Exemplification Essay: The Role Of Humor In Society

Erma Bombeck, an American comedian and author of the 1960s, once acknowledged, "There is a thin line that separates laughter and pain, comedy and tragedy, humor and hurt." Laughter was once claimed to be the best medicine; however, millennials seem to be testing this boundary Bombeck mentions as they take humor to higher levels that may be causing more harm than good. Humor 's role in society has evolved over the years, millennials using it as a means to manipulate emotions, distancing people, while it once linked people together and provided a source of collective entertainment. For generations past, humor was a uniting factor; but, presently, humor seems to be a dangerous, divisive factor with bigger, more serious implications for the outlook of the generation.
Many categorize millennial humor, mainly what is circulated on social media, as purely absurd and meaningless. Posts on Instagram like @_________sext____________ saying "Millennials get a lot of shit but

This is presented in @dampsandwich 's Tumblr post, "its garbage day??? I cant believe they made a day dedicated to me :)." Posts like this demonstrate millennials are their own greatest critics, and, unfortunately, their critical posts consume social media. They are willing to portray themselves in a negative light and distance themselves from the majority, simply for approval and laughs. Millennials ' humor "aims to play with [and manipulate] ... moods and emotions" instead of "trying to restore meaning and sense" (Bruenig). Unveiling one 's weaknesses in the form of humor, could be in attempts to hide and ignore one 's real troubles. Humor is a means to mask one 's true feelings about something, likely in attempts to "erase" the problem from their minds. Rather than strengthening the generation, self-deprecating humor such as this, is distancing them and preventing them from acknowledging more significant factors of their