Enviro-Spoof: Am I Allowed to Laugh... A Lot?

Last week, Huffington Post readers had the following conversations in response to the above "Green Team" video:

Balzac posted 12:27 pm on 11/22/2007
Will Ferrell needs to get his as$ kicked for this. What a disservice to environmentalism. Why doesn't he make fun of Blackwater or Republican brown-shirts?
Oh, right. He's from SNL.

T.Roll Reply posted 09:07 pm on 11/22/2007
Bwahaha. Take the pickle out of your as$, funboy.

Balzac posted 12:00 pm on 11/23/2007
That's your fetish, pickle-boy. I don't give rat's as$ what you with your pickles on your own time, but you don't have to share it.

And later . . .

Balzac posted 11:58 am on 11/23/2007
Doesn't matter who you think needs the as$ kicking - if it came down to an as$ kicking contest between you and I, you would quickly beg me not to kick your as$.

rektruax posted 05:51 pm on 11/24/2007
OK tough guy...

T.Roll posted 09:04 pm on 11/24/2007
Balzac will hug your tree, then kick your as$.

Laughter aside, these and other comments have put me in quite the pickle (no pun intended).

I can't help but think the "Green Team" video is hilarious--ok, ok, the beatings, the sexual assault- not funny. But, the ridiculousness of self-righteous wannabe eco-warriors, like myself, that's quite funny. Huffpo and environmental brethren, Balzac, however, makes me wonder, "Am I allowed to laugh?" And, "Is Will Ferrell's film really doing a 'disservice' to environmentalism?"

I'd have to say no. Rather, I'd have to say that I believe the "Green Team" video is doing a service to environmentalism. For one, the short offers some helpful tips. Humor is an excellent memory tool and what better way to remember to unplug your cell charger than through some sophomoric rambling from comedian Adam Mckay?

The short also invites some important questions--ones we can all learn from. For example, "how can environmentalists educate without being preachy?" "How can an eco-activist be correct without being righteous?" "How can one, 'be green,' without losing friends and alienating him or herself?" Or, "How can I avoid pissing the cabbie off when I ask him to stop idling his car?"

Environmentalists can be really--no, incredibly--annoying, not to mention self-righteous and hypocritical. I know because I'm incredibly annoying, and I'm not even a real die-hard environmentalist. Either way, the future of the world rests on them, or at least those who care enough to lead the charge. Of course we shouldn't deter do-gooders, but a little humor never hurt anyone.

And what's the big deal? "Making love to Mother Earth . . . literally," sounds pretty great. Who's down?

Check back here every Wednesday for Olivia's thoughts and tips on living the green life.

Comments

[Swegin]

Beauty and humor are in the eye of the beholder, but that does not mean that one beholders cultivated idea of humor is not more sophisticated then another beholder.
I found the "Green Team" skit to just be plain boring rather then offensive .... not much comedic panache, depth or complexity to that skit that I could see .... but then except for a few choice moments I usually find Will Ferrell's comedy to be flat, unsophisticated, kind of shallow and clumsy ......regardless of the subject it is aimed at. I wonder did it take him more then 30 seconds to come up with the comedic juxtaposition of Environmentalist and fanatic zealots? .... This is exactly how the Right wing likes to project all Environmental concerns ...... to include Global Warming ........ It is one of their primary propaganda weapons in the way of a personal attack aimed at a group instead of an individual.... Much the same they use on the ACLU ...... I think I will add obtuse to Will Ferrel's list of negatives.

[lamarguerite]

You are using humor to bring up a very serious and important subject. How to deliver the green message without alienating the ones we are trying to 'convert'?

I wrote an article for Groovy Green, 'Sharing my green self, on that topic a little while ago.

Who likes to be lectured? No one I know. And yet, the world is full of environmental preachers, intended to steer the majority of us eco-sinners on the right path. While there is a place for environmental education and advice, the information needs to be left at the discretion of the user.

I can tell you what has worked for me:

1) straight science facts delivered without a surplus of opinions, eg, Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth presentation

2) life examples of people who are walking their talk, and modeling a sustainable lifestyle; again, the less they say, the more powerful their message

3) empathy for the difficulties in trying to greening one's life; without judgment

4) people who give me advice when I ask for it, not when they feel like it

5) timely sharing, as in teachable moments, and with a sensitivity to the other person's response

6) remembering that the practice of sustainability is not a religion, but rather a personal and moral choice that is derived from scientific evidence.

Last, nothing is worse than an ubergreenie without a sense of humor; lighten up please and do not turn your earth saving crusade into a green dictature. You may end up saving the earth, but life will cease to be fun.

Green Girl Wannabe
http://lamarguerite.wordpress.com
'It's All About Green Psychology'

[mamacat]

The right to be politically incorrect is one of our Constitutional rights, yada yada yada.

Except, that it really is, so get over it. No one should expect that we will all think exactly the same thing.
I usually do not find Will Ferrell's comedy funny, but a whole lot of people do, or he wouldn't be making so much money. Hopefully we are all not so dumb that we will have our ideas about Global Warming changed by one of his comedy skits.

[T.Roll]

Wow, good points, Olivia. No pickle here. Hell, even Al Gore can laugh at himself.

[jaycg9]

I think a lot of people are having trouble figuring out the difference between finding satire offensive and just not finding satire funny. It's okay to think that the Green Team isn't funny. A lot of the humor is petty and sophomoric. But this doesn't mean it's subverting the environmentalism movement--as has been said, it's important to be able to laugh at yourself and your beliefs, lest you come off as stogy and humorless (like, say, politicians).
So if you can't laugh at the Green Team, fine. But if you can't laugh at ANY good-natured and obviously facetious prodding at environmentalism...time to lighten up.

[2ofHarts]

However off the beaten track of traditional comedy this video strays, it accurately portrays the stereotype held by many unconverted individuals of the green movement. Eco-terrorism/terrorists through violence and illegal property destruction may appear to be making a larger statement, but these acts are not a means to an end, and such methods tend to tar law-abiding moderate environmentalists with the same brush as being "preachy or an extremist"

[rebeleyeball]

I'll laugh when something is funny. This was not close to being funny. How can you say "ok, ok, the beatings, the sexual assault- not funny" and then say you laughed at the other "ridiculousness"? That was half the bit.

Will Ferrell just isn't funny to me. I don't get how people can find this or the "Two Year Old Landlord" funny. It's really kind of sad when you think about it. I guess that is what is supposed to make it funny?

[BillZBubb]

Maybe I just got up on the wrong side of the bed, but I didn't find the video funny at all. It certainly didn't "do a service to environmentalism".

[NemoNoOne]

OMG! Sanity!! If we can't laugh at ourselves, we're no better than our tormentors.

Nemo

[kingofscotts]

If you can't laugh at that then you are a joyless loser. What more can be said.