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By C.C. Burnikel
©2018 Tribune Content Agency, LLC
11/15/18

Los Angeles Times Daily Crossword Puzzle

Edited by Rich Norris and Joyce Nichols Lewis

11/15/18

ANSWER TO PREVIOUS PUZZLE:

Release Date: Thursday, November 15, 2018

ACROSS
1 Passé saver of 
fave programs
4 Energized
11 Sales add-on
14 Parseghian of 
Notre Dame
15 “Alas, it’s true”
16 Juan Perón’s 
wife
17 Level the playing 
field?
18 Was felt very 
strongly
19 Say no to
20 Medicare section
22 Big name in shoe 
stores
23 “Same here”
25 Camper’s heater
27 Links targets
28 *Fresh face in a 
newsroom
32 ORD airport 
postings
34 Get hitched on 
the run
35 Giant in nonstick 
sauté pans
38 Big oafs
40 Saw
41 Galaxy, e.g.
42 Practice frugality
43 Tense NFL 
periods
44 “Bleeding Love” 
singer Lewis
45 Beat in a pie 
contest, say
47 Booted out
48 Turncoat
50 Cable network 
since 1972
51 Error the 
answers to 
starred clues 
might make
58 *Fresh face at 
online gaming
59 *With 60-Across, 
fresh face at a 
dojo
60 *See 59-Across
62 “Try again”
63 Zeus’ shield
64 Bike signal
65 Website for 
handmade 
jewelry
66 Egg holders
67 “Match Game” 
host Baldwin

DOWN
1 Improvises, in 
jazz
2 Dubrovnik 
resident
3 *Fresh face at 
boot camp
4 Site with many 
home pages?
5 CalArts degree
6 Await a decision
7 George of 
“MacGyver”
8 Picked from the 
deck
9 Find a place for
10 Keith Haring 
genre
11 *Fresh face in the 
Boy Scouts
12 French postcard 
word
13 Graph line
21 “I wouldn’t lie”
24 Is really boiling
26 Mining find
27 Hurdle for a 
future Ph.D.
29 Red Muppet
30 Frost, e.g.
31 Goes (for)
32 Too
33 Amazon Fire TV 
Stick alternative

36 Hathaway of 
“Ocean’s 8”
37 Take charge of
39 __ plug
41 Plum-apricot 
hybrid
46 Where bubble 
tea originated
47 Persistently 
haunt
49 Little laugh
50 “Start the 
music!”

51 Carrot or turnip
52 “My bad”
53 Follow orders
54 “Top Gun” enemy 
planes
55 “Mamma Mia! 
Here We Go 
Again” group
56 Ship’s backbone
57 Glamour rival
58 Mobile-to-
Knoxville dir.
61 Dr. Mom’s skill

HELP WANTED

SERVICES

Classifieds

Call: #734-418-4115
Email: dailydisplay@gmail.com

This past weekend, my friend 

and I went to see “Candide.” 
After the show, we couldn’t stop 
talking about the controversial 
and 
potentially 
offensive 

nature of some of the jokes. For 
those unfamiliar with the show, 
much of the humor revolves 
around seemingly impossible 
sequences of negative events 
befalling various characters. 
My friend was particularly 
struck by a long sequence in 
which the audience laughs 
as Cunegonde recalls being 
stabbed, repeatedly raped, left 
to die and then almost buried 
alive — the humor comes in 
that she somehow escapes from 
this sequence of events entirely 
unchanged.

This conversation got me 

thinking about other examples 
of 
over-the-top, 
offensive 

humor. I’m a huge fan of “The 
Book of Mormon,” for example, 
and it has many examples of 
this. One example that comes to 
mind is a character interrupting 
happy 
moments 
throughout 

the play by repeatedly singing 
“I still have maggots in my 
scrotum.” 
Another 
example 

is the song “Sal Tlay Ka 
Siti,” in which the audience 
invariably laughs at an African 
character’s misconception of 
American society. Statements 
such as “I’ll bet the goat-meat 
there is plentiful / And they 
have vitamin injections by the 
case,” or “The war-lords there 
are friendly… And there’s a 
Red Cross on every corner 
/ With all the flour you can 
eat,” are always greeted with 
laughter despite their potential 
offensive nature.

What makes this humor 

acceptable 
in 
a 
society 

becoming 
increasingly 

cognizant 
of 
unconscious 

biases 
and 
offensive 

stereotypes? As my friend said, 
why were these statements 
acceptably humorous in context 
though they would obviously 
have been offensive out of 
context? Could my laughing 
at these statements be seen as 
condoning these stereotypes? 
Does my laughter minimize 
our collective awareness of the 
harm of these stereotypes?

Initially, I will admit, the 

distinction between agreeing 
with 
these 
stereotypes 

and finding humor in them 
seemed insignificant. In both 
instances, 
I 
thought, 
not 

challenging these stereotypes 
ingrains them. This distinction 
seemed superficial — beneath 
this 
façade 
of 
laughter 

or 
tacit 
acceptance 
lies 
a 

negative stereotype that gives 
the 
statement 
context 
and 

meaning. Unless we call out 
these statements, are we not 
allowing them to spread under 
the surface?

