Comedy: Then vs. Now

What we think of comedy today is nothing like it used to be. Today, a "comedy" is a two-hour testosterone fest starring Seth Rogen and his formidable amount of drug use and crude language, featuring gratuitous nudity and penis jokes. However, there is a much wider scope to the definition of comedy than what we accept it to be today.

For example, traditionally, a comedy was basically a story that wasn't a tragedy. A tragedy was typically a darker story that ended in dither some form of destruction. On the other hand, a comedy usually ended in a long sought-after romantic desire being fulfilled, in which the hero wins the girl, and so forth. At its most essential, comedy defined a genre of art that didn't end horribly, and had a few laughs along with it.


While comedies today typically do not end horribly, they don't always work well, period. A lot of comedy relies on making fun of certain people or people groups, which often causes a huge uproar and great offense. Take, for example, the show "Family Guy." It is a wildly popular show, but it builds its popularity on sexist, racist, and homophobic comedy. And while that kind of humor is widely accepted in current American culture, it's offensive and does not adhere to the true nature of the original comedy.