be some random guy if one didn’t have prior knowledge as to what Charlie Hebdo is. Therefore, the work created by Charlie Hebdo in relation to the prophet Muhammad doesn’t cross the

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