Joke or Insult?

LATE POST.

Great humor requires intelligence, wit and sensibility. Otherwise, the joke is tasteless, crude and cheap.

Filipinos are, apparently, still very emotional and of course, visual. Cerebral or neurotic jokes might take time before they are processed. Woody Allen, Groucho Marx or a bit of Julie Delpy might fry the neurons of the majority.

It's no wonder why slapstick and screwball comedies are popular crowd-pleasers here while intellectual comedy and wordplays are not really top favorites.

Why? Coz Filipinos love action! Words sometimes are not enough. Mas mabenta kapag literal at nakikita, yung tipong agad-agad na pisikalan. **Paaaaak!

We prefer action, even in words or sketches-- that sharp one-way verbal sparring! Using an object, event or a person as tip off points to initiate a laugh...

But though not a form of physical comedy, it hurts just the same, especially to the subject's emotions. Especially if it's an insult more than a joke.

But even then, sometimes Pinoys can't take a "joke." Can we?

Perhaps we can't differentiate a "joke" from an "insult." Can we?

More often than not, we can only know the difference if the spotlight is on us and we're the butt of all the jokes. Or rather, the insults.