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Jennifer Lawrence is the latest victim of the out-of-control Laughter Police

Richard Glover

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Pratt, Lawrence call Titanic comparisons fair

At the Los Angeles premiere of Passengers, stars Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence say it's fair to compare their new sci-fi romance to another tale of lovers on a sinking ship.

Could the human race be given back its sense of humour? It appears to have gone missing at about the same time Twitter was invented. The latest case involves the delightful actor Jennifer Lawrence. When asked to be amusing on the Graham Norton Show, Lawrence decided to tell a story about her itchy bum and some sacred rocks in Hawaii.

I'm pretty sure that, for the sake of comedy, she exaggerated both the sacredness of the rocks and the itchiness of her bottom. The idea that people might embellish when it comes to telling a story has not occurred to her critics, who have accused her of gross insensitivity to the spiritual traditions of the Hawaiian people.

To quote one tweeter: "It doesn't get more white and evil than Jennifer Lawrence." Or another: "Jennifer Lawrence is so ugly."

Naturally, fans have demanded an apology, which Lawrence has duly delivered: "I understand the way it was perceived was not funny and I apologise if I offended anyone." It's another successful prosecution for the Laughter Police.

The truth of what happened that day is lost to history, but I'd wager it came down to this: Jennifer Lawrence was in a beautiful and spiritual spot, in the sense that most of Hawaii is beautiful and spiritual, and her bum was a little itchy. Then, when rubbing her itchy bum against the rock, a pebble was dislodged which may or may not have bounced close to the sound recordist who was working below.

By exaggerating both the spirituality of the spot and the extent of the rock-slide, Lawrence could send herself up as a person who had thoughtlessly invoked an ancient curse under which her fellow filmmakers would suffer.

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If you were trying to label the story within the traditions of comedy, you'd say: "a self-deprecating tale in which a famous Hollywood actress vividly portrays herself as a goose."

Consciously, or unconsciously, Lawrence was using techniques employed by everyone from Aristophanes to Chaplin; from P.G. Wodehouse to C.J. Dennis. They're the techniques we all use when trying to tell a funny story. We spot a small humiliating moment, then build up each part of the story. Every pebble becomes a landslide.

And here's the important thing, her intention is not to be offensive, or attack Hawaiians. Her intention, like most people who tell a funny story, is to lift everyone's spirits: spirits which – by and large – are quite low after what's been a spectacularly crap year.

They don't do footnotes in newspaper columns, but if they did, I'd have a footnote (1) next to the phrase "crap year", and your eye would flit to the bottom of this page where there would be a list comprising David Bowie, Prince, Leonard Cohen, Donald Trump, and the brace of One Nation Senators who've managed the near-impossible trick of make Pauline Hanson look sane.

There would also be mention of the corporate decision to stop manufacturing the ice treat called the Sunnyboy, which would then necessitate a footnote amid the footnotes – is that allowed? – which would describe for a younger audience the delights of the Sunnyboy, and identify the flavours, including Orange Explosion, Razz Rasberry and Glug Cola.

But back to Jennifer Lawrence. My point is that humour is a valuable thing. We shouldn't stand by and allow it to be over-policed by the idiots who infest the web.

Almost any funny story has the capacity to offend someone. That time you were so badly sunburnt you couldn't wear a bra, and then got caught in the sprinkler, just when the bus of tourists went by? Well, shame on you for telling a story that makes light of sunburn, given there are people who may have recently lost a relative to melanoma …

Or that moment when – naked – you locked yourself out of your hotel room after having too many drinks? Well, if you think alcohol is a laughing matter, when we know it kills thousands of Australians each year …

And that gag about making sure there's always a plump bloke further out when swimming at Bondi? There is nothing remotely funny about either our national obesity crisis, nor about the current spate of shark attacks, and shame on you for not realising the solemn tone that must be adopted when discussing either.

That's the way the Laughter Police operate: seeking offence wherever they can find it. For the rest of us, humour is humanity's way of taking back control – laughing at our collective stupidity; at the unfairness of life; at the way we all fall so painfully short of our ideals. Every laugh is a small act of defiance against an imperfect universe.

There are, it's true, occasions when people use humour to mock or intimidate. A laugh can be a tool of oppression and of stereotyping. Most of the time, though, the joke teller just wants us to laugh, and in that sudden expulsion of air to reassert our contempt for the shortfalls of life.

The humour-makers, nearly all the time, are doing the work of the angels. Let's cheer them on, as we scratch our own itchy bums, lest we tut-tut our way into a world without the sweet, defiant sound of laughter.

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