[ SECRET POST #2293 ]

[case]

⌈ Secret Post #2293 ⌋

Warning: Some secrets are NOT worksafe and may contain SPOILERS.

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Notes:

Secrets Left to Post: 05 pages, 105 secrets from Secret Submission Post #328.
Secrets Not Posted: [ 0 - broken links ], [ 0 - not!secrets ], [ 0 - not!fandom ], [ 0 - too big ], [ 0 - repeat ].
Current Secret Submissions Post: here.
Suggestions, comments, and concerns should go here.

Comments

[fscom]

08. http://i50.tinypic.com/2zy8w8g.jpg

[(Anonymous)]

That's why I didn't get into it in the first place. Every bit I've seen of it contained a joke that had to be explained by the Author.

[(Anonymous)]

This. They're not so much "jokes" as they are allusions to aspects of Scandinavian culture or current events. Nothing wrong with that, but I get confused when people call them jokes.

[kaijinscendre]

Never understood that. "If you have to explain a joke, then it isn't funny." To you. Maybe you are not the right audience, or maybe the joke goes over your head. Doesn't make it not funny.

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe. But there's also a very good chance that it's just not that great of a joke. You've never encountered a mediocre comedy before? Humor is hard to get across for some of the reasons you describe. When you fail to get it across to your audience, then by definition it fails to be funny.

[truxillogical]

There's some truth to the sentiment. If you have to explain the joke by reiterating it more clearly, your joke has failed. ("You see, because the pirate had a steering wheel tied to his crotch, where his testicles, also called 'nuts' are, and steering wheels are used for driving...")

If you have to explain a historical or cultural context for a joke to make sense, well...that's just John Stewart then, isn't it.

[(Anonymous)]

Or possibly you are not the target audience. That the humor derives pretty constantly from Scandinavian concepts and worldview is a feature, not a bug.. And to be expected from a comic about Scandinavia from someone in the Scandinavian countries.

[(Anonymous)]

+1

[(Anonymous)]

I have a strong dislike for Humon, but I agree 100% with you.
For example, as a German I thought the comics about Denmark and Germany were always accurate and I was able to chuckle at the "in-jokes".

I was also thankful she separated modern Germany from Nazi Germany. I'm really tired of American media still painting German characters as war-obsessed and racist (it's ironic, cause in most parts of Europe this is how people usually see Americans...)

[making_excuses]

They have to be explained to you...

I am Scandinavian, I get most of the jokes without the explanation*, only thing I've had to get an explanation is some of the obscureish history stuff.

*I might also find it more amusing than people whom isn't Scandinavian, because she is at times pretty spot on when it comes to us.

[(Anonymous)]

totally agree.
I'm Danish, and I find her stuff to be really spot on, what with all the stereotypes from our point of view.

[truxillogical]

Actually, when you said obscureish history stuff, I have to wonder what OP thinks of Kate Beaton and Hark A Vagrant. Because that is, like 80% stuff you have to explain or else have REALLY paid attention in history class (and possibly be Canadian for).

The Newfoundland comic always cracks me up, though.

[(Anonymous)]

You sound like you're
a.) not from Scandinavia
b.) not from Europe in general
c.) a little whiny ("why can't XYZ cater more to ME?")

[(Anonymous)]

so much this!

I'm so tired of this whining of a random american person that can't understand the joke, and goes "you're doing it wrooong!" lol no, if you lack cultural context, that doesn't make joke bad, it just makes it not aimed to you.

[visp]

Yeah pretty much. Just because you don't get a joke about Scandinavia doesn't mean it's a bad joke - it just means you don't know much about Scandinavia. I mean, it's two steps away from "I don't like foreign films because they're all talking gibberish and the dialog has to be explained in the subtitles. If you have to explain it, it's no good!"

[(Anonymous)]

I don't know, I read some of those and found them very funny. I'm not Scandinavian. European, though.

[(Anonymous)]

Like people have said, they're only obscure to non-Scandinavians/Europeans. I find them to be pretty relatable, if not always funny.

[(Anonymous)]

As an American, that's exactly WHY I like it.

I love learning about modern Scandinavian and European culture with fun little characters that make me chuckle with their cute antics.

[truxillogical]

Personally, that's what I like about it. I see and hear jokes about American (and some British) pop culture and random crazy news stories all the time. I like seeing other bits of pop culture in joke-form. I like seeing a different perspective.

Now I'm just thinking of this Thor fanart a Korean artist did--it was lovely, and it also involved a Korean idiom used to make a pun. The artist explained in the comment section. The joke was still funny and now I know that "hold the iron" is a Korean idiom for "act your age." Double win.

Or to a more common sort of experience--exactly how many American anime fans knew all the little bits of cultural short-hand that pop up in the average anime. Somebody had to tell me that "when you sneeze, it means someone's thinking about you" before I got it. But, y'know...still provides funny cuts.

And when she's doing a joke based on an obscure news story, eh, it's not all that different from the Daily Show doing the same thing, except they show the story first, and she just puts it in her comments.

Not that Humon's stuff is flawless. But humor from other countries is always an interesting study.

[(Anonymous)]

100% this.

[scherrymouse]

Or to a more common sort of experience--exactly how many American anime fans knew all the little bits of cultural short-hand that pop up in the average anime. Somebody had to tell me that "when you sneeze, it means someone's thinking about you" before I got it. But, y'know...still provides funny cuts.

I don't know this series or any of the specifics you talked about, but I agree with all the sentiments behind this post, and would like to add that this anime cultural short-hand is not just something American watchers pick up on. ;) It's possibly one of my favourite bits of watching anime, actually - learning all the different idioms and sayings. I've heard the sneeze one so many times sometimes I actually think it myself whenever people sneeze.

[visp]

Did you just call pretty much all of Scandinavia and Western Europe "obscure?"

http://i.imgur.com/j39CuaT.gif

[(Anonymous)]

I stopped reading because she made a comic about how the tsunami disaster in Japan was not a big deal and Americans and Brits only cared because of ~anime~.

[(Anonymous)]

... wtf.

[(Anonymous)]

Earlier jokes made sense to Scandinavians/Nordic folks. This is my Swedish friend linked me to it and we had a chuckle together at some of the earlier strips.

Nowadays the jokes don't even make sense to Humon herself. They are so forced.