I agree that this scene within Talladega Nights is extremely hilarious because of incongruity and superiority theory. When the scene opens, Rick Bobby's wife calls everyone to the dinner table and exclaims that she has been slaving over the meal for ours, however, the next shot depicts that the meal is comprised entirely of fast food, which the audience knows takes no effort. After panning over the unhealthy meal, the movie then proceeds with Ricky's grace. While saying grace normally consists of a short prayer that thanks a higher power for the most significant aspects of one's life and the meal they are about to eat, Ricky Bobby's grace thanks baby Jesus, not the grown man, for various inappropriate things. This appeals to audience members because of the incongruous items he gives thanks for and the overall idea of prayer. This prayer also brings in superiority theory because the audience finds humor within the language the family utilizes throughout the grace. Ricky gives thanks for his two sons, who have extremely southern names that poke fun at southern stereotypes. He then gives thanks for his wife, who he describes as "red-hot smoking" in front of her father and their children, and his best friend, Cal. Cal and Ricky then fist bump in the middle of the prayer, again adding incongruity to the scene and overall grace. Ricky continues the grace by asking that baby Jesus uses his "super powers" to heal his father in law's leg, which apparently gives off an unpleasant oder and is often picked on by their dogs. While most would find this offensive, Cal and Ricky's wife simply agree with the statement and allow the prayer to continue. Ricky's wife stops the prayer and addresses the fact that Ricky does not need to refer to Jesus as a baby everytime he uses his name. Ricky justifies this use with the fact that "Christmas Jesus" is his favorite and that is how he prefers to imagine him. This then causes a whole new conversation (still during the grace) between Cal, Ricky, Texas Ranger, and Walker, who all begin to discuss what they like to imagine Jesus as. This causes laughter as their images are ridiculous and disrespect the religious figure, adding incongruity and superiority theory to the scene. Overall the dinner scene is extremely humorous because the audience sees the family dynamic, morals, and thought process.
The amount of memes that I saw during the time of Hurricane Florence was wild. What shocked me even more and added to the humor of many of the posts, tweets, or memes was the fact that those who were being directly affected by Florence were the people making light of the situation. Like the individual who was forced to close their store that Madelyn refers to, many individuals, though suffering great losses, made these jokes and memes about the great destruction that was caused. These example of the people who were suffering the most but making the most jokes about the destruction, are perfect examples of relief theory. While most the country was terrified and worried about the effects of Hurricane Florence, some individuals were able to relieve this tension and worry through their nonchalant posts that found humor within the situation. While many of the posts I witnessed usually depicted once instance of the hurricane's devastation, the account that an individual made from the per...
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