In a nutshell, ridicule is hostility. It's subjecting someone or something to mockery, making fun of them, rather than laughing "with them". I realize that most people have hostility toward something, but jokes that illuminate this, while funny for some, are not always funny for the people who are being ridiculed. This is why I call it ridiCRUEL - that's how it feels when you're the target of this type of joking.
Of course, I don't know of anyone telling jokes about perfectly happy people, unless of course, they're making fun of them for being perfectly happy, which usually accompanies innuendos of arrogance or dimwittedness.
I've read that my brand of humor has a limited appeal because I don't curse and my jokes are considered "clean" jokes. Perhaps it's a matter of personal preference, comfort level, or a conditioned belief that vulgarity is undignified, as was thought in the Elizabethean days of comedy.
I'd like to think that I'm "into humor" because it feels good, whereas subjecting someone else or myself to ridicule feels quite the opposite. While hostility toward authority, money, family, angst, technology, different cultural groups, and a whole host of other ideologies seems to be a common coping heritage, allowing us to blow off indignant steam, writing hurtful material feels like you're walking a tight rope with detour. The detour allows you to rise above negativity and use the power of humor to make someone smile.
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