Stress Relief - Benefits of Humor in Our Favorite Sitcoms
05/11/2011 20:57
Sitcoms offer us an opportunity to relax, discarding of reality and experience some good belly laughs. Let's dig slightly deeper into the dynamics of the characters to decipher how these shows give viewers with the advantages of stress relief.
Many sitcoms feature a sway freak - typically a man - who strives to be the middle of his Universe. One or more victims revolve around this character and are the brunt of his jokes and putdowns. A counterbalancing force, a nemesis, is commonly gift to stay the management freak in check.
Two and a half Men could be a excellent example. Charlie is the self-centered, management freak who uses sex attractiveness, money and an outrageous self confidence to manage his brother and the plethora of ladies in his life. Alan doesn't have an opportunity against Charlie. he's divorced and broke, with no place to measure and low self worth. This up-down relationship provides ample laughs, mainly at Alan's expense.
Much of the fun in sitcoms stems from the battle between the management freak and his nemeses. Jake, Charlie's nephew, ignores his Uncle and prefers to target food, games and bodily functions. Berta, the brute of a housekeeper, downsizes Charlie's huge ego every probability she gets. She doesn't give a flip regarding his sex attractiveness or money, and refuses to feed his inflated sense of self. By the top of every episode, nemesis Berta provokes change in the group dynamics. Charlie briefly loses management of his finely tuned Universe, and Alan recovers slightly of respect at his brother's expense, only to begin again next week with an equivalent recent scenario.
Is this an all-too-familiar psychodrama? Of course! In real life, self-centered individuals are perennially manipulating us for their own good. this can be what the creators of bound sitcoms have in mind: every episode presents reality in an exaggerated, funny way, and then the management freak gets his comeuppance. we determine with the characters and their nutty habits, tease them and feel a way of relief. If we won't stick it to the bad guy truly, at least his nemesis will the task for us.
These forces unfold differently in every sitcom, reckoning on the unique gifts of our antihero. Larry, The Larry David Show, could be a misfit of a personality, socially awkward but immensely successful. this provides him confidence and chutzpah, that he uses to manage his now ex-wife Cheryl and agent Jeff. Fortunately, he gets a regular tongue lashing from the expletive-proficient Susie.
The most well-liked sitcoms in recent history make use of this psychological triangle in some manner. Watch how this successful formula unfolds: Jerry Seinfeld could be a compulsive management freak with a dysfunctional entourage - George and Elaine - who revolve around his fame. In an ironic twist of reality, Kramer - the weirdo - challenges, frustrates and takes advantage of Jerry, and he drives him alittle nuts moreover.
In Frasier, the Psychiatrist-turned-radio-personality features a voracious appetite for fame that devours everybody in its path, significantly his brother Niles. Roz and Daphne periodically get slightly chewed up moreover. But Martin, his blue collar dad, comes to the rescue and persistently punctures his bloated ego.
Everybody Loves Raymond has an equivalent 3 forces at play: With the help of Marie, his doting, manipulative mother, Ray controls his wife Debra and his brother Robert. but he gets his self confidence shattered on a regular basis by Frank, his cranky Italian father.
Control freaks are emotional magnets for the rest folks who lack their grandiose sense of self importance. a good sitcom takes advantage of this attraction to connect us to the characters. we crave laughing at their antics as a result of the humor offers slightly of comic relief. this could be a healthy antidote to reality where our struggles with self-centered individuals are perennially challenging, and not therefore really funny.