Laughing about people's death...

Post Reply New Topic

I find it tricky to predict whether people would laugh whenever someone mentions the word "death" or "dead" or anything similar. Obviously, I know that one should not laugh when someone mentions about the death of someone that are close to them like a good friend or family member. However, from observations of lectures in university, it seems as though there are some instances when the class laughs even though the prof talks about the death of someone. I can't think of an example at the moment, but sometimes if the prof mentions about people dying in a certain context, then the class would laugh.

I'm often careful not to burst into laughter (even though I might find it funny) since I take caution not knowing whether the laughter would be appropriate. Other times, I tell myself that this shouldn't be funny as the topic is about someone's death but then the class laughs. I get confused over these things. It seems as though I am not aware of what is considered offensive to laugh at or what is considered a laughable matter.

Anyone else have this issue?

Just don't laugh if it's about death. That's much easier than playing the "social guessing game" you got there and a lot of people tend not too anyway.

Any dignified person wouldn't want you to sulk over their death.

I often question whether I should be enjoying shows like A Thousand Ways to Die.

Oh, and I might have come up with a "concept" that might dictate the social rules of laughing about death. Here's how it goes:

-Death is a natural process that everyone goes through so death in itself is not anything "tragic".
-Since its a natural process, if it is coupled with something humurous, then it MIGHT be appropriate to laugh about it.
-However, death also carries feelings of sadness to loved ones and so we need to be sensitive to people who knew the person well.

-Because of society's expectation of a certain life span, if a child dies of cancer or if a teen dies from a car collision after drinking and driving, its not funny. There is a sense of a "lost future".

-Also, if the death was preceded with a long period of suffering, such as someone who has cancer, then there is no reason to laugh.

Thats all I have for now. More rules might come to mind later.

My opinions of such a show are mixed. It can be funny and some of the people that die didn't even deserve to live in the first place, but the show can be a bit disrespectful. I'm being a hypocrite, aren't I? Plus, Spike in general is trash. It makes me embarassed to be male, that channel does.

Wow thats harsh.

I would never laugh at another person's death, even if it was my worse enemy.

Well you're right. A person isn't born bad. I'm reminded of this Twilight Zone episode in which a woman is sent back in time to when Hitler was a baby to kill him and change history. She ends up not doing it.

Good luck telling that to Americans who cheered at Bin Laden's death.

this made me laugh

Its a hypothetical situation, no one can go back in time. Still, if we were able to do that, I would say that its best to change the course of that person's life rather than kill the baby. So somehow, Hitler must not come to power. Still, with all the anger that the Germans have after their defeat in ww1, it seems as though its a matter of time before some leader went to extreme measures. Unless we happen to get a leader that convinces its people to make peace with other countries and convinces other European countries to end their sanctions against Germany.

I watched a video on YouTube recently, shot using a smartphone. It was a lecture hall in a German university and several students attempted to execute a "flash mob" (which I understand to be a choreographed surprise dance maneuver) despite the professor having previously denied their request to engage in such an activity during his lecture. The professor became enraged and stopped it, giving them an earful in the process and with applause from the respectful students who had refused to participate.

I mention this because I find it easier to categorize situations as being either appropriate for social interaction or as more serious in nature. The lines between work and play are being blurred and distorted more and more all the time and as such you will find people like professors pandering to immature, jokey students with off-color jokes and sarcastic humor in settings where it's really not appropriate. Yes, playing the social guessing game can be useful but not in a situation where social interaction is inappropriate to begin with. You instinctively realize this otherwise you wouldn't be confused about whether to laugh at these "jokes".

Sometimes it's best not to respond at all and continue your work of note-taking and processing the important bits of information. In theory, it is a faux pas to joke about death in the first place and you can't be expected to think otherwise. Have some faith in your instincts once in a while. They may be different, but they may also be more mature.

This past summer I read on Facebook that on The 4th of July a guy who had a few drinks blew his brains out by lighting a fireworks on his head. It was hard not to even smile at that or think "nature's thinning of the herd", although I knew I should feel bad for the victim's family members.
Unless they were stupid drunkards, too.

Speaking of which, a lot of people were talking about the Darwin awards, which is where they "award" who died in an unusual way, nearly always because they did something stupid, and many of the victims were under the influence of something.

But they don't usually give the awards to teen or child victims because of that whole "lost future" thing that was mentioned.

I've always hated the saying, "The good die young". I remember it being used in a poem someone wrote in memory of a couple of teens at my school who died in an accident. I hate that saying because it sounds like if I'm a good person then I will die an early death, while people who are just just plain evil will live to be at least a 100.