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

antipathy or resentment toward disparaged protagonists’. 135 We ridicule those in power
because it is a moral revenge, and it places us in a position of superiority. ‘Laughing is a
feeling of sudden glory where I find another person ridiculous and laugh at their
expense’. 136 In humour we laugh at those who are inferior to ourselves, even if our
superiority is temporary and comes from a simple act of humour.
Gregor Benton asserts: ‘political jokes are a powerful transmitter of the popular
mood in societies where this mood can find no officially sanctioned outlet’. 137 Since
President Echeverría invited filmmakers to portray any topic, they had an ideal space to
point out how those in power made decisions and engaged in behaviour that was
detrimental to the public. Politicians and others in democratically elected positions are
represented as working against the greater social good, as we saw in the comics. Their
caricatures are grotesque and exaggerated; many of the leaders did not gain their
positions democratically, which makes it easier to make fun of them. 138 Thus, they seem
as the antithesis of the average citizen are punished with the whip of our laughter.
Don Perpetuo expresses his disdain for the town and the residents he rules on
various occasions. For example, when he is discussing with his close supporters, known
in Mexico as Fuerzas Vivas, why an inspector wish to visit the town, the journalist
suggests that it must be part of an international conspiracy. To that suggestion he replies
contemptuously, portraying his low opinion of the town: ‘¿Pero cuál conjura
internacional? ¡Si en este pueblo se camina tres meses y no se llega a ningún lado!’ 139
He also comments in a different scene ‘Al pueblo, pan y circo, no cabe duda’: the only
thing they need to be happy is a festival organised by the authorities. The role of the
135
Zillman, D., and Cantor, J. R., quoted by McGhee, Humor. Its Origin… p. 24.
136
Thomas Hobbes quoted by Critchley, On Humour, p. 12.
137
Gregor Benton,’The origins of the political joke’, in Chris Powell and Gregor Paton, Humour in
Society…, 33-55 (p. 33).
138
Davies, Jokes and their Relation… p. 90.
139
Arau, Calzonzin Inspector, 1973.
207