Q: Can beautiful things be funny?
A: In short, yes. A very concrete example would be a painting or possibly a cartoon that is drawn in a beautiful way (what that means is, of course, in the eye of the beholder), but that is still humorous. Banksy comes to mind for me. Often satirical and funny, but also beautifully done.
However, there is also another meaning to ‘beautiful’, as in awe-inspiring, timeless, breathtaking (say a sunset, Hubble picture, or even the play of light and shadow on a lover’s face). In that case – I think – the question is much harder to answer. The reason could be that there is a disconnect between the ‘timelessness’ of this type of beauty and the context – or perhaps better, moment – dependence of ‘fun’.
Anyway, just rambling here. I tend to get lost in thought quite easily. Intrigued to hear what others might think…
Gunnar De Winter’s story “The Lonely King”
in Metaphorosis Friday, 29 November 2019.
Subscribe now for e-mail updates!
