The mother says to the blind child,
“If you misbehave once more, I’ll rearrange the furniture.”
Dark humor is complicated. It can be a double edged sword to make fun of death, the others, the guilty, and even the innocent. Sometimes it is impossible to measure the evil within, and we end up believing it is natural to make a quick joke about some horrible situation. Perhaps, it is, because dark humor brings up an important question: How bad can life be, if one is constantly overwhelmed by the opinion of others?
Those who use it sometimes don’t know where the limits lie. It’s easy to hurt people’s feelings by telling a biting joke or a disguised mockery. Some believe dark humor is a sign of intelligence, while others would argue that a joke can irreparably wound a person’s spirit. Mercy, terror, pity, sickness, any subject can be used by those who posses the ability to wield dark humor. They can make something amusing from the worst possible scenario.
Serious situations can be transformed through satire. For the sarcastic, the limits don’t exist, and the boundaries of political correctness vanish to make us laugh.
Some might call them cruel and others an accurate reflection of reality. Tragedy, murder, suicide, illness, poverty, sex, and war are taboo topics that can be laughingly used and are simply life-related subjects.
In the literary world, some have made a name for themselves by narrating the reality as an irony. Readers end up bursting into laughter after reading the details of a fateful accident.
Ibargüengoitia masterfully describes Mexico. The Irish Jonathan Swift is considered the poster-child of dark humor because of his ferocious jokes. In A Modest Proposal, he tells all the Irish parents to sell their children to the wealthy English men for them be eaten.
In Dr. Strangelove, Goodfellas, Daria, Let’s Dance With Papa, or Breaking Bad, dark humor helps advance the plot. We all need a break from reality and to laugh and make fun of the misfortune of others.
What are two epileptics doing in a phone booth?
-A foam party.
Nacho Díaz is a specialist in combining creativity and acid humor with excellent illustrations. He is a Spanish graphic designer focused on prints, and in his website you will be able to see his new designs.
What has two legs and bleeds a lot?
Half a dog
If you happened to enjoy Nacho Diaz’s illustrations, you are going to appreciate the designs of Joan Cornella as well.
