Issue: Can we say that humiliation is funny?
Example: ABC's new series Eli Stone.
Discussion: This entire show bases it's supposed humor on humiliating its titular character. You see, he suffers from very realistic hallucinations that interrupt his normal life. He becomes so involved in the hallucinations that he will do things like dive under desks at inopportune times or start singing and dancing in public. Suddenly, he will open his eyes only to see many people staring at him. Oh, isn't it so funny?
No, actually, it's not. These sorts of jokes only work on the assumption that there are rules of acceptable behavior that generally should not be violated, and when they are violated, the person in question is deserving of ridicule. That is simply not the case. There are no oppressive, puritan, middle class standards of behavior by which we are all bound. To the extent that anything of that sort ever existed, it has been repeatedly attacked and destroyed by punk music, independent films, and social satire of every sort. That is in fact the point of satire: it punctures and destroys the extraneous and oppressive rules of society.
Conclusion: Humiliation is not funny. I submit that Eli Stone should be immediately canceled for crimes against comedy.
