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The Comedy of Cultural Conflict: Handling the Joke of Worldwide Difference
Though it has been around for a while, the comedy of cultural clash is by no means out of style. Everyone has experienced feeling alone at some point, whether it’s in a new environment or merely in their own social group. Jokes about cultural clashes are simple to connect to because of this familiar feeling, but there’s a limit to them. Sharp social commentary or satire can be found in humor about merging cultures. However, emphasizing the “outsider” in contrast to the “normal” group can also result in cheap jokes that reinforce negative stereotypes, such as sexism, racism, and other cultural “-isms.”
Exposure to a wider range of cultures has increased in our ever-evolving global landscape, which is propelled by social media and the internet’s constant connectivity. That does not imply, however, that the idea of clashing civilizations is no longer humorous. Rather, it indicates that the humor’s lexicon is changing at an equally rapid pace. Rubbing Russians as “the bad guys” was a common joke not so long ago, but now it tends to seem more out of date than offensive. Stereotypes that fifty years ago could have made people chuckle now often make people cringe or make them feel uncomfortable. Jokes about cultural clashes remain current, but comedians who use this theme should be aware of how quickly the joke might become outdated.
Nevertheless, humor based on cultural clashes can still resonate because it taps into the shared experience of feeling different. Misunderstandings based on language and culture can provide hilarious moments, but there is always a chance of offending someone. For better or worse, humor may still be found in cultural clashes.
“Do You Understand the Words That Are Coming Out of My Mouth?”
Comedy based on culture clash is best exemplified by this phrase from Rush Hour. Early in the movie, Chris Tucker’s character yells this well-known line at Jackie Chan, establishing the tone for future linguistic difficulties. Even though the scene may be overly dramatic, it effectively conveys a genuine problem: the barriers to cross-cultural communication. The foreigner is the joke’s butt sometimes, as the language barrier shows off the naiveté of the dominant culture. Using this approach, Jackie Chan in particular has built a career out of films like Shanghai Knights, Rush Hour, and Shanghai Noon.
However, this need not be vulgar comedy. Anyone who has ever tried to converse when in a foreign nation knows how frustrating and ridiculous it can be. This is what Bill Murray’s character in Lost in Translation goes through when a woman requests him to “lip her stockings” in terrible English. The scene explores the humor in misunderstandings rather than making fun of the language.
The trope of “Stupid American”
Cultural clash comedies have frequently featured self-deprecating comedy about Americans. Movies such as Crocodile Dundee and Coming to America depict Americans stumbling through foreign cultures and frequently picking up insightful insights in the process. Some movies, like An Idiot Abroad, take this story and turn the protagonist’s ignorance into the comic. In this episode, Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant take advantage of Karl Pilkington’s discomfort to make fun of him when he encounters various cultures. Karl Pilkington is a brazenly ignorant traveler.
Outsourced is another example of this genre; it started out as a movie and ended up as a brief sitcom. The main character, an American sent to teach his replacement in India, embodies the stereotypical “big dumb American” as well as a more self-aware person who gradually comes to terms with his new culture.
The epiphany that “We’re Not So Different After All”
Cultural clash comedies sometimes end with a touching third act reveal that the characters are essentially the same despite their differences. This is demonstrated in movies like My Big Fat Greek Wedding, where the lead character’s love interest comes to terms with and finally embraces her Greek family’s quirks. Many of these movies are based on a well-known storyline that lends them a sense of closure and coherence.
Cultural Divide and Romantic Comedy
A cultural gap added to a relationship that is already difficult to navigate makes for a typical rom-com problem. Films such as 2 Days in Paris chronicle the neurotic American, a la Woody Allen, as they battle the traditions, eccentricities, and family of their foreign love interest. In these movies, cultural differences are accentuated in romantic settings, leading to humorous miscommunications and, in the end, resolutions that emphasize our common humanity.
The Careful Harmony of Intentional Cross-Cultural Encounters
Borat and Bruno, two of Sacha Baron Cohen’s films, deliberately create hostile situations in order to drive the concept of cultural clash to the limit. Cohen’s characters reveal the hypocrisies of society in these movies, frequently making both the local and foreign cultures appear ridiculous. Though it’s not always effective—Bruno, for example, didn’t have the same hilarious impact as Borat—it’s a novel approach to examine cultural differences from a humorous viewpoint.
The comedic possibilities of culture conflict are hardly explored by these instances. Beyond global contexts, similar themes can be found in home culture clashes (Blazing Saddles, for example), alien/human divisions (Mork and Mindy), or even time-travel mishaps (Encino Man).
When done well, culture clash humor illustrates communication difficulties and misinterpretations resulting from failing to perceive things from another person’s point of view, rather than just making fun of people’s differences. This makes it say as much about the cultures we find unusual or exotic as it does about ourselves.