Laugh Tracks

Arts and ritual reflect who we are as parts of culture and community.

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golly
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Laugh Tracks

Post by golly »

I have a difficult time with the barrage of media but I particularly find laugh tracks to be an annoyance that should be gotten rid of entirely. They tell us how to laugh and what to laugh at, and this sacred communication of laughter is subverted and disrupted by vapid moments where a producer or editor has merely decided a point or an important moment belongs where they decide.

If laughter is like the punctuation mark of a conversation flow, I would prefer not to be told the grammar of how to think by the most amazing function of laughter. It's especially bizarre to see older cartoons with laugh tracks, though perhaps not as offensive because it is so obviously canned.

On the other hand, I suppose it could be said that canned laughter is a comment on art itself, but because it's just an assumed trick in media culture I don't think it belongs there. We already have enough mind control on television in the mere cadence of the professional edits of shows and movies without the additional insult of laugh tracks.

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OriogenSpirit
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Re: Laugh Tracks

Post by OriogenSpirit »

What if laughter was the voice of matter expressing an urgency of spirited discontent?

golly
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Re: Laugh Tracks

Post by golly »

I think laughter can totally function that way, along with a lot of other ways.

I saw a documentary on comedy once that expressed laughter as a means of reinforcing things together, too.

If discontent is the main thrust of laughter, though, I am not sure how that would make me feel. I guess I would have to laugh at that? :D

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