Response to Will's Blog

I agree with Will’s idea that Sacha Baron Cohen created a whole new environment for comedy. His show “This is America” has taken off and that is to no surprise as his humor in done in a context that is fairly new to this generation. For example, in his show Cohen has a section called “Children's Gun Advert”. In this skit, Cohen and another man are in a cartoon school setting and talking to a children audience about the various guns and how to use them. What makes the scene even more humorous is the concept of giving guns to children, but letting them believe that they are toys or teddy bears, such as the “puppy pistol”. The whole idea of giving kids guns and having them disguised as toys to make them seem less dangerous is simply absurd and completely inappropriate. However, I find it interesting that Cohen would even speak on this idea as he is really hinting that schools are so dangerous, that it has come to the time where little children need to arm themselves in order to be protected from any outside harm that could come their way. Later on in the skit, the two men take an innocent nursery rhyme of “head, shoulders, knees, and toes” and twist to tell kids where to point, saying “never toes”. This twist upon such an innocent song again adds to the whole inappropriateness of the concept. Overall, it is this inappropriateness that is seen throughout the skit, and that is also exemplified through incongruity theory. In incongruity theory it is seen that the absurdity is what truly makes the skit humorous and simply different from other forms of comedy. Cohen was able to take a serious debate in the United States of gun control and find a humorous solution that would ultimately solve all the problems. And of course the solution was right before our eyes: arm the five year olds!