Critique – Part V: Critiquing Oddities

Alice in Wonderland "It is and It Is Not"

Anything that introduces the unexpected or presents new possibilities, things like humor and reversals, even weird stories like the ones presented on the show Twilight Zone, all of these require a second look. This is because they have a metaphoric quality, which Sally McFague refers to as an “it is and it is not” component at their core, as metaphor does. This quality also presents expansive possibilities for interpretation, which is where our skill for critique comes in.

Sally McFague also says in her book, Metaphoric Theology, speaking about humor, that metaphor “lives in the region of dissimilarity…of the unconventional and surprising…Humor is the recognition of a very unlikely similarity among dissimilars and we laugh because we are surprised to find that such unlikes are indeed alike in at least one respect.”

The simple and well-used joke, “What is black and white and read all over?” is at first met with confusion because it is assumed that all three adjectives have to do with color (“read” being heard as “red”). The answer “a newspaper” reveals the unexpected. An unlike has been coupled with similars in a surprising way.

It’s a good exercise to ask ourselves why we find something funny. Oddities have many layers of complexity. The humor of comics is a good example.

Charles Shultz was so skilled at the genre of the comic strip that his comic series “Peanuts” ran for fifty years, from 1950 until 2000. Robert Thompson, Syracuse University professor of popular culture was quoted in New York Times online article, Charles M. Schulz, 'Peanuts' Creator, Dies at 77, by Sarah Boxer, saying it is “arguably the longest story ever told by a human being.” He notes that its complexity of story is developed through the depth of its characters and its psychological and social undertones.

The life of Shultz’s Charlie Brown is in some ways a series of reversals. The ordinarily pessimistic “Chuck” finds himself surprisingly optimistic at times, often at the urgings of friends, not the least of which is his dog Snoopy. This is one of the tensions in the storyline of Charlie Brown that keeps us interested.

The unexpected turns and reversals in story are often open-ended in nature. Many differing interpretations can be drawn. And this is what keeps the story alive.

As a child, I watched the original Twilight Zone series. The one episode I remember clearly is “To Serve Man.” Aliens had come to earth on an apparent good will mission. Their manual entitled “To Serve Man” convinced the locals that the new arrivals had good intentions. At the end of the episode the viewer discovers that the manual is actually a cookbook. The earthlings are viewed by the aliens as food. The unskilled in the art of critique had their interpretation all wrong. Metaphors can be tricky.

Even the grotesque is a form of metaphor according to McFague, because “good metaphors shock.” The grotesque “forces us to look at radical incongruity, at what is outside, does not fit, is strange and disturbing.”

As we interpret metaphor, it’s important to remember the “is and is not” principle. We draw inferences because of the familiar. We miss the mark if we try to own the interpretation, more than miss the mark, we delegitimize the deep unspoken meaning rooted in the metaphor. The joke, the story, the twist loses its power to bring to life something we can never fully express.

In what ways do you find the skill of critique useful?

Writing Prompt for the Week: A Lesson Hidden Inside Humor