Day 38 - FOOL
For the fool can often be offensive, unsettling, annoying. Provoking reactions that might well lead to them being pushed off their perch. If they were ever on one. More likely they'd be skipping around somewhere, playing merry heaven, tickling people's fancies then tripping them up with truth.
I like fools. And I think comedy is one of the most powerful/healing/truthful art forms there is. That said, there's comedy that can hurt and undermine. Spiteful comedy. Hateful comedy. Comedy that isn't really comedy, seeking to pull down rather than lift up.
I remember Billy Connolly saying that a joke can be said by two different people and, depending on its intention, be received completely differently by its audience. If it's meant with good and gleeful intention, it's beautifully funny. And the laughs linger. But if it's meant with ill intention, it stings. And leaves a weird unease.
Dawn French was on the radio the other day, talking about her new book, and was asked what she felt about comedians these days. Her response was generous to those coming up in her wake but she felt for them too. Because of what she sees as a lack of forgiveness these days. If someone says a joke that's a bit too much. That pushes the boundaries a bit too far. Then their career may well be over. Even if their intention was a good one.
There's no room, it seems, for nuance these days. And for giving people the benefit of the doubt. We're all getting so offended that even the best, most genuine comedians can't do their job. "If it was like this in my day, " said Dawn French, "then me and Jennifer would never have got out of the stalls." And neither, I guess, would have Billy Connolly. And what a shame that would have been.
So here's to the fools of this world. The good fools. The wise fools. The truth-tellers. The fools who know the rules well enough to break them. The funny, funny freedom-fighting fools we need more than ever these days. Long may they laugh and prosper.
