Utopia...Not a Laughing Matter

Utopia, the dream of a perfect world and society, has always been a theme in literature and art. The idea of a society without fault with perfect circumstances has resonated in every intellectual mind, and every Miss America speech. However, is a perfect society really ideal? For the comedian inside of me, I boldly say no! We need in-perfect leaders, mistake-making celebrities, incredibly stupid common day people, acknowledged cultural and racial differences, and unthinkable conditions.
Where would comedy be in a world where leaders of nations can't pronounce nuclear? What would Conan O'brien or Jay Leno have to joke about for months on end if Bill Clinton did not coin the famous phrase "I did not have sexual relations with that woman?" An important aspect of comedy is relating with the audience, which includes writing about things or events commonly known with which the audience has a strong connection or passion. So, naturally the comedic decisions or faults of a leader we all chose or voted against is an excellent source for a quick laugh. It is so effective that it has become the first place comedians look when writing new material. It is almost impossible to watch an episode of any late night talk show, or stand up comedy act without hearing a political allusion.
What if celebrities really were the idols that we were to shape our lives after? What if the intellectual standards of every movie actor were what we all would strive to reach? Ok, granted, not every celebrity is a complete mess, and they are people like us who make mistakes...but just think of where our jokes would be if we took Chuck Norris away from the world!? Our societal obsession of the lives, and especially the blunders of celebrities is so great that we even have a whole channel dedicated to it on basic cable! In an ideal world where celebrities did not mess up, where they were the intellectual giants that we all admired, the E channel would have a whole new challenge to live up to its name...it would have to become entertaining!
While in an ideal society there would be no crime...that would unfortunately lead to the conclusion that there would be no stupidest criminal stories, comprising crooks who get so involved in dancing in front of the camera they don't see the police arrive. The image of a perfect society would imply that all people do not make the most entertaining of mistakes, like the lady in Connecticut who greased the BOTTOM of the pan resulting in a little house fire. Along those lines, Jay Leno's Headlines would not even exist!
In the ideal society, the differences in cultures and race become eliminated. While equality and prejudice would consequently disappear too, so would the stand-up acts of Chris Rock, and common racially-slurred sketches of SNL and Mad T.V.
What am I getting at? It is actually quite simple...in the ideal society the humor that we so passionately enjoy in today's world would be no more! In a world full of perfect people, all the humor we would have left would be funny animal clips as seen on America's funniest home videos and the Animal Planet Channel. Granted...I probably watched the you tube video of the monkey that sniffed his finger and then immediately fell out of the tree a thousand times, and can not get sick of the video with the bear and the trampoline...but wait a second, the whole premise of that video is that people honestly thought it a good idea (which comedically it was gold) to shoot the bear with the tranquilizer hoping the trampoline would work perfectly to plan...another stupid decision from us, which in a perfect society would not have happened...so even that video we would not be enjoying in Utopia.
Ok, for those who can't read past the sarcasm, I am in no way saying that a perfect society is a bad idea. Infact, I think I could be entertained for many years on the same animal videos on youtube that i previously mentioned. However, as we complain about the mistakes of world leaders, the oh-so-entertaining celebrities being the source of every news channel, the stupidity of the guy at work trying to purchase food from the vending machine with monopoly money, and the racial and cultural differences that sometimes lead to misunderstandings, we must remember to ejoy the simple humor underlining this in-perfect world. Though we should strive to always make a better world...it won't kill us to step back and laugh at the mistakes we make along the way.