Oddly enough cartoons over here weren't censored of their more.... well....minstrel show moments till VERY recently (at the very least up to the late noughties I can recall watching Tom and Jerry cartoons that featured prominent blackface, complete with accents to go) Which is odd to think since they were apparently censoring slapstick violence in the 70s and yet these not so subtle displays of racism went on (I'm not too surprised of course to think that censors find "violence" more abhorrent than blackface but still strikes me that I grew up watching that stuff which was pretty outdated by the 80s never mind the 2000's

That's simple, they don't.. Critical thinking is mostly frowned upon in society unless you are in a career that specifically requires you to do so such as the doctors or scientists you previously mentioned. Children are taught the "facts" that these people have discovered in the past in school. But it is based on a government curriculum that only requires them to regurgitate those facts in the form of government testing, not to know WHY those facts are correct.

Kids are taught 2+2=4. But often times when children ask questions, particularly why, often times the adults don't have the answers and respond with things like "because I said so".

But as Rich mentioned, that's not really the topic of this particular conversation.

@messk1, you summed it up perfectly with that B5 clip Much of our comedy is based on the misfortune of others. Watch America's Funniest Home Videos. It would seem that the higher the medical bill was for the individuals involved, the greater the laughs and chances of them winning were. Which I guess works out as it will help them pay a small percentage of the medicals bills.

I'm also reminded of the Stooges. Those guys beat the shit out of each other for our entertainment.

Exactly. If you're talking verbal comedy (stand-up, well-written sitcom, etc), then obviously the humor comes from the setup and punchline.
But for physical comedy, most of the laughs DO come from misfortune. Over the years, I've used the same joke as Homer Simpson: There is NOTHING funnier than "football to the crotch." And for all the great verbal humor and sight gags that the Simpsons gave us over the years, I'd argue one of their BEST jokes was Sideshow Bob vs. a bunch of rakes. Which is basically "football to the crotch," except "rake to the face" (times 10).

And yeah, my favorite Looney Tunes cartoon was definitely Duck Season vs. Rabbit Season, AKA "the one where Daffy Duck's bill gets blown off in 20 different ways." To bring it full circle, later generations never got to enjoy that one properly because Warner censored the hell out of future airings to tone down all the "violence."

Mel Brooks said it best: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open sewer and die."

I'm glad this thread reminded me of this, because maybe a week ago I had a late-night epiphany that delivering a pie in someone's face can be both, at once, an act of a ritualistic celebration of excess, a ceremonial offering coupled with a reverence for whoever you're choosing to plaster with a pie.
And it can also wholly be an act of domination, degradation, & depravity.
I think it can be entirely both at once.
I believe a pie in the face is a powerful symbol of the spectrum of emotions surrounding human sexuality.