America's Laughing

I find it interesting that with age, there is less humor in things you once found funny. My friends and I were recently discussing America's Funniets Home Videos and all the shows like that - they really aren't all that funny. As a child I remember sitting with rapt attention at the t.v. Now, I watch those videos in horror. Some of the videos still retain a bit of comedy, but most of them leave me repulsed or cringing in pain. It is painful to watch others get hurt - grannies tipping over, grandpa's falling down while trying to dance, kids bashing their faces in while pogo jumping. OUCH! I think Scarred is a more appropriate show for some of those videos. The MC is a whole lot less funny and witty now that I have aged beyond 10.



I remember one day in high school, a girl in front of me fell head first down the stairs and bumped down every stair. I was concerned for her, but at the same time - I had to run away to keep from bursting out laughing at her. My friend and I, while in middle school, also laughed like crazy at a guy who fell while shoveling ... onto his shovel. We tried to keep our laughs in, it just didn't happen. We felt so bad about laughing but we couldn't stop. My sister and I also laughed, horribly, when a dad dropped his child in a parking lot. These things strike horror in my mind now and I can't believe I laughed at those things! I think with age, you begin to realize that other people's pain is not comedic. I will probably still laugh at someone else's pain at some point in time, but not quite as much as I used to. You sort of get that icky feeling watching it. There are those comedic movies that use others pain as entertainment and you can hardly watch it because it is so painful. Dinner for Schmucks is a perfect example of one of those movies.