With more analysis, however, 

the 
distinction 
between 

laughter and agreement could 
not be clearer. While laughing 
at these jokes out of context is 
indeed offensive, laughing at 
them in context is the opposite 
of 
offensive. 
Laughing 
in 

context indicates that we are 
aware of the offensive tropes 

or discriminatory assumptions 
that allow for this humor.

Humor, after all, is the 

juxtaposition of two illogical 
or 
contradictory 
concepts. 

We laugh because we witness 
something 
unexpected, 

illogical or otherwise atypical. 
We laugh because we are 
aware of the contradiction that 
makes a statement humorous 
and not simply meaningful. 
Laughing at jokes such as those 
described above indicate that 
we understand the stereotype 

that makes them humorous.

In “Candide,” for example, 

the audience laughs at the 
long list of negative events 
because it clashes both with 
the unrealistic positivity that 
we expect of an operetta and 
the amount of unluckiness that 
we think could ever befall one 
person. Rather than condoning 
or tacitly accepting this long 
chain of negative events, we 
laugh specifically because we 
know them to be improbable, if 
not impossible. Humor proves 
that we have analyzed the play 
on multiple levels and focused 
in on a glaring contradiction 
between what we think is 
possible and what the play has 
told us is possible.

In “The Book of Mormon,” 

the 
complexity 
of 
African 

society 
contradicts 
the 

stereotypes 
of 
“developing 

country” simplicity pervasive 
throughout American culture. 
The 
seemingly 
absurd 

statements in “Sal Tlay Ka 
Siti” are thus humorous in 
that they demonstrate to us 
the inherent impossibility of 
these 
stereotypes. 
Through 

the 
singer’s 
confused 

understanding 
of 
American 

society, 
we 
begin 
to 
see 

how flawed our conception 
of African society is. The 
play holds a mirror to our 
unconscious biases, reflecting 
them back on us in the form 
of a glaringly stereotypical 
representation 
of 
Africans 

dreaming of American society.

This 
concept 
of 
humor 

relates to my understanding 
of art and my views on what 
constitutes “good” art. I view 
good art as art that makes 
us question our beliefs and 
reassess 
our 
unconscious 

biases. It touches us on an 
emotional 
level, 
bypassing 

the intellect and provoking 
new lines of thought. It is 
emotionally complex, allowing 
for endless interpretation, and 
it 
communicates 
something 

about the human condition 
that transcends the limitations 

of any specific time period or 
culture.

Good humor, I realized, does 

much the same thing. Humor 
trains the mind to be skeptical, 
to question information against 
our 
expectations 
and 
find 

statements so illogical as to 
be humorous. And while this 
humor can be based on offensive 
statements, the effect of this 
offensive humor is actually 
the opposite of offensive, as it 
forces us to become conscious 
of the stereotypes and biases 
that 
make 
the 
statement 

humorous. Unless we are aware 
of an underlying stereotype, we 
cannot find a statement to be 
funny.

Humor can even be effective 

in fighting white nationalism. 
In an article in The New York 
Times last year, for example, 
Tina 
Rosenberg 
describes 

an 
unconventional 
and 

surprisingly effective means 
of fighting neo-Nazism. After 
years 
of 
staging 
counter-

protests at neo-Nazi events to 
little success, some American 
towns have begun humorously 
mocking event participants. 
Groups such as the “Coup Clutz 
Clowns” greet white nationalist 
protesters with confetti and 
shouts of “white flour” (an 
intentional misunderstanding 
of cries of “white power”). 

White nationalists feed off 

the victimization and the need 
for hyper-masculine aggression 
that serious counter-protests 
provoke. 
Counter-protesting 

with humor deprives these 
white 
nationalists 
of 
the 

attention, fear and power they 
seek. 
Though 
some 
would 

argue that reacting to these 
events with humor willfully 
ignores the severity of the 
threat that they pose, this 
humor proves to be incredibly 
effective in depriving those in 
the movement of the hyper-
masculine validation they seek.

Humor is thus an incredibly 

effective tool not for building 
up 
ideas 
but 
for 
tearing 

down opposing ideas. Humor 
forces 
us 
to 
be 
skeptical, 

to 
accept 
nothing 
at 
face 

value; humor brings even the 
most ingrained unconscious 

biases to the realm of the 

conscious 
and 
intentional. 

When used well, it exposes 
contradiction without allowing 
for a counterargument. And 
though it can be offensive 
on 
the 
surface, 
humor 

predicated on an inoffensive 
and unprejudiced worldview 
is 
ultimately 
anything 
but 

offensive. It functions much 
as my understanding of good 
art functions, provoking an 
immediate emotional reaction 
that lays the groundwork for 
lengthy, complex thought on 
the ambiguities of the human 
condition.

