Author Archives: Sara Hua

Two Priests on a Plane Joke

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/29/13
Primary Language: English

(Warning: Content may be offensive)

Informant: “Ok, so two priests are flying with a bunch of kids to meet the Pope. And they get halfway across the Atlantic… and um… the pilot tells them, “The plane is going to crash! We only have two parachutes!” One priest turns to the other and says, “Get the parachutes, and we’ll jump!”

“What about the children?” replies the other priest.

“Fuck the children!” yells the older priest.

The younger one says, “Do you think we have time?”

Me: “Do you find the joke funny?”

Informant: “Yeah! I think it’s like a ‘punny’ play on words, and I know it’s about a sensitive issue but, like I think the fact that there has been so much media coverage on the situation, people are bound to make fun of it. Like… it’s not that we’re trivializing the situation… I mean it’s a bad situation, but people… people make fun of everything, you know?”

Analysis: I certainly had to hold back a chuckle when hearing this joke. The reason why this joke is humorous is because it deals with current events. Many sex scandals involving the Catholic church and other religious institutions have recently been uncovered and the whole situation is under intense scrutiny. The child molestation cases within church and religious institutions has been largely blown up by the media. At the same time, child molestation is an issue that people are uncomfortable with and is one of the taboos. In order to deal with something that makes them uncomfortable, people often try to turn the atmosphere around by making a joke out of it.

My informant was Korean-American, he was born in Kansas, TN.

Japanese girl’s suicide drawing

Nationality: Korean-American
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 3/23/13
Primary Language: English

My informant tells me this story of a teenage girl in Japan who drew a drawing Japan shortly before she committed suicide. The story and drawing went viral in Asia. In the forums online, it is said that you can see the girl’s sadness in the eyes of the girl in the picture. Forums warn against staring into the girls eyes for longer than 5 minutes, telling me that people have committed suicide after doing it. According to my informant, people say the picture changes,as you view it there is a hint of a growing taunting smirk appearing on the girls lips or a dark ring grows around the girl or her eyes.

Me: “Have you looked into the picture for five minutes?”

Informant: “No! I thought it wasn’t a big deal, but it’s really scary when you actually try it! I can’t meet the girl’s eyes for more than a few seconds because I’m afraid of what I will see!”

Me: “Do you believe that people have committed suicide from looking at the picture?”

Informant: Not really… I don’t think they did. But it’s a freaky story, so I don’t know.

Analysis: Through my research, I could not find any solid news articles to support the claim that people have committed suicide after looking at this drawing, though many people claim there are hundreds. Furthermore, I found some forum posts that claim a video-game designer in Japan was the real artist of the portrait and that he was still alive and well. Some forum posts claim that because the image has a blurry quality to it, if you stare at it for too long, your vision will get blurry as well and you are under the illusion that the picture is changing before your eyes. This also has to do with the image being seen on a digital screen.

Because of the context of the story and the atmosphere in which it is often read, this will help induce fear and influence a person’s response. This most likely is an elaborate internet hoax, much like a chain email letter. People enjoy being scared because it provides an adrenaline rush which can be extremely addicting.

My informant is 23, Korean-American, and currently studying at USC (expected graduation 2013). She first saw the picture and heard the story when she was in high school, approximately 16 years of age.

“It is better to bend than to break” – Fable

Nationality: USA
Age: 26
Occupation: Student
Residence: Los Angeles, California
Performance Date: 4/20/13
Primary Language: English

Informant: “So the story goes like this… There was a palm tree and some reeds. And the palm tree was very cocky, and said to the reeds: “Why do you bend in the winds like that? You need to stand straight and tall! Look at me, I don’t bow down to anyone!” The reeds could care less, so they just swayed back and forth in the wind without caring. So the palm tree was like, “Hmph. I’ll show them.” And one day a storm came, and the winds were all like WHOOO and WUUUUSH [makes large hand gestures]. The reeds were being blown left and right, but the palm tree was like, “I’m not going to give in to some stupid wind!” And it continued to stand very straight and tall. In the end, the winds snapped the palm tree in half.”

Me: “What is the meaning of the story to you?”

Informant: “Well, it’s about compromising with people, rather than severing relationships or getting into a huge argument. Sure you have to stand your ground sometimes I guess, but from time to time it’s okay to let them have their way.”

Analysis: This is a variation of a fable in Aesop’s fables. In the original fable, it is an oak tree and some reeds. Perhaps the fact that the informant grew up in Southern California attributed to the fact that her version of the fable contains a palm tree instead.

The proverb warns against unnecessary stubbornness as well.

This fable is unusual because it does not contain any animal figures, and rather personifies plants.

Annotation: There is actually an overlap with a Chinese proverb that concludes: “A tree that is unbending will break.”

Why the Roussillon rocks are red

Nationality: USA, France
Age: 23
Occupation: Student
Residence: Irvine, California
Performance Date: 4/29/13
Primary Language: English

Informant: “This Lord and Lady  lived in the castle in Roussillon, which is like this canyon area in France, right? There was this pageboy that came to hang out at the castle and stuff. The Lord was away a lot and didn’t like to spend time at home. So the pageboy and the Lady spent time together and like, fell in love and started to have an affair. The servants started to notice and a jealous maid reported the incident to the Lord. One day, the pageboy sang a song of his love for the Lady, and hearing the truth, the Lord was so mad he decided to take revenge. He took the pageboy hunting, and when the pageboy wasn’t looking, he stabbed him in the back and cut out his heart. Then he went back to the castle with the heart and had his cook prepare it with a spicy sauce. The Lady thought the dish was delicious, until her husband informed her that she had just eaten the heart of her lover. She said, “You have given me such a good meal, that I never want to taste anything else again”. Then she  fled out of the castle to the edge of the cliff, and jumped off the cliff. Her blood spilled over the land and turned it red, and that is why the Roussillon rocks are red.”

My informant first heard this story from a tour guide when he was visiting Roussillon.

Analysis: According to my research, this is the story of Raymond d’Avignon and Lady Sermonde. It is interesting because while this is story is called a legend, it has the quality of a myth because it tells a story of how the earth came to be, and why the rocks are red.

The Roussillon cliffs are a unique shade of rust-red, therefore it makes sense that someone came up with a story to explain why they were the color they are. This is due to the “ochre” color in the clay of the sand, which is a rose-pigment that is often used in the coloring of textiles.

This story does not appear to be very well known, and is only present in tour-guide websites across the Internet. The story has an almost Shakesperean quality to it. The love, lust and tragedy might be due to the fact that France is known for being the romance capital of the world.

There once was a mountain…

Nationality: Chinese-American
Age: 21
Occupation: Student
Residence: San Francisco, California
Performance Date: 4/29/13
Primary Language: Chinese

Informant: My mother used to tell me a story to get me to sleep. It was one of those like endless stories that loop back around until the child eventually gets bored. It goes like this: “There once was a mountain… and on the mountain there was a temple… and in the temple there was a monk… and he was trying to get the baby to go to sleep, but the baby didn’t want to go to sleep, so then the monk said: “Let me tell you a story… There once was a mountain… and on the mountain there was a temple… and in the temple…” You get the point. It just goes on and on.

Me: Did it ever work on you?

Informant: I don’t remember. I feel like it didn’t because it seems so boring.

Analysis: This story is very common in Chinese culture for mothers to get their babies to sleep. My informant told me that it is commonly told to children between ages of 6 months to two years. The origin is unknown, however it  references the Buddhist religion just like many other tales from China do.