Unfortunately, the limitations of these theories are that they only attempt to explain what is humorous and why it is, but they do not explain why we try so hard in the first place. There is a difference. Humor is important to people. We often tell jokes to friends and seek out humor in return. The Internet is full of joke and humor sites.
People spend a great deal of money each year to watch comedians or funny movies.
And at home, television situation comedies are everywhere. While traditional humor theories might explain how we can find humor in such a situation, they don't explain why we would want to. According to Francis, people use humor to manipulate the emotions of themselves and others in uncomfortable situations. This idea fits wonderfully with the situation of Grace Under Fire. This paper was originally intended to be an observation of how the main character, Grace, uses humor to deal with the serious sociological problem of her alcoholism.