If cartoons are anything to go by, then the attitude of the British towards the family, and of the British men towards the opposite sex, has not changed much recently, despite attempts to shame people into admitting their prejudices. The mother-in-law, frequently of horrific appearance, and usually either about to visit, or being somehow driven from the house, is still a favourite butt of this kind of humour. Marriage itself has been reduced to the skinny male, dominated by a massive female who habitually lies in bed with the rolling pin behind the door for the return of her drunken spouse. Children are rarely shown other than as screaming infants, or else as ill-flavoured urchins who spend all their time being objectionable or asking for money. The old are simply see
n as comic characters.
The problem is, how do such cartoon relate to the way people truly see each other? Does a joke always contain some grain of truth, however much we may dislike to admit, it? In other words, is life really a series of mother-in-law jokes? Or do jokes have a life of their own, with a set of stereotypes we can recognize, as the Englishman with his umbrella and bowler hat, or the Frenchman with his striped jumper and beret?
According to this way of thinking, we laugh at the stereotype, although we know really that it does not represent real life. Personally, I feel that many of these cartoon prejudices have outlived their usefulness, if they had any. They may give us a chance to laugh at situations we know we should not be laughing at, but it seems more likely that they strengthen our prejudices. Unfortunately, they are inspired from our daily lives and from people’s and society’s prejudices, according to which women seem to gain much more independence and control in their families. Consequently, man’s attributions seem to be that of gaining money, but without spending it on personal needs, but in order to maintain the family. Moreover, children nowadays appear to be interested only in money and material goods. They have forgotten about ethics and always want more and more from their parents. Finally, the only funny and optimistic persons, are the old persons, who try to peacefully and pleasantly live the last part of their existence.
Do cartoons reflect reality or are they a mere joke? written by Cristina Nuta for FamousWhy.com
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Do cartoons reflect reality or are they a mere joke? Image Source : freeschoolclipart.com
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by Cristina Nuta -