Is "dark humor" generally acceptable or is it just my parents/culture more sensitive towards jokes?

Submitted ⁨⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works⁩ to ⁨nostupidquestions@lemmy.world⁩

Example:

My parents are frugal af and refuse to get a new phone charger and tries to “fix it”. I think my mom mentioned it caught on fire (or sparks) once or something like that…

So I was like: “Just get a new one for fucks sakes … Oh I mean I guess you can keep using it… the house is insured, fire is included in the policy, so I guess it’s fine.”

Then my mom gets mad because it’s “bad luck” to say stuff like this… as if somehow making this joke is gonna have a cause-effect to the house catching on fire… 🤔

Like are they afraid of angering the Gods? Spirits? Wut lmao?

🤦‍♂️

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Comments

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RobotToaster@mander.xyz ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Dark humour is like food, not everyone gets it.

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- SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  And too frequently the person not getting it is the person who thinks they’re great at dark humor.
  
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panda_abyss@lemmy.ca ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Dark humour is very audience dependent. You have to know your audience for it for sure.

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Bustedknuckles@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I think “dark humor” can be a pretty broad term. You were just poking fun and lightheartedly highlighting a real risk of not getting a new charger. On the other hand, I know people that have had house fires and lost every material possession they had. Keepsakes of lost relatives, photo albums, cherished souvenirs, etc. some people have lost loved ones. The older you get, the more you accumulate tragedy, be it first or second-hand. Humor that hurts or scares people isn’t kind, even if you don’t agree with their sensitivity. Then again, when you collect enough tragedy, it can become funny again because you just have to laugh

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SpruceBringsteen@lemmy.world ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I think this is less about the humor, and more about the superstition about speaking something into reality.

Here’s a story for you. My grandmother never struck me as on overly superstitious person. But she was very serious when she told me that one day she had a friend over eating in her kitchen when a blackbird flew in through the window. Her friend told her that it was a really bad omen, specifically that it was a harbinger of death. The next day my grandmother’s first born was killed in a hit and run.

She couldn’t get over why her friend would even say that out loud. Not really because she thought her friend was clairvoyant but because it poisoned their relationship. She’s got one of the most negative moments in her life made even worse because of a callous prediction a friend made that now tolls like a bell any time her son comes to mind.

There are some forms of negativity that are better off left unsaid. You saying it isn’t going to burn down the house. But one day you might wish you hadn’t said it.

In the end, are you any less frugal than your parents? When confronted with an issue, all you could afford was a mean spirited “joke” that isn’t funny. People are accepting of dark humor if it actually is humorous.

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- DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  In the end, are you any less frugal than your parents?
  
  I mean they make so much money with their investments that its kinda silly to be so cheapskate on these things.
  
  Literally had like text messages that she wants to present in a civil lawsuit and the phone was so laggy and it looks like it’s about to fail at any time… and still refused to buy a new phone afterwards (so you wont have a random malfunction and lose your evidence when you need it the most)
  
  Literally refused to buy a dash cam until I keep insisting… like literally for their own good, “what if something happens?” I asked them, then they get mad for suggesting the idea that a car accident… something that happens all the time… could happen and they need a dash cam for evidence… I mean they literally got lightly rear-ended before… and it totaled the car… they didn’t have a dash cam back then, but luckily insurance automatically sided against the other side because its a rear-end collision.
  
  Literally so frugal that they don’t wanna spend money on CARBON MONOXIDE DETECTORS… (eventually got them)
  
  It’s not that they can’t afford it. Its they feel like everything is a waste.
  
  Also the entire basement is filled with random stuff… like other people’s abandoned items… and we never even use it… hoarding so much shit lol…
  
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Skyrmir@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’ve found that people who are offended by dark humor (the non racist variety) tend to be people I don’t like, and don’t trust alone with children.

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derek@infosec.pub ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I’d argue that isn’t even dark humor. The joke’s focal point is how ridiculous that position is. You’re taking up an untenable and patently absurd position in faux support of the initial absurd position. That’s ridicule. Now I will grant that lampooning a rhetorical opponent’s position can lean “dark”. Unless the punchline relies on taboo for the heavy lifting though it isn’t crossing that line.

You didn’t say anything offensive or taboo. You criticised someone’s bad take using contemptous analytic hyperbole. I grew up with this kind of humor in my family. It was mostly used as a learning tool which avoided direct confrontation of idiocy while allowing the temporarily embarassed idiot to save face, realize they weren’t thinking clearly, and choose to be in on the joke at their old self’s expense. There are other choices, or course, but if you chose to die on mount stupid then you’d better expect to get buried underneath it as well.

Your family doesn’t seem to be receptive to that brand of social therapy. That’s ok. My point is more to encourage you that you didn’t do anything wrong (and that it’s even normal to joke like that elsewhere).

Your mom might not think you’re funny… But I do!

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Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Your specific example just sounds like superstition, but dark humor is like playing with fire, it can be a lot of fun, but, you have to be careful. There’s a time and a place, and it’s funny if you accidentally burn someone.

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- DokPsy@lemmy.world ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Depends on who gets burned tbh
  
  If the person burned has been boasting that they’re fireproof all night, that’s hilarious
  
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Nemo@slrpnk.net ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
It’s only funny if they’re in on the joke.

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IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
One time I was hanging around my black friends and said the N word then told them I have a dark sense of humor. You won’t believe what happened next!

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- DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  racism isn’t humor tho
  
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  - IAmYouButYouDontKnowYet@reddthat.com ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
    They thought it was funny.
    
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napkin2020@sh.itjust.works ⁨3⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
That’s not dark humor. That’s just being edgy and it’s quite unappealing.

In my culture, it’s considered bad luck to say that a disaster will happen.

It does’t hurt to respect such thing, especially if it’s such a small thing.
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- DeathByBigSad@sh.itjust.works ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  This comment is clearly biased
  
  User Display Name is “VeryFrugal”, of course you’re siding with the frugal parents
  
  /j
  
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fuckwit_mcbumcrumble@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Dark humor is how I live my life.

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