TW: This article mentions sensitive topics like death and suicide.
Dark humor seems to be the rage these days. Well, how could it not be, when we’re living in a pseudo-dystopian world where people are dying, getting sick, and well, are experiencing injustices (big or small) left and right.
However, even though we’re living in a not-so ideal kind of world, it would be best if we could keep our humanity in check even in the littlest of things. Like jokes.
No no, don’t call me a “killjoy” or a party pooper when I call you out on this, because I do like dark humor as well. My friends and I practically thrive on self-deprecating jokes and humor related to death, but we draw the line at making jokes about people who are already dead.
Filipinos sometimes tend to go overboard with their humor. Sometimes it can be really funny, such as in the case of kanal humor (low-end humor) on Twitter, or whatever type of humor is trending on the bird app. But, it often does go below the belt—like when people make memes out of dead people or people who have died tragically.
Yup, looking at you guys who have been commenting on Lloyd Cadena’s old posts and those who have been posting and sharing a meme about Christine Dacera. May God bless their souls.
(The meme above is a meme posted by Lloyd Cadena 8 years ago. The meme continues to resurface as people online keep sharing it to shitposting groups as a way of showing irony, since Lloyd would eventually die of a heart attack.)
These kinds of posts really do beg the question: are we just so used to dark humor, or have we become so desensitized about everything at this point? Has our respect for those who have departed this earth flown out the metaphorical window, or are Filipinos just really crazy? Do people do this because the people they joke about are removed from their circle, because they don’t have a connection with them, so therefore they get a free pass to make fun of them even long after they’re gone?
We need to draw the line at making the dead the butt of your humor. Would you want others to make fun of your dearly departed friends or family? You wouldn’t want anyone making a joke about your dead friend.
We, as a society, need to raise our humanity by a little bit. And it starts by respecting everyone around us, even those who are no longer with us.
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