Frozen Donkey Wheel2 said:
HT_Black said:
Okay...I think I've seen this before. If you could spare a moment, would you mind telling me why those jokes were "funny"? If you don't want to, that's okay...just, if you have the inclination.
I....didn't think they WERE all that funny. I'm a little confused. You like Portal...an allegedly humorous game...but you're saying you didn't think it was funny....Again, I'm a little confused.
Okay, first of all: sorry it took me so long to reply. I've been busy.
Secondly: No, I don't think it's "ha-ha" funny. I think it's a an
extremely dark work, incorporating more elements from tragedy than it does from comedy, although it's a very strong work of satire.
Third: The reason I ask is because Portal was not, as common knowledge wouuld suggest, a joke-a-minute laugh-a-thon, and the humor within the game is often regarded as such for the wrong reasons. For example, the Companion Cube joke is often thought to be funny because of the fact that--hey, it's a random block, and that's funny. This, as I'm sure you understand, is a poor foundation for a joke. Random blocks aren't funny, and that's that.
It
is, however, funny because your robotic captor expects you to form a lasting attachment to it even though it's just a block. It's funny because it has no idea how the human mind works, yet it is always quick to remind you that you are its puppet and it can do with you whatever it may please. The Companion Cube gag is funny for the same reason it's funny watching a four-year-old trying to manipulate a forty-year old: it has no idea what it's doing, but it remains convinced that it has you hook-line-and-sinker. The true brilliance of the joke is often overlooked in favor of the simpler, unfunny solution, and I wondered if you'd done the same.
However, if you haven't and simply didn't find the outrageously mismatched battle of wits to be humorous, I'm sorry I wasted your time.
Since you asked, and all.