And if this whole column 

can be generated from one 
potentially offensive joke in 
an operetta, imagine what can 
be generated from a series of 
jokes! The possibilities abound 
for 
those 
willing 
to 
take 

this Matrix-esque red pill of 
skepticism.

Offensive humor and 
forced introspection

COMMUNITY CULTURE COLUMN

SAMMY 
SUSSMAN

Susan Orlean at the Ann 
Arbor District Library

At some point in our lives, 

we will allow ourselves to 
be consumed by something, 
kindled by the flames of art, 
sex, passion or whatever else 
transcends you beyond the 
mortal realm of existence. 
If we weren’t curious about 
something 
or 
hungry 
for 

knowledge, we would be left 
on empty, our own flames 
extinguished.

Susan Orlean, a journalist for 

The New Yorker and acclaimed 
author of “The Orchid Thief” 
(the basis for Oscar-winning, 
Meryl Streep-starring 2002 
film “Adaptation”), had her 
own fascination sparked by 
the Los Angeles library fire of 
1986. The flames that devoured 
over 400,000 library books 
was a travesty to page after 
page of history, memories and 
untainted knowledge. Beyond 
the content inside, the library 
building itself was a mecca for 
connection among people and 

words that left patrons with a 
reviving sense of community 
and ineffable nostalgia.

Last Thursday night in the 

Ann Arbor District Library, 
aisles were filled with admirers 
of 
Orlean’s 
endearment 

towards library books and 
the worlds they hold inside. 
Orlean’s curiosity surrounding 
this tragic event prompted her 
latest release, “The Library 
Book,” a biography that peers 
into why libraries and library 
books are cherished as sacred 
spaces across the globe. 

TESSA ROSE
Daily Arts Writer

BOOKS EVENT

Orlean’s 
work 
consisted 

of investigating the arrest 
of the young man possessed 
by his dream of stardom and 
the 
subsequent 
legal 
case 

surrounding his arson. The 
results were in: 45,000 works 
of literature, 9,000 business 
books, 
6,000 
magazines, 

18,000 social science books, 
12,000 cookbooks (including 
six 
books 
of 
popcorn 

recipes) and numerous other 
devastated 
book 
categories 

making the recovery attempt 
the largest on record. All of 
the books were wet from the 
firefighters’s attempt to put 
out the flames. The only way 
to salvage some more time for 
the books to have a chance at 
restoration was for them to be 
frozen. The library reached 
out to various food companies 
in L.A. that had freezers large 
enough to store hundreds of 
thousands of damaged library 
books. “They shoved aside the 
broccoli and the shrimp. And 
the books were frozen for 6 
years,” Orlean said.

While writing “The Library 

Book,” Orlean’s mother was 
diagnosed with dementia.

“I came across an expression 

that is used in Senegal when 
someone dies, and rather than 
saying that he or she died, 
you say his or her library has 
burned,” Orlean said. As Orlean 
watched her own mother’s 
library burn down, she finally 
recognized the power libraries 
have to retain things eternally 

while humans fade closer to 
oblivion with each passing 
inhale and exhale.

“Each of us in a sense as 

our own private library, our 
own set of volumes of stories 
and vignettes. Libraries in a 

way replicate what we have 
inside ourselves, a collection 
of information that defines 
who we are, who we’ve been 
and who we dream of being,” 
Orlean said.

There’s 
a 
reason 
that 

burning 
books 
seems 
like 

a 
heinous 
crime 
against 

humanity, and to Orlean, it is 
because books preserve who 
we are. For this same reason, 
oppressive regimes burn books 
as a method of terror against 
other nations, sending the 
message that “you don’t exist.” 
“The number of books burned 
in World War II and libraries 
burned is the single greatest 
loss of books in the history of 
civilization,” Orlean stated. 
Books 
become 
extensions 

of 
ourselves 
that 
preserve 

culture, history, science and 
all other bits and pieces of 
human thought rendered into 
ink-inscribed words on paper.

Orlean concluded the event 

with a reading from the end of 
“The Library Book” that best 
captures the sentimentality 
of libraries: “The library is 
so big that I can feel private. 
Almost like a secret place,” she 
said. The idea, it seemed, was 
that libraries connect people 
with ideas, cultivating spaces 
for the embers of passion and 
inspiration to be set ablaze.

“The 
silence 
was 
more 

soothing than solemn. The 
library is a good place to sulk 
in solitude. A place where you 
feel part of a conversation that 
has gone on for hundreds and 
hundreds of years even when 
you’re all alone... You don’t 
need to take a book off of a 
shelf to know there is a voice 
inside that is waiting to speak 
to you.”

SKILLSHARE

If we weren’t 

curious about 

something or 

hungry for 

knowledge, we 

would be left 

on empty, our 

own flames 

extinguished

6— Thursday, November 15, 2018
Arts
The Michigan Daily — michigandaily.com

