Read this in
The New Paper today. Sickening. It's a
letter written in by a
reader:
FROM READER [name omitted]
JUST FOR GAGS [sic] ON MOBILE TV
Message this show gives out not funny
As a regular bus commuter, I am dismayed at the frequent broadcasting on Mobile TV of a show called Just For Gags [sic].
All too often, it features situations in which people are set up to be frightened, embarrassed or made to look ridiculous, and viewers are meant to laugh at this.
Some of the episodes, such as a post box that keeps "moving" when someone tries to post a letter in it, are funny. But others, in which the unwilling participants are shown to be frightened or in trouble, are not.
Airing such shows encourages people to see others in difficulty as a funny thing.
We are already facing issues of people not being public-spirited enough, and laughing at someone whose foot is stuck in a manhole or something like that will only make matters worse.
I also worry about the effect this has on children, because the show gives out the message that it is acceptable to laugh at people in difficulties.
Society does not need prudes like you. This goes beyond being conservative (which is sometimes irritating but still perfectly normal and acceptable in the cosmopolitan society we live in). This is absolutely ridiculous.
First of all, the show is called JUST FOR LAUGHS: GAGS, not JUST FOR GAGS. The very fact that you don't even know the actual name of the show already tells me that your argument isn't going to be a substantial one. Who do you think you are, thinking you know the message the show intends to bring across?
Secondly, I wonder how you managed to pass your Combined Humanities 'O'-levels with such dismal inferential skills.
The show in question is a form of SLAPSTICK COMEDY. It is not SADISM. There is a very clear difference, and I do not need you to say that there is a "fine line" between the two:
Slapstick (noun)
A boisterous comedy with chases and collisions and practical jokes.
Now, that seems to fit the bill for Just For Laughs: Gags, doesn't it?
Sadism (noun)
[Sexual] pleasure* obtained by inflicting harm (physical or psychological) on others.
Is Just For Laughs: Gags sadistic?
You may say yes, that we derive pleasure from watching it. BUT, do we delight in the "misfortune" of the people concerned, or do we delight in the sheer hilarity, creativity and ingenuity of the prank itself?
I'd like you to note that the "victims" of the pranks in the show are clearly told of the fact that it was part of a comedy after falling for the tricks. This is honest practice and helps to differentiate between slapstick and sadism.
You also say that such shows encourage people to "see people in difficulties as a funny thing". Do you honestly believe Singaporeans are that naive? Do you think we are so uneducated as to not know that the show is a comedy?! In your efforts to appear "concerned" for the "welfare" of society, you are only making yourself out to be a narrow-minded, unimaginative, shallow person. You don't have to insult yourself further by sending this letter to the media. Are you petitioning that the show be BANNED in Singapore?
Singapore has already been very unreasonable in some of its media handling, such as the ban (and subsequent lifting of the ban) of the Mass Effect video game simply because of an implied lesbian scene, as well as the ban of films deemed "damaging" to conservative (apparently majority) values and the current political system.
You do not need to contribute to this by proposing a totally unfounded, baseless claim that Just For Laughs: Gags is sadistic. By trying to justify your proposal by linking it to the notion of "public-spiritedness", you are desperately attempting to inject substance into your argument.
And you failed.
You think watching a show like this will give people ideas of hurting random passers-by? No, it won't, because the entire population of Singapore, and the entire population of the world - with the exception of you - possesses the basic capability of differentiating comedy from intentional harm. If you want to improve social cohesion and harmony, you'd be better off targeting child pornography, labour exploitation and environmental degradation.
Note: Other people, please stop inviting me to join causes for STOPPING global warming. Global warming is a natural physical process of the Earth's life cycle, which will be followed by a period of global cooling. The only logical thing to do is to REDUCE MAN'S ROLE in aggravating the problem of global warming. Read more before jumping on the bandwagon and trying to sway me with your inaccurate beliefs.
It boils down to your lack of understanding (not misunderstanding. It's a LACK OF UNDERSTANDING) of the genre of slapstick comedy, and your prudish attitude in your implicit petition to ban Just For Laughs: Gags from airing in Singapore's rather lousy MobileTV displays immaturity and a lack of forethought.
Is Tom & Jerry promoting animal abuse? If it isn't, then Just For Laughs: Gags is not promoting sadism.
Case closed. "Just For Gags" doesn't erode morals. Stop living in a cave.
*In conventional use, sadism need not refer to sexual pleasure per se.
P.S: I don't write argumentative essays, just so you know.
"lime-sorbet.blogspot.com: You do something stupid, it's my job to blog about it."
