Skip to main content

Real World Reflection: Moira Rose, The Queen of Incongruity Theory


For my midterm project I focused on the concept of incongruity theory and the character of Moira Rose and how she so perfectly embodies what it is about! While re-watching the show, Schitt's Creek, I came across this episode of when David and Patrick get married a couple of days ago and I just knew that I had to do a deeper dive on it. 

First, I want to start off by describing what incongruity theory is! So, incongruity theory is, essentially, a sort of juxtaposition to the social norm. Incongruity Theory holds that humor results from a mental reaction to something unexpected, unusual, or odd in a nonthreatening way when an accepted norm or pattern is violated. The difference must be close enough to the norm to be nonthreatening, but different enough to be remarkable. This theory emphasizes cognition meaning that one must have the ability to rationally understand patterns of everyday reality to understand what pattern was violated and why it is humorous as a result. Pattern recognition is key. Our brains are always predicting the next outcome, so when a situation creates a different response, our brains momentarily sigh in relief due to our constant survival instinct and humor is found in this pause.

The episode that this scene is featured in is called, "Happy Ending". This particular episode is the series finale of the show and focuses heavily on the wedding of the characters, David and Patrick. In the scene Moira Rose is officiating the wedding and she's, well, wearing an interesting outfit.😂

Moira officiates David and Patrick's wedding in a priest-like outfit and she sticks out like a sore thumb amidst the guests who are in formal black and white attire. Her behavior and word choice while speaking to the room is also quite hilarious as it is so abnormal and unlike anything you would see at a "normal" wedding. This scene is a wonderful example of incongruity humor at work as you can visibly see the characters around her react to her appearance and behavior which emphasizes just how incongruent it is.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Real World Reflection: Grace Adler's Humorous Workplace

I have been binge (re)watching one of my favorite shows of all-time , Will & Grace , this past week and after our recent unit on workplace humor I could not help but notice how humorous Grace Adler's workplace is. For those who have not watched Will & Grace, one of the main characters, Grace Adler, is an interior designer that owns a design business/studio in NYC. Grace's one singular employee is Karen Walker, an incredibly wealthy (and incredibly lazy) wife of a multi-millionaire who only works as an excuse to not have to deal with her stepchildren. The humorous interactions that occur throughout the series in Grace's studio/place of work are a great example of humor in the workplace as well as humor between employees and employers. The dynamics between the two characters and their vastly different personalities as well as their work ethics (Karen's is basically non-existent, haha!) are a central point of humor in the show. The humor that the two utilize whil...
Post a Comment
Read more

Real World Reflection: Relief Theory & Ralph Wiggum

I have been on a binge watching fest of The Simpsons as one of my goals has been to watch all seasons of the show up until the newest episodes (which honestly has been a looooong ride since there are about a bajillion seasons🤣). I recently watched the crossover episode featuring Family Guy called , " The Simpsons Guy" and this scene stood out to me:   In the scene innocent bystander, Ralph Wiggum, watches on as Peter and Homer begin brawling on the moving bus, which then results in Ralph's nervous chuckle (and a very memeable moment) as he realizes the danger he is in. Ultimately, Ralph ends up being hurtled out of a window as the bus crashes due to the negligence of Peter and Homer to take control of the moving vehicle. This particular moment in the episode reminded me of relief theory. Relief theory is described as a theory in which humor is utilized as a mechanism by which psychological stress is diminished. Laughter in this theory is a result of the release of ps...
Post a Comment
Read more

Teaching Reflection: Relief Theory

One of my favorite chapters/units in the textbook thus far has been the unit dedicated to the theories of humor. I love the idea that there are theories that function to better describe what humor is, what is considered humorous, and to attempt to explain the social functions of humor. Relief theory is one in particular that I find interesting and will be diving into a bit deeper in this post. Relief theory is described as a theory in which humor is utilized as a mechanism by which psychological stress is diminished. Laughter in this theory is a result of the release of psychological tension resulting from such acts as facing our fears, overcoming inhibitions, and releasing nervous energy built up in our everyday life. Humor in relief theory is neither a feeling of superiority nor the awareness of incongruity present but solely the feeling of relief that one experiences upon the removal of restraint. The more tension relief found in a situation is equivalent to more humor experienced. ...
Post a Comment
Read more