A Crude Awakening: What The BP Oil Spill Teaches Us About Humor

There’s absolutely nothing funny about the BP oil spill.  No one would argue that – yet people are still laughing. (For example, see BP Spills Coffee)  If there’s one lesson we can take away from this entire tragedy, it’s that humor can fill numerous roles, some of which aren’t immediately obvious.

Humor Provides a Framework for Processing Tragedy

“The oil spill is getting bad,” David Letterman said, “There is so much oil and tar now in the Gulf of Mexico, Cubans can now walk to Miami.”  Confronted with an environmental disaster of unimaginable scope, we reach for ways to make sense of it all.  Letterman’s joke captured the scale of the spill in an unexpected way – weaving in some social commentary guaranteed to get a laugh from his audience -  deftly informing and assuring his audience that the situation was indeed that bad.

In a similar vein, we see the quips about BP’s new bio-degradable oil collection system – aka known as pelicans. These jokes are undoubtedly in bad taste, yet they also allow people a way to give voice to one of their largest fears. Simply speaking about what we’re afraid of relieves stress, tension, and anxiety.

Humor as a Tool of Social Commentary

BP is a huge corporation, with tremendous financial resources and a legal team the likes of which few, if any, of us have.  This disparity makes it difficult to have a meaningful dialogue. Why would this huge organization listen to a lone individual? If you’re not already powerful in your own right – an elected official, for example, or a media figure – it can be very difficult to get the attention of BP, much less their response.

Unless, of course, you use humor. A deadly combination of razor sharp sarcasm and social media prowess, the BPGlobalPR Twitter feed is Leroy Stick’s parody of official BP communications.

If we’re being accused of being criminals, we want to be tried by a jury of our peers – wealthy execs who don’t give a damn #fairisfair

We are not killing animals in the gulf, we are creating fossils in the gulf. Have a little perspective #bpcares

The feed gained so much attention – in no small part because they are the perfect encapsulation of the public’s frustration and rage – that BP not only noticed, they took action to have the messages stopped.  Pressure from BP resulted in Twitter forcing Stick to disclose that it was not the official BP site, creating more controversy and broadening the conversation about the initial oil spill and BP’s response. Humor has been critical in engaging the community, and creating a platform for social discourse accessible to all.

Lessons Still To Learn

BP hasn’t  yet figured out how to stop the oil, and the lessons we have to learn about how mankind will respond to the crisis are still flowing fast and furious.  It’s a dynamic environment, and we see the use of humor changing as the situation develops. As a no-cost, ever adaptive, portable, always available resource, humor may be the most critical resource we have at our disposal.

What Trips Your Trigger?

Humor that’s constructive and doesn’t target others feels good when we experience it.  It’s a pleasurable experience usually accompanied by a smile and a laugh.  And yet experts find it elusive as to what humor really is and just what triggers that humor response within us.

There are numerous theories about what evokes a humorous response. One of those theories revolves around developmental stages.  According to psychiatrist Christian Hageseth, author of A Laughing Place, there are 3 ways to elicit the humor response: Nov-verbal interactive; the stimulation of forbidden subjects; and verbal humor (jokes and word play).

Non-verbal interactive:
What is one of the very first things that evokes a smile in a young baby?  Obviously his brain isn’t developed enough to understand the concept of absurdity or incongruity. The baby laughs at a smiling face, which in return smiles back, usually evoking even more smiles.  Pure pleasure! 
As we grow, such interaction generally continues to evoke a pleasurable response, until we are conditioned to think and respond otherwise.  Even in the advanced Alzheimer’s patient, when she’s no longer able to remember faces, dress herself or even feed herself, a big smile accompanied by eye contact will evoke that same pleasurable response and usually a smile in return.

The stimulation of forbidden subjects:
As a child develops his sense of humor, one of the first things he finds funny is body noises– particularly those that evoke a startled response in adults. Eventually, as the child grows, his sense of humor also evolves, but occasionally we meet folks that seem to become stuck at that particular phase. (Usually they are know for statements, such as “Pull my finger.”) While many find toilet humor distasteful, the movie industry makes billions of dollars each year from movies like Dumb and Dumber or There’s Something About Mary.

Many occupations, especially those that are involved with tragedy and death, have their own inside humor that others might label ‘disgusting.’  Indeed much medical humor is known as gallows humor or ‘sick’ humor, and usually involves one of three topics: body fluids, dismemberment and death. Nonetheless, this humor serves as a coping mechanism to people like Cyndi, a nurse in California, who says, “If I couldn’t laugh about the smell of poop or the texture of sputum, I’d probably be flipping burgers, and asking the person across the counter, “Do you want fries with that?”

Verbal humor (jokes and word play)
While most people think of this category first, language dependent humor actually comprises a very small percentage of what elicits a humor response. Indeed, it’s been speculated that only around 3% of the population remembers and tells jokes well. Most of shake our heads sadly and say, “I can never remember the punch line.” Fortunately jokes aren’t crucial to experiencing humor. 

