THE DARK SIDE OF LIFE As medical science battled to prevent Coronavirus enveloping the world in a shroud of fear and gloom, social media turned to the meme to spread a little light relief
Y
ou know the bit. That f inal
of World War I or the prisoner of war
sequence in Monty Python’s Life
camps in World War II – helped to bolster
of Brian, where all the prisoners
spirits among the working classes, the
have been tethered to their crosses for
blending of farce and low comedy did
crucif ixion, the People’s Front of Judea
not earn a label until the 1960s when
have congratulated Brian of Nazareth
Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 was published
on his forthcoming martyrdom, and the
and Stanley Kubrick’s Dr Strangelove hit
Judean People’s Front have made their
the cinemas.
f inal act of def iance. Since then, lampooning taboo subjects And then, just as he is about to
has been seen for what it is: an injection
succumb to the inevitable, a fellow
of much-needed humour to lighten
prisoner urges our tragic, wrongly
desperate situations and ease mental
identif ied hero to, “always look on the
stress, proving once and for all that
bright side of life”.
laughter is the best medicine.
It is a classic example of what is often
So, when Coronavirus unleashed
termed gallows humour, the ability to
unprecedented chaos across the world,
look for a laugh in the bleakest, the
social media stuck up its collective hand
most hopeless of situations.
and said: hold our beer, we’ve got this…
Lampooning taboo subjects has been seen for what it is: an injection of much-needed humour to lighten desperate situations and ease mental stress
6
PROPERTY NEWS
Along with its cousins, black comedy and
At first the memes were straightforward
dark humour, this strain of comedy has
and came largely f rom the ‘get a grip’
become entwined into the very fabric of
camp. For example, when lockdown was
Britishness, and goes some way to
announced, overlaid on a solemn picture
explaining why the Bright Side of Life and
of a soldier, standing head bowed, was
Pink Floyd’s Comfortably Numb are
the message: “Your grandparents were
among the most requested music at
asked to go to war. You are being asked
funerals.
to sit on a couch. You can do this.”
Although prevalent in times of war, when
However, the initial indication the stiff
the mix of morbid and ghastly themes to
upper lip was starting to break into a
underscore the futility and senselessness
smirk came with the American church
of a situation – think life in the trenches
style billboard: “Whoever said one
