I don’t tend to get excited about Hollywood folklore. But there’s one particular story I really love because it contains an unexpected pearl of wisdom, wrapped in a paradoxical sentence. It sounds contradictory, and like it can’t possibly be true. And yet it reveals something about human nature that’s worth thinking about.
An LSD Trip into Wisdom
The story in question comes by way of the 1960s/70s countercultural madman Paul Krassner, part of which appeared in an article he wrote for High Times magazine called “My Acid Trip With Groucho”. The tale he tells (which you can read in full here) is every bit as crazy as the title sounds.
It was 1967, and Krassner is friends with a producer making a comedy movie called “Skidoo”. It features an aging Groucho Marx as a crime boss named God. The movie (which is very 1960s) does a lot to basically…advocate LSD use. Groucho was concerned about being part of the film having never done the drug. So he asks Krassner to be his sitter on his inaugural LSD trip.
Krassner documents a great collection of pull quotes from Groucho during his trip. At one point he’s talking about how he’s going to approach playing a character named God who’s also a criminal overlord. This prompts him to think out loud:
“Do you realize that irreverence and reverence are the same thing?”
Krassner asks him, “Always?”
To which Groucho replies: “If they’re not, then it’s a misuse of your power to make people laugh.”
I first read this passage about 10 years ago, and it’s stuck with me ever since. In part, it’s because I totally get it. But also, I totally don’t get it.
Reverence and Irreverence
Until I read this Groucho story, I hadn’t really thought about irreverence as a form of reverence. But it makes perfect sense when you think about it.
When you revere someone or something, you treat them with deep respect. You consider them sacred, and worthy of special consideration. You take pains to make gestures that show that you have the utmost respect for someone or something, and deeply appreciate them.
Reverence requires placing oneself below whatever they’re revering. I revere such and such spiritual leader. I place myself on a level below her–because of her wisdom, generosity, or whatever the reason. I bow, kneel, provide offerings. I show my reverence.
We use the word ‘irreverent’ to describe someone who doesn’t take pains to make grand gestures of respect to people and things where others do. They see others bowing and heaping praise upon a person or a thing–and they refuse. They then go a step further and make jokes that imply the revered person or thing isn’t worthy of such gestures. The take aim at the exact things that people revere about them, and shoot to kill.
Not Opposites
We tend to think these things are opposites. We tend to think that one can’t be both reverent and irreverent. But I think that’s misguided. I think that in order to be irreverent, you actually have to be extremely reverent. You just don’t revere what others do.
Groucho was a perfect example of this. So was Mark Twain. They both made jokes at the expense of people who others revered. Groucho made fun of the aristocrats–the ones that others were bowing to. Mark Twain mercilessly lampooned politicians, tycoons, and other cultural leaders. Both comedians did so while also making fun of their own inadequacies and undesirable traits.
In effect, the irreverent jabs of Twain and Marx were a way of revering the camaraderie of the human race as a group of equals. They were saying: look, we’re all trying to make sense of things and find happiness, but some people are consistently messing up–and begin to think they’re better than everyone else. It’s our job to remind everyone that no one person rises above the rest of the unwashed masses–especially not those who claim to have done just that.
Irreverence is about revering not individual people as somehow above the rest of us, but revering humanity above all else–and reminding those who think they’ve transcended that they’re still one of us. It’s also about reminding the worshippers who place themselves below others of just what they’re doing. We’re all human, we’re all constantly messing up in different ways. Don’t debase yourself by elevating others above the human mess. We’re all in this together–for better or for worse.
Humor Has Power, Wield it Responsibly
That’s the power Groucho was talking about. Humor has power. It makes you think without being overtly intellectual. It uses the emotional power of laughter to change thought patters, and thus behavior. Groucho’s point about irreverence is that irreverence will always bring us all back down to size. It will always remind us that nobody’s too good for the rest of us.
But any humor that claims to be irreverent while lifting some of us above others (especially the person telling the joke), you’re misusing that power of humor. You’re dividing where you should be maintaining unity. You’re debasing when you should be ennobling.
We can all make jokes, and we frequently do. Many of those jokes seem irreverent. They “take the piss out” of someone. But are we really being irreverent, or are we attempting to divide and debase? It can’t hurt to ask that question now and then. Because the power to evoke laughter is one each of us has. So we need to make sure we’re wielding that power responsibly.