In “Jokes and Their Relation to the Unconscious”, Freud writes about how humor can be derived from wordplay and “nonsensical words”. The example used is about a portmanteau of the words familiar and millionaire and how the combination thereof evokes humor because at first the nonsensical, nonexistent word bewilders us, but the humor ultimately comes from the realization of the wordplay’s existence:
“The word ‘familiär [familiarly]’ in the unjoking expression of the thought has been transformed in the text of the joke into ‘famillionär [famillionairly]’; and there can be no doubt that it is precisely on this verbal structure that the joke’s character as a joke and its power to cause a laugh depend” (Freud).
Freud makes it clear that the humor here does not come from the thought, but rather, the manner (form, language, unexpectedness of word use) that makes it funny (“familiar” and “millionaire” are not funny concepts in themselves).
These verbal structures and the nature of wordplay are of interest to me because of their ability to “bewilder” us, and because “brevity is the soul of wit”, jokes like these accomplish their aims in very few words while being extremely effective. Jokes often depend on us taking certain linguistic and social conventions for granted, and when these are messed with, it is our understanding that makes us laugh.
In light of this, the clip I have selected is from Arrested Development and occurs when Michael encourages Gob to get rid of a boat named the Seaward. Lucille has just entered, and upon hearing this, claims “I’ll leave when I’m good and ready”. The joke is that Lucille thinks the word said was “C-Word” as it was spoken and not spelled out – and believes it to be about her. Freud claims: “…this first stage of enlightenment – that the bewildering word means this or that – is followed by a second stage, in which we realize that this meaningless word has bewildered us and has then shown us its true meaning”. In essence, we may be confused temporarily by this misappropriation of a spoken word, but the humor comes only when we realize its true meaning and how we have been fooled. We probably would not have laughed (as hard) if Michael just cursed at her for no reason, it is about how Lucille misinterprets the linguistic convention coupled with her assumption that such a word applies to her.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eF95zZpN1dY
Additionally, Mary Douglas writes about how jokes “attack sense and hierarchy” (Douglas). This scene subverts a typical conversation – normally two sons would not refer to their respected mother as “the C-Word”. Further, Douglas states that humor “chastises insincerity, pomposity, stupidity…”. Lucille is often pompous, and the joke is at her expense insofar as she believed she would conceivably (and to her, truthfully) be labelled in such a slanderous way. Lastly, Douglas asserts that “the joke only works when it mirrors social forms”. This is what keeps the humor from going too far or being obscene; it takes place in a seemingly ordinary social situation.
This is a great example for showing the discrepancies of language and how these gaps in understanding are a perfect foundation for jokes like Freud explains. I love that Lucille wholeheartedly believes her family would call her that, and especially Gob given that his cowardice in the show is a frequent plot point, it would make sense that he’d say “the c-word” instead of using the actual curse word. This reminds me of when Buster hears someone warning him about a loose seal in the ocean and thinks of “Lucille” – the woman he is avoiding – instead. Wordplays like these are part of what make the show so great.
There is so much clever wordplay in this show! They cram so many jokes in too that they’re easy to miss on first viewing so it only gets better on repeat viewings. Lucille is such a good character for the other characters to joke at the expense of, as she seems self-aware of her own pompousness.
This is a brilliant example of the comedy and humour that can arise from wordplay! It also makes me wonder how comedy of wordplay overlaps with the comedy of errors- in this example, how much of the humour of the scene arises from Lucille’s misunderstanding and how much from the wordplay itself?