 
If this tactic appeals to you, seek jokes and funny stories from others, listen to your favorite comediennes, pay attention to television sitcoms. There are joke-a-day services on the Internet. Most magazines and newspapers have a section that involves humor and word play.

And if you decide that you would like to learn the skill of joke telling, it’s really not that hard.  Start with jokes that are short and easier to remember. Practice telling the joke out loud to yourself, preferably in front of a mirror, at least 7 or more times. And once you feel confident, go out and tell your joke to your friends, family members, and those that look like they could use a good laugh!

Granted, we respond to all three categories above. But usually we can identify more with one area than another.  Our sense of humor is as unique as our thumb prints. What makes you laugh may leave another completely clueless. What’s most important isn’t what trips your trigger, but what you do with that knowledge. Merely raising your awareness about what you find fun and funny is a good first step. To gain the most benefits from humor, however, you need to move from a passive role, to an active one.  Discover what trips your trigger and causes you to experience mirth and laughter. Then seek the experience, practice positive humor and enjoy feeling good.

Mind if I Laugh? Humor When Tragedy Strikes

Following the events of September 11, 2001 and the terrorism that ensued, I’ve continued traveling around the country, addressing groups about the healing power of humor and laughter.  I heard a variety of comments:“I really want to laugh, but I just can’t bring myself to do it.”“I can’t bear to watch another news report—it’s sucking the life right out of me.”“I feel like laughing, but I’m afraid other people will think I’m being inappropriate.

Is it really okay to laugh yet?” Abraham Lincoln may have said it best: “With the fearful strain that is on me night and day, if I did not laugh I should die.”

Now more than ever, we, as individuals and as a country, need the healing power of humor and laughter to deal with the tragedies we experience.  Accompanying the levels of higher anxiety and stress are people suffering from a myriad of stress related illnesses and conditions: Headaches, stomachaches, general malaise, fatigue, difficulty sleeping, muscle aches, difficulty concentrating, depression, and the list goes on.

Humor relieves anxiety and tension, serves as outlet for hostility and anger, and provides a healthy escape from reality.  It lightens heaviness related to critical illness, trauma, disfigurement, and death.  It comes as no surprise that many people are utilizing humor to deal with the trying times.  But is the humor timely?  Is it appropriate?

“When tragedy and death cloud our lives, they darken our humor as well.”  (Karyn Buxman, This Won’t Hurt A Bit)

The truth is that we all experience tragedy on a variety of levels.  For some of us, it may be on a personal level.  At times, it may be on a community level.  And periodically we experience tragedy on a national or even global level. None of us will escape experiencing personal tragedy: Illness, accident, loss of job, divorce, or death in the family.  These painful ordeals can sometimes evoke humor that allows us to ventilate our frustrations about such unfair events in life.

Communities experience tragedies such as floods, earthquakes, fire, natural disasters, man made disasters (the coal mining tragedy in Utah), loss of industry or politicians caught in compromising situations.

Unfortunately we will witness events that have national ramifications, such as the Shuttle Challenger explosion, and even global ramifications, such as the loss of the World Trade Center in New York. With the technological advances in mass media, events that might once have been a local tragedies now impact people near and far:  At times, the humor demonstrated after the larger catastrophic  events was a ‘hoping humor’, a “let’s hang in there together and we’ll get through this together” kind of humor.  The focus of the humor was more situational and unrelated to the tragedy; the humor was used as a relief mechanism from feelings of sadness and feeling overwhelmed.  One survivor of the Oklahoma City Bombing commented, “I laugh because I’m cried out.”

The challenge: What is stress relieving for some is stress producing for others.  While some find gallows humor to be a positive means of dealing with their stress, others find these expressions of humor to be salt rubbed into an already irritated wound.  What’s appropriate? What’s not?  There is no clear-cut answer.  Gallows humor can be a positive means of coping with anxiety, but it helps if certain guidelines are followed:

Establish a bond: Gallows humor is less offensive when there is a bond between the initiator and receiver of the humor.  Often this is a type of ‘inside humor’ that is utilized within certain the boundaries of a certain group of people. There is an almost unspoken agreement: “I’ll not be offended by your sick humor if you agree not to be offended by mine.”

Be aware of the environment: The trick is to keep the humor within the confines of said group.  Once the dark humor escapes the confines of the group, it then may become hurtful.  Anyone who hears, sees or experiences the humor is part of the audience, whether you intended them to be or not.  Think twice before hitting the ‘forward’ key on an e-mail or blurting out a joke you just heard.  Will it be hurtful if unintended audience members intercept?

Be sensitive to the timing:  H. G. Wells once said, “The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow.”  Generally it takes time for people to see any humor derived from pain or discomfort.  Some people never will.

Every person’s situation is unique and determined by their own set of circumstances and life experiences. Despite its multiple benefits, humor is always risky business. Try as you may to be politically correct, there will almost always be someone waiting in the wings to be offended.  The humor or laughter provides an excuse for him to ventilate about an unspoken and deeper issue.  That being said, if you choose to use humor to cope with difficult times and are mindful of the feelings of others then, more than likely, most folks won’t mind if you laugh.  Indeed, they may welcome the respite.