Tag Archives: dumb

Dumb Joke Turned Rivalry

Nationality: American
Age: 18
Occupation: Student
Residence: Parkside International Colleges
Performance Date: 2/21/2023
Primary Language: English

J is a freshman studying Journalism at University of Southern California but grew up in Maryland.

Text:
J: “‘I could prove you’re dumb.’
And I was like ‘How?’
And he was like ‘Do you wanna play a game?’
And I’m like ‘Sure.’
And he says ‘Sure. Just remember everything I said. So what’s the color of the sky?’
I was like ‘blue.’
‘What’s the color of the grass?’
‘Green.’
‘What’s one plus one?’
‘Two.’
‘What’s the first question I asked?’
And I would say ‘What’s the color of the sky?’ ’cause I thought that was the first question he asked. But, he was like ‘No.’ It’s ‘Did you wanna play a game?'”

Context:
“So I play this with my cousin during childhood. He’s like a boy, so we always had this gendered rivalry almost…and so, that was his way to prove that I was dumber than him because I fell for his trick. But basically, it just became a lighthearted thing where even after I knew the joke, we would still repeat it to each other just for fun. And I started doing this to a bunch of people, like my friends, and I would feel this satisfaction when they also fell for it ’cause it’s just like a little joke and it’s so easy to fool people with it.”

Interpretation:
This joke is a practical joke, where it is played on the unassuming and clueless audience. It also serves as an initiation into the know, wherein after the audience hears it once, they can then play it on other people and the cycle repeats itself, inadvertently spreading the joke as folklore. This joke is lighthearted and there is no inherent deeper meaning behind the so-called “testing of intelligence” rather than just finding humor in a harmless mistake. However, in certain situations, this joke can easily become volatile. It uses logic and the lack of attention span as reasoning for intelligence, making the listener easily frustrated. As J talks about this in context, she says how this joke helped spur on a gender battle between her and her cousin. Practical jokes create temporary rivalries or tensions between groups. These tensions are relieved in the punchline, but require that initial stupidity to let the humor hit, which can easily offend. What’s important about these jokes is the atmosphere and context in which they are told to avoid anger or offense.

Joke – Dumb Blonde on a Plane

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Austin, Texas
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: English

Joke – Dumb Blonde on a Plane

“There’s two blonde girls on a plane together… they’re friends. The pilot comes on the intercom and says, ‘we have lost an engine, but don’t worry we have three more. We will just be an hour later to our destination.’ A little while later, the pilot comes on again and says, ‘attention passengers, we have lost another engine, but it’s okay, we have two more, we’ll just be another hour later.’ They sit for a while longer, and once again the pilot comes on and says, ‘we have lost another engine, but don’t worry, we still have one more. We’re just going to be yet another hour later.’ At this, the blonde girl looks at her friend and says, ‘wow, I hope we don’t lose that last engine or we’ll be up here all night!’”

The informant doesn’t really remember where she first heard this joke, but says it was years ago and probably at school. Although blonde jokes seem to stem from a stereotype that is often associated with blonde women from California, the informant is from Texas, and also blonde. She made it very clear that she is not offended by blonde jokes, and knows she is “smarter than most people who tell blonde jokes.” She doesn’t really understand where this stereotype that blonde women are less intelligent came from, but she finds these jokes funny, and knows many of them. The informant did mention that she has noticed that the stereotype does not usually apply to blonde men, which gives the stereotype a sexist aspect. Although these jokes have existed for years, the informant attributes their popularity to the media and “dumb blonde celebrities,” such as Jessica Simpson and Playboy Playmates.
I agree with the informant that recent depictions of blonde women in the media live up to this stereotype, which only strengthens the stereotype and leads to the further dissemination of these jokes. The most vivid example that really went down in “pop culture” history is from MTV’s reality television show, “The Newlyweds,” where Jessica Simpson was depicted as a shallow, dumb blonde, saying things like, “is it chicken or is it fish?” (referring to the Chicken of the Sea tuna fish brand). This one statement still lives on in popular culture’s representations of blonde women, and only helps perpetuate this stereotype and this form of humor.

Joke – Dumb Blonde in a Potato Sack

Nationality: American
Age: 19
Occupation: Student
Residence: Austin, Texas
Performance Date: April 2011
Primary Language: English

Joke – Dumb Blonde in a Potato Sack

“There’s three girls running from the police: one is blonde, one is a redhead, and the other is a brunette. They go into this barn to hide, and see a few potato sacks on the floor, so they each crawl inside one to hide. The police catch up and come into the barn, and they see the potato sacks on the floor. One of the cops goes up to the first sack with the brunette in it and nudges it with his foot, and the brunette goes, ‘meow, meow’ really softly. The cop says, ‘oh, it’s just kittens.’ He then nudges the sack with the redhead in it, so she goes, ‘woof woof’ really softly. The cop goes, ‘oh, it’s just puppies.’ Then the cop goes to the last sack with the blonde in it and nudges it, and she goes, ‘POTATOES!’”
The informant doesn’t really remember where she first heard this joke, but says it was years ago and probably at school. Although blonde jokes seem to stem from a stereotype that is often associated with blonde women from California, the informant is from Texas, but also blonde. She made it very clear that she is not offended by blonde jokes, and knows she is “smarter than most people who tell blonde jokes.” She doesn’t really understand where this stereotype that blonde women are less intelligent came from, but she finds these jokes funny, and knows many of them. The informant did mention that she has noticed that the stereotype does not usually apply to blonde men, which gives the stereotype a sexist aspect. Although these jokes have existed for years, the informant attributes their popularity to the media and “dumb blonde celebrities,” such as Jessica Simpson and Playboy Playmates.
I agree with the informant that recent depictions of blonde women in the media live up to this stereotype, which only strengthens the stereotype and leads to the further dissemination of these jokes. The most vivid example that really went down in “pop culture” history is from MTV’s reality television show, “The Newlyweds,” where Jessica Simpson was depicted as a shallow, dumb blonde, saying things like, “is it chicken or is it fish?” (referring to the Chicken of the Sea tuna fish brand). This one statement still lives on in popular culture’s representations of blonde women, and only helps perpetuate this stereotype and this form of humor.