Leticia Neria PhD thesis - Research@StAndrews:FullText ...

puro macanazo me convenció! Yo ni sé de qué se trata..’ 60 The actions of the policemen
are exaggerated, and so are the methods they use to solve the ‘mystery’ are since we
know that it was Nopalzin, another character, who robbed the diputado. However, what
the situation is communicating is the existence of these practices in Mexico and the
need to change them. We may laugh because we have been ‘reminded of our own world
in a peculiar, uncanny way’. 61 Laughter is a means of highlighting the abuse of power,
and punishing those responsible, even if the scene itself seems a ridiculous caricature of
reality. By enjoying the muddle in which both policemen are trapped when the truth
emerges, we are saying to the authorities: ‘You take advantage of the community and
violate their human rights, and I know it’.
Another example of official abuse can be found in La Familia Burrón, when a
thief is captured by the police and one of the officials says to him: ‘No vamos a perder
tiempo contigo. Si no abres la bocota, te metemos las patas en plomo derretido’. 62 The
detective’s threat sounds out of proportion with the crime and is probably unlikely to
happen, although [sadly] we cannot deny the existence of such treatment. We realise
that the attitude of the investigator is not commensurate with his motivation, 63 and
thanks to this exaggeration and the incongruity of the statements, in addition to other
clues such as knowing the characteristics of La Familia Burrón or the caricaturised
images, it is possible to recognise this situation as part of the universe of humour. When
we connect the funny circumstances to our reality, we understand that they are
exaggerations, but we condemn their abuse by laughing and ridiculing them. The
comics are an acknowledgement that reality can be as absurd, and cruel, as the cartoons,
60 Los Agachados, 39, p. 24.
61 Robert Pfaller, ‘The Familiar Unknown, the Uncanny, the Comic: The Aesthetic Effects of the Thought
Experiment’, in Lacan. The Silent Partners, ed. by Slavoj Zizek (London, New York: Verso, 2006), p.
202.
62 La Familia Burrón, 17164, p. 34.
63 Purdie, Comedy. The Mastery…, p. 81.
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