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

dibujaba Rius en los sesenta como un diputado corrupto de los setenta’. 70 Also, as
discussed in the first chapter, it is easier to make fun of political leaders who were not
elected democratically, 71 which was a reality of Mexico during this period.
La Familia Burrón is the only comic that presents a recurrent character who is a
diputado, but that does not prevent the other comics from referring to these political
figures and highlighting their defects, as we will see later. They agree in terms of the
profile they present of these public servants. In Los Agachados, the diputados are
presented in various ways when characters talk about them and share negative opinions
of them. In Hermelinda Linda, they are mentioned only in conversations, but opinions
of them are no more favourable than in Los Agachados. According to the ordinary
people, the diputados are lazy, incompetent, and abusive of their position of authority
which they did not obtain democratically. They are paid from the citizens’ taxes without
doing a proper job. In an issue of Los Agachados, two characters call them ‘artículos
superfluos’ and ‘artículos decorativos’. 72
By ascribing these characteristics, the comic is communicating what many
citizens may think about these public servants but do not say openly, or cannot because
they lack a public forum to do so. The readers enjoy the fact that someone is insulting
those in power; the joke is a good mechanism ‘para hacer viable la agresión o la crítica
contra la autoridad’ 73 and by laughing at the negative comments about the diputados,
the readers could relieve the energy used to contain these thoughts. Finally, the relief of
this energy is transformed into pleasure.
Freud also proposes that through insults a joke is possible, and that it also works
the other way around: through the joke it is possible to launch an insult. Therefore,
70 Barajas, Sólo me río… p. 190.
71 Christie Davies, Jokes and their relation to society (Berlin, New York: Mouton de Gruyer. 1998), p. 90.
72 Los Agachados, 30, p. 10.
73 Freud, El chiste y su relación… p. 102.
103