The Rise and Stabilization of Sophomoric Comedy?

Slap!

Petruchio: Who knows not where a wasp doth wear his sting? In his tail.
Katherina: In his tongue?
Petruchio: Who’s tongue?
Katherina: Yours if it talks of tales, and so farewell.
Petruchio: What with my tongue in your taile?


-Taming Of the Shrew


Naughty jokes, double entendres, bawdy language has been and still is a part of literature and literary style since--well I'm not entirely sure since when, but as far back as there has been literature.  Even holy books utilize these methods to create meanings and secondary meanings.  Just ask Ruth about Boaz's feet; somehow i doubt she finds callouses and sandal toe jam very sexy.


Yet, with each passing year I find myself asking two simple questions: are we at the brink of a cultural collapse?  Or am i just not getting it?


Let me elaborate.  


Bawdy language had always been used to elicit a chuckle, a blush, an "Oh my" moment.  But it was almost always used in the sense where there were more meanings to be had or it was not explicit enough to be brazen effrontery.  The mysteries of the bedroom where alluded to, but kept secret and sacred.  The wiles of males and females were noted but not made public keeping curiosity aflame.


On a tangent, have you ever watched those black and white films where the ladies could heat the room up with a wink, shoulder shrug, or a simple sashay off the screen?  I just love and have always wanted to capture those types of glances and dances in my writing, but creating those details is a difficult matter.


Back on topic, I think it is important to note the basic tenants of a comedic plot.  The tried and true methods which date all the way back to Aristotle himself and are hardly taught in public schools these days let alone understood by the students who so direly need to learn them.

Aristotle is the guy on the...Left!

Aristotle, in his treatise "Poetics" discusses comedy, we assume since the second book is missing but we know of other relative contemporary sources.  A really quick rundown of some of the elements required in a comedy are a suspension of natural laws, incongruous actions or reasoning, exaggerations of behaviors and actions, and lastly that people must behave worse than they normally would (which is direct contrast to a tragedy where the characters are to behave better than they normally would so that the audience sympathizes with their plight).  That last part is where all the sophomoric behavior comes into play, but also as time has progressed the veils which have been so carefully kept have been burned away with a seductive dance of flames, which leave no question about the prancing ladies within, lit with blatantly phallic torches!  


So why have we suddenly ripped away the thin cloud of obscurity and imagination?  Why have we so brutally assailed ourselves and become content with the lack of imagination needed?  And when did pedophiles become a comedic plot device?

College costumes based off an SNL music video
by Andy Samberg and Justin Timberlake.  It
perfectly captures the sentiment of gift giving.

A few of the cultural icons that regularly make appearances in my classroom discussions, and people I think could or should have very interesting insights on this topic, are, Andy Samberg and the Lonely Island, Will Ferrell and his many iterate characters, Dane Cook and Kat Williams for their rather crass comedy, Mike Meyers and Seth Macfarlane for their franchise creations.  Also, most recently, Danny McBride after watching his film "Your Highness".  There are some very curious things I'd love to understand, for example the use of language and almost constant references to sex, defiling acts or sex-by-yourself, and what was with the minotaur's-- "horn"? 


To add to my already vast array of questions, I would also like to know how do these antics further the arts?  How does the crass behavior further comedy?  What is the higher value and lasting elements of these pieces?  Or is the only true calling money?

Perhaps, in all of this I am a bit of a prude.  But there are some real concerns attached to my questions and criticisms.  Though there is little scientific evidence, the concept of "sheeple" has become a term discussing the groupthink phenomenon.  People will follow others they perceive are role models.  So this form of demeaning and vulgar comedy may be funny, it may also lead others to be forgetful of what is appropriate.  It may lead people to be disrespectful of their friends, family, partners, and even others to a harmful extent.  As an author, I believe that there is a professional ethic to further our culture, our craft, and our people.  Not hurt them.

*Climbs down from my soap box*  Any thoughts?  This is something I'd love to see discussion over, especially for writers and entertainers.