The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-06-04


looked on with broad smiles
in their faces The incident evidently gave them
great pleasure.
The man picked himself up. looking very sheep
ish and angry. He gazed at the car, mutterng
imprecatons
In his self-absorption and anger he appealed
more ludicrousy to the crowd.
People stopped to enjoy the scene.
Two girls in passing waved their hands at the
man and laughed.
That incident made me wonder what it was in
human nature that made people enjoy the dis
comfort of others.
Lately have been studying comic pictures.
In MANY instances | that the humor was
founded on the very enJoyment tnat people 'ee'
in witnessing the discomfort OF others
Perhaps this is the most serious charge that
can be made against the comic pictures. Not
that ] think it is really serious. On the con-
trarv as | recently said in an article, those who
have no comic sense miss great source OF
pleasure ,
If YOU will think over the comic pictures that
best effects are achieved, that is. the most sue
cssful effects, through the personal discomfort
OF one or more OF the personages.
Indeed there is carcaturlst, very popular
in this country who seldom draws series OF PIC
lures without causing more or less serious PUNISH
ment to be inflicted his hero Often 1t suggests
great pain. And yet people laugh uproar'ouSly
over it, as if it were the finest joke in the world
There arc people who do not laugh. Usually
thew say it is hard for them to follow the meaning
Of the pictures. II they really had comic sense
they would not find the task hard. On the CON
trary they would get at the meaning very quickly
Those who really enjoy the pictures have no dit
ficuty Even where they are Obliged to study the
pictures pretty closely, the work to them is not
work. 1t is all pleasure. Indeed sometimes think
,I,,, be nj tben to pet
ing the more delightful is the sudden realization
OF the humor. 1t bursts on them like sky-rocket
1t makes them explode, too.
Those people good natlHed in their en-
iovmcnt that it would seem unknd to accuse them
OF being indifferent to the suffering OF their hero
Nevertheless there surely is relation between
their indifference to suffering and to the pleasure
the pedestrians the street derived from seeing
that fall off the and roll IN the mud
Some time ago | went to see revival OF the
delightful farce adapted by William Gillette from
the German, THE Private Secretary. l was con-
vuscd with laughter the ridiculous situations
the chief figure became involved in In the midst
OF my own mirth l happened to catch sight OF
friend in the audience. He was sitting without
depressed Somehow his seriousness added to my
own mirth. Meanwhile | was curious to know
why he not amused, too.
At the close OF the performance | sought him
out and asked him what the matter was. Don't
you think the play is funny" | said.
He shrugged his shoulders and replied: YES.
| suppose IT Is funny. but | 1et so sorry lOr tndt
poor devil couldn't smile
You see his sympathy had inhibited every
other consideration. 1t made it impossible for him
to enjoy the incongruity OF the situations, the
grotesqueness.
The rest of us, on the other hand, were expert
encing another kind OF inhibition. 1t SYM
pathy that inhibited by enjoyment Of the
grotesqueness and lncongruity.
Here I suspect. is ono explanation OF our pleas
in the grotesque and the incongruous, even
when these may involve human suffering
The people who laughed at that rolling
in the mud were not rejoicing because he had
sustained accident. Their of absurdity
had been suddenly appealed to. For the time it
checked sympathy.
If the man had been seriously hurt. if he had
really needed help, these people. instead OF laugh
ing would have rushed forward to his aid. In
stantly, the of absurditv would have been
destroyed by the sense OF danger, by the shock
of seeing a human being in serious distress
Similarly, when those who love comic pic
lures their fellow creatures in trouble. they
don't think of the trouble. They think merely
of the absurdity OF the situation
There is. it must be acknowledged, certain
kind OF refinement that makes impossible the
enjoyment of the absurd, OF anything grossly
comic. 1t expresses quickening of the SYM
Pathies At once the sympatfics reach out and
check the humor.
Perhaps the popularity OF comic pictures in
this country shows that, as a people, Americans
are not very refined. Perhaps. the other hand.
don't need the comic pictures to quicken our
consciousness OF this defect.
On the other hand, there may be gain in our
very lack of refinement. For there is point in
the development of refinement where refinement
becomes allied to weakness.
And surely: we pay dear price for this grace
of civilization if it tends to weaken our capacity for
laughter