Midge's Humor and Seriousness

    The second half of the book, Bury My Heart at Chuck E. Cheese’s by Tiffany Midge takes on the more serious issues of politics, specifically in Donald Trump in a less humorous sense. In one chapter she recounts the KKK riots in Charlottesville, Virginia saying, “President Trump minimalized the destructive rally by stating to the press that the white nationalists included ‘some very fine people.’ And place blame on both the perps and the victims: ‘We condemn in the strongest possible terms this egregious display of hatred, bigotry, and violence on many sides” (171). Midge establishes a more historical and formal recount of politics in the second half of the book, where less humor is given, but she still of course has her sly one liners such as, “He is clearly cuckoo for Cocoa puffs” (171). I was born and raised in Charlottesville, Virginia, and I was at my home when these horrific riots occurred and white supremacists raided our city, and it tainted the reputation of Charlottesville. 

    After the riots took place when I would tell people I was from Charlottesville they would normally give a weird look and respond with some sort of joke implying the reality that they were trying to convey which was “what a horrible place to live” without actually saying it. In reality, it wasn’t a horrible place to live, and the events that happened were horrible, but the white supremacists invaded our town, and it was not at the fault of Charlottesville or its local community. I once introduced myself to someone and said I was from Charlottesville, Virginia and he said, “oh so you’re a white supremacist,” and he then chuckled at his own joke. I did not think it was funny nor did I laugh. In that moment I realized there are things that can be joked about and there are things that cannot be. The KKK riots that took place in Charlottesville is no place for humor and this joke was extremely distasteful and disrespectful. This line of good humor and bad humor is the one that many people struggle to find. 

 

    “Dark humor” is just an excuse for saying things that cannot and should not be said. Capitalizing off the struggle, pain, agony, and death of others and labeling it as “humor” is extremely harmful and dangerous. It regresses progress. The point of humor is to take away gravity from certain situations as we have discussed this year, but there are also some places that need the gravity, respect, and seriousness. I think that is also what Midge is invoking in the second half of her book. She takes on a more serious tone in light of more broad, political, and historical issues that many people have faced because she is recognizing that there are places for humor and there are places not for humor. Her example of Charlottesville invokes no humor, yet her satirical poem written through the lens of Donald Trump invokes much humor. She uses humor in ways that are effective and tasteful. She had previously told the reader how harmful jokes about Native Americans can be and how there were places for jokes and places not for jokes. Midge is using this dichotomy in her own writing in the second half of the book between humor and seriousness to emphasize it to the reader.