Response to Chuck Klosterman's " 'Ha, ha,' he said 'Ha, Ha,' "

I found this text very interesting because I often thought about laugh tracks and why there are used.  I never did watch many shows with laugh tracks on them but I have seen enough of them to know that they are extremely corny and do not help me to laugh.  My theory on the laugh box was that it was there because I feel that it is easier for people to laugh when they hear others.  For instance, watching a funny movie with a roomful of laughing friends makes the movie a lot more hilarious than when watching the movie by yourself.  Watching it by yourself, laughing seems almost strange because you are in a room by yourself, laughing to yourself.  I have noticed when I watch something by myself I will only laugh unless something is so absolutely funny that I cannot help it.

Klosterman went into detail about why networks and TV shows use laugh tracks and it made a lot of sense to me.  He talked about how insecure Americans are and how its sad that we need to be told what to laugh at and when to laugh.  I thought it was very interesting when he talked about the time he visited Germany and became aware of when he would laugh, it would be at nothing that is funny.  He realized that he was laughing to be polite to someone when Germans only laugh at things that are truly funny.  I then began to think about the things I laugh at.  When I am at work, people will tell me things and I almost always laugh even when its something informative or not remotely funny.  I realize that I am doing to to show kindness and good customer service.  This is why people nowadays are so fake, because we are told we must pretend things are funny and act the way society tells us. 

I think that this article had a lot of great points and I agreed with almost everything.  I think that it will make people aware of how they abuse laughing.  It's interesting that people use laughter as a filler or in an awkward situation.  I always smile and laugh when I do not know what else to do and I have always wondered about why I do that.  I think a lot of this article helped me to understand why this happens to me; TV, media, and even writing with the use of exclamation points has shaped society to use laughter in a way that it really should not be used.