What do you feel about all those "Fail" video compilations?

[Lark]

There's probably worse material out there right? Although I wonder what it does looking at "fail" video compilations for entertainment, if you do it for long enough does your empathy disappear and you become desensitised?

I always wonder if the people involved in them are hurt, especially if it involves falling or hitting their heads.

 

[sassafras]

It's just a different type of humor. For instance, some people (like me) find puns and word play to be an absolute delight while others prefer to swirl their brandy in a snifter and look down their noses at it. I imagine it's the same way with slapstick comedy.

I'll personally never experience the visceral enjoyment of watching someone get a pie in the face, but the way I understand it, it is more about the unexpected and absurd physicality than anything truly sadistic. In fact, I think few people would actually laugh if they discovered the person was injured. Notice that these compilations never really follow the clumsy oaf to the hospital. More often than not, the person is shown walking it off and laughing.

Mind you, how anyone is able to separate 'head shot' from 'head injury' is truly one of life's great mysteries to me, but for some people, its apparently possible.

 

[AUM]

I think on the subconscious level people find that sort of humor funny because it lessens their feelings of inadequacy and other insecurities. Think about it, you see some random girl making a fool out of herself, and for a moment, there's a sense of superiority because obviously you wouldn't do something as stupid as that. The ego thrives on that. It loves to make others worse off than you.

 

[littlemissmaya]

I cannot watch them for too long - I can imagine their pain. On that note, I have never watched an episode of those Jackass shows - only saw a few and bits and pieces from television commercials.

 

[sprinkles]

I don't watch them. Mainly because a lot of the time they're posted by people who are whoring for views/subs regardless of content quality (which is why so many of them rip off exact copies of the same videos)

 

[ZcM4xzkjgzCjytBc]

can be funny
depends on whether those involved (camera person/compiler/uploader) know the difference between funny and the hospital

 

[Flavus Aquila]

I've watched so many fail videos, I find them kind of boring and predictable for the most part. Some YouTube channels manage to select the more bizarre, unpredictable, and extreme fails. Some make me scream in laughter... it's worth sifting through the predictable stuff to find the funny ones. Still.

 

[Wyote]

There's probably worse material out there right? Although I wonder what it does looking at "fail" video compilations for entertainment, if you do it for long enough does your empathy disappear and you become desensitised?

I went down this path before youtube existed. There was still plenty of dark material out there even in the early days of the Internet. Once I started to be humored by actual death I became disturbed with myself. I still remember that moment. I don't find that sort of thing funny at all but I still laugh quite a lot even at serious injuries if the person was just being a fucking idiot. Good riddance. Darwin awards are hilarious reads.

 

[MrSquared]

The honest to goodness failures of say a gymnast which doesn't result in real injury are fine by me. But the fact that people fake these things, film random exchanges just hoping for failure, do silly things, and even plan to "fail" in order to get attention is kinda messed up. LOL