(https://hiseye.org/feed/rss/) (https://www.snapchat.com/add/hiseyenews) (https://soundcloud.com/user-212756904) (https://www.instagram.

com/hiseyenews/)
(https://twitter.com/hiseyenews) (https://www.facebook.com/humanswhs/)     

Search 

 Home (https://hiseye.org/)  About Us (https://hiseye.org/about/)  Hi’s Eye (https://hiseye.org/category/his-eye/)

 Iris (https://hiseye.org/category/iris/)  Multimedia (https://hiseye.org/category/multimedia/)  Staff (https://hiseye.org/staff/)
 Subscribe Now (https://docs.google.com/document/d/1dMTSOcTNcTFdiyww3Q1Qrq15Lk40Di6ItBR6gy4VXKw/edit?usp=sharing)
Optic Magazine (https://hiseye.org/category/magazine/)

POLLS

‘It’s just dark humor!’ How safe do you feel at school?

I feel totally safe with all of the Covid precautions
in place
Annie Cerria
I feel pretty safe, but there are times where I
(https://hiseye.org/staff_profile/5524/), R2 Editor-In-Chief
don't feel safe
December 9, 2019 I don't feel safe at all with the Covid precautions
put in place

Today’s teenagers are forced to think about mortality more often than they Vote
should, given the number of highly publicized school shootings and the sad spike View Results

in teen suicide rates in recent years. As such, many students have begun to use
humor as a coping mechanism, gravitating towards dark humor for relief. Trending Stories
Dark humor has been around for generations and has mainly been a way for
To have your camera on or
comedians and writers to make light of traditionally taboo topics, such as death 1 off?
or racism. It has always been considered a more fringe comedic style, but has
become popularized in recent years with shows like South Park, which uses non- (https://hiseye.org/7241/his-eye/features/to-have-your-
camera-on-or-off-that-is-the-question/)
politically correct humor to both mock society’s problems and push the
boundaries of what is considered funny. Hi’s Eye Update: 2020-21
2
I personally enjoy “dark” comedians who utilize the style in the correct way, like
Anthony Jeselnik or Pete Davidson. As someone who can quickly become (https://hiseye.org/7723/his-eye/news/his-eye-update-
2020-21/)
depressed by the cynical and overwhelmingly negative tone of everything
nowadays, it’s nice to be able to laugh and smile at things rather than let myself Social Media: The platform to

be consumed by their morbidity.

3 promote change

(https://hiseye.org/7640/iris/social-media-the-platform-
However, dark comedy today has been diverging from its traditional style of
to-promote-change/)
making fun of taboo topics and is now being used as cover for people to say
Murder hornets: What’s the
offensive, incorrigible things while passing it off as their “dark sense of humor,”
which is a gross misuse of the moniker.
4 buzz?

(https://hiseye.org/7228/his-eye/news/murder-hornets-
An example of this is the comedian Louis C.K. In 2017, after staying out of the whats-the-buzz/)
public eye following his admittance to sexually harassing several women, C.K.
Where is the Class of 2020
began doing stand-up sets in New York City, in which he proceeded to make fun
f th th i f th 2017 h l h ti i P kl d
5 going? /
of, among other groups, the survivors of the 2017 school shooting in Parkland,
FL. (https://hiseye.org/7475/his-eye/news/where-is-the-
class-of-2020-going/)
C.K. pushed off the criticism that naturally followed his set, saying that the jokes
WHS students lead peaceful
were playing off of his darkly comedic style. But, the reality is that his “jokes” 6 BLM protest
were not dark humor, they were the words of a hateful man using the mask of
dark humor to make offensive statements about a group of children who were (https://hiseye.org/7649/his-eye/news/whs-students-
lead-peaceful-blm-protest/)
fortunate enough to survive a mass murder.
Captain Q&A Episode 3:
This trend has manifested itself in the halls of WHS as well. Some students’ 7 Faith Dobosiewicz
social media accounts share “jokes” containing offensive language about
immigrants, Jews or the LGBTQ+ community. When accused of being offensive, (https://hiseye.org/7718/his-eye/sports/captain-qa-
episode-3-faith-dobosiewicz/)
dark humor is often used as an excuse.
Blue light glasses: Are they
None of this is to say that I think dark humor is an unacceptable form of comedy, 8 just a white lie?
or that shows like South Park should be cancelled, or that nihilistic or borderline
(https://hiseye.org/7637/iris/blue-light-glasses-are-they-
offensive humor cannot be funny. The issue today is not the use of dark humor,
just-a-white-lie/)
but rather people saying intolerant and offensive things and claiming that their
The new magazine coming to
statements were simply “dark humor” when they face criticism for these
comments.
9 WHS is anything but an
optical illusion

(https://hiseye.org/7551/his-eye/features/the-new-
If this trend continues, comedians and other shows or films who use dark humor magazine-coming-to-whs-is-anything-but-an-optical-
as it is meant to be used will inevitably face more criticism to move away from illusion/)

the comedic style in favor of more cleaner-cut styles, which is not the answer. Captain Q&A Episode 4:
The answer is to condemn those who cower behind the label of dark humor to 10 XC during Covid
spread hatred, not to condemn those who are simply using dark humor to bring
light to depressing or taboo topics. (https://hiseye.org/7731/his-eye/sports/captain-qa-
episode-4-xc-during-covid/)

Leave a Comment


Hi’s Eye (https://hiseye.org)

(https://hiseye.org/feed/rss/) (https://www.snapchat.com/add/hiseyenews) (https://soundcloud.com/user-212756904)
(https://www.instagram.com/hiseyenews/) (https://twitter.com/hiseyenews) (https://www.facebook.com/humanswhs/)    

The Student News Site of Westfield High School
Search 

About Us Home (/) Staff (https://hiseye.org/staff/)

(https://hiseye.org/about/)

Subscribe
(https://docs.google.com/document/d/1x23OELHmpxjRTOxzm93fobYbXlaNuPEyBLbBkXyKkmc/edit)

© 2020 Header Courtesy of Morgan Eng • Privacy Policy (https://snosites.com/client-site-privacy-policy/) • FLEX WordPress Theme (https://snosites.com/why-sno/) by SNO
(http://snosites.com) • Log in (https://hiseye.org/wp-login.php)