Not to sound too much an asshole, but how does SM's relation to the situation change the reality of it?

All, I repeat all humor is rooted in someone else's woes. Why does the distance change it from a comedy to a tragedy? Isn't it possible to be both?

Good question.

I've generally enjoyed The Cellar's userbase and the sharing of ideas, emotions, etc that all go on here and despite the yelling matches I usually get into on this board, I actually do consider most of you friendly folk. It sucks when a friend experiences a loss or hardship and I try to generally be supportive of them.

No doubt. Still, I think some tact is called for now and then, you know?

Ever watch a funny movie in which someone dies in the same way one of your close friends or family members did, but everyone in the audience is laughing while you just feel sick inside? The answer to your question "yes", but it feels really, really uncomfortable. Trust me.

“Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall down an open manhole cover and die.”

This is a good question. I didn't find this thread to be funny. I had read that story somewhere else before it showed up here, and it was being played there as funny too. As I think back, I've never found any real person's death to be funny. I don't mean to be a wet blanket, and maybe I'm missing out on a lot of fun in the world, but I just am not amused by death. I also don't mean to be acting all superior to anyone else. Senses of humor vary from person to person.

If it's a movie, I might find a death scene to be funny. Like I remember in Cape Fear, the main character slips in a puddle of a dead guy's blood and almost wipes out. That amused me.

If it's reality, a slight injury or wipe out might be funny. America's Funniest Home Videos is often amusing. Actual death takes it to another level that just doesn't work for me. So that's where my sense of humor seems to have drawn a line.

One thing I worry about with the internet ("worry" is probably too strong a word) is that it's quite possible that a family member might Google the name of a dead loved one and stumble across hurtful comments by strangers. If one of my family members died of a freak accident, I wouldn't want the public record to be a bunch wise cracks about their passing.

My great-uncle accidentally shot and killed himself. He was trying to open a coco-nut with his the butt of his gun and it went off. I didn't know him, and I'm sure it was awful for everyone he knew--but, it does seem rather--I don't know--bizarre. He lived in Pennsylvania, it was the middle of winter--where the hell did he get a fresh coco-nut? Anyway--I don't think we make light of death for it's own mean little sake. I think we do it out of fear that one day we'll be taken down by our own coco-nut.

In terms of absolutes, no, it isn't funny when someone dies, even in an ironic manner...not in reality. I guess the difference is that, having spent some time here on The Cellar with SM, I admire and respect his vocational abilities, his familial sensibilities and his conviction to his path, even though it doesn't agree with mine.

Since I therefore, ergo and to whit, *respect* SM, it would behoove me not to make fun of something that caused him pain, because that would be cruel.

So, to summarize...I don't make fun of the miseries of people whom I "know" or respect, and I do make fun of the miseries of strangers. There's a word for people like me. It is "hypocrite".

I suck.

Well, TS said it: Humor is all about another's misfortune, and death is possibly the ultimate misfortune. So it would follow that it should be funny.

I laugh at animals a lot. To the point that my wife mocks me. When I look back at the biggest belly laughs I've had in my life, it's usually some dog or cat doing something funny. Something that's a misfortune for the dog or cat. So I guess I go to the other extreme. Non-humans having their dignity compromised. Apparently that's good humor for me.

Of course, if the pet owner was in the room, I would stifle the laugh.

SM, I would like to offer my condolences to your religious community.

Sorry to hear about the loss SM ,
BUT you do have to admit it is ironic for a pastor to be struck down by Lightning
( I know , i know it was a faulty connection on a microphone )
But still !!!!

I think it's clear the funny part of this thread is that Brianna spells coconut with a hypen.

hee hee hee.