Contributor: Dr. Diego Sánchez Meca,
Lecturer in History of Contemporary Philosophy,
University of Madrid (UNED), Spain
This article is about the theatrical release in Madrid of "The Name of the Rose".
Jokes, word play, irony and a good sense of humor have always been, and still are today, key elements in human relations. The various forms of comedy performances, and even the jokes that make their way into our daily conversations, contribute to our moments of laughter, a mechanism that has a relaxing and therapeutic function in our struggles with worry, anxiety and problems.
We could say that in all these different situations, it is our intelligence that generates the laughter and the wellbeing, creating a kind of oasis in the middle of the desert of our serious lives. Or to put it another way: ingenuity, irony, jokes, comedy, etc. are all tools that we subconsciously use to take a serious situation lightly, or to take certain fun situations seriously.
On the opposite side of laughter is sadness and rigidity. Laughter is carefree, light, and it comes from the same energy that gives us enjoyment and wellbeing. It is our desire to increase and intensify the moments of laughter that incite and stimulate ingenuity, irony and parody, which are nothing more than intelligent forms of criticism. The times when the enjoyment we get from laughter is at its peak are the times when ironic, parodic or humorous criticism towards people, situations or institutions allows us to see the ridiculous side of serious issues. That's why laughter has such a strong destructive power, and why it represents the most effective weapon against fear and authority, respect for truth, compliance with law or veneration of the sacred.
¡Qué misterio y qué enigma, pues, que la risa sea lo más peligroso que existe cuando se dirige contra el orden establecido! Y esto tanto en la política como en la ciencia como en la religión o en la moral o como en las relaciones sociales. Porque derrumba las pretensiones de absolutos y de sagrados con que se nos presentan las leyes, las costumbres, las verdades, los principios, las creencias o los usos. La burla los descompone. Deshace aquello a lo que se dirige al mostrar el lado ridículo que siempre oculta lo sublime y lo grande, pues todo lo grande tiene siempre un lado por el que se acerca extrañamente a lo pequeño. Decía Maquiavelo: “Se mata mejor con la risa que con la cólera”.
It's not such a mystery, then, that laughter is the most dangerous tool when it is directed towards the established order! And this is valid in politics, science, religion, morality or social relations. It brings down the pretensions of the absolute and the sacred, used to show us laws, traditions, truths, principles, beliefs and norms. Mockery destroys it, and it undoes that to which it is directed as it shows its ridiculous side that always hides the ... "Laughter kills more than anger" according to Machiavelli.
It's easy to understand, then, why no totalitarian state would ever allow laughter and entertainment. The strategy of political domination is always rooted in fear, and humor is the best weapon to dissolve the fear. That's the reflection that one gets from the speech by Jorge de Burgos - the blind monk in Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose - when justifying the kiling of all those who had read the second book of Aristotle's Poetics, lost since Antiquity and found again by chance in the library of the old monastery. It was a highly dangerous book, because its plot, developed no less by the greatest and wisest philosopher known since then, was in fact comedy and laughter:
"When the village person laughs, it makes him feel like a master, because the laughter has reversed the relationship of domination. Laughter conquers his fear, which in reality is the fear of God. We must destroy this book, which presents comedy as medicine and liberation, because it brings about the overthrow of order which can only be maintained through fear."
There are certain things which weigh down on us and inexorably direct our lives: dogmas, absolutisms, that which is undisputed: it is only when irony and laughter show us the ridiculous side that they stop imprisoning us with their chains - something which, however, does not come without its high cost... Today, for example, one can still be persecuted and killed for showing irreverance towards the prophet Mohammed. And we are still not permitted to joke with what for some is still sacred, perfect, serious.
