Rafinha Bastos Jokes and the controversy of Politically correct and incorrect

LUANA DA SILVA VICENTE

PATRICIA REGINA VIEIRA
Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina

Abstract

In this paper, we are going to analyze five Rafinha Bastos jokes. In order to support this
analysis, we will use two approaches to literary humour theoris. The first is the Superiority
Theory and the second is the Psychic Release Theory. In addition, we will utilize an article by
Pablo Villaa and a documentary by Pedro Arantes, in which they discuss about the term
Politically Incorrect. This methodology will be developed in order to be able to explain some
aspects, such as characteristics of Rafinha Bastos jokes, how the humour is constructed and why
his jokes are considering politically incorrect.

Rafinha Bastos Jokes and the controversy of Politically correct and incorrect

Humour is a common feeling present in people's daily life, but is not easy to define. It has
an important social role in our lives like being used to deal with difficult subjects, serious or even
taboos, or to criticize politics and religion beliefs, social values, social groups, and among others
things.
Cambridge Dictionary brings a definition of humour which says that humour is the ability
to find things funny, the way in which people perceive some things to be funny, and the quality
of being funny. For Ross (1998), humour is something that makes a person laugh or smile
(p.01). It may happen at any moment, but it depends on whom will find it, or not, to be funny; or,
in other words, for some people a humourous situation can be really fun whilst, for others, it may
not be so.
Our intention in this paper is to analyze jokes from Rafinha Bastos that had polemic
repercussions around the Brazilian media, such as internet and television. In view of this
background, we used the Superiority Theory and Psychic Release Theory as a guide in the
analysis.

Superiority Theory

It is common to find jokes that present different people and/or groups as targets, for
instance, jokes about blonde women or lawyers. Ross, in the book The Language of Humour,
provides theories that help us understand and analyze the mechanism behind jokes, one of them
being The Superiority Theory, which may be used to explain those types of jokes.

Humour, according to the superiority theory, is a form of mockery, a way of attacking

someone or a group of people. These groups are called butts and, usually, they are less powerful
groups, such as women and the handicapped. This kind of humour has different impacts on the
audience, based on the intention of the joke-teller and the way such joke is told.
According to Ross (1998), there are several ways of causing laughter. One of these ways is
through different targets, that is, it is possible to have humourous situations that deal with
oppressed groups, which sometimes may been as a form of cruel mockery, and other situations
that deal with powerful groups. Also, there are moments in which those jokes are a form of selfattack, i.e., a form to show the weakness of human beings in general.

Psychic Release Theory

The psychic release theory deals with humour that plays with taboos, like death, sex, and
religion, or that plays with things that people normally do not think to be funny, like certain
historical events. The taboos most used in jokes are sex and excreta, and that is because, despite
the fact that they are taboos, they are still within the limit of what people consider to be socially
acceptable. The taboos less used in jokes are death and religion because there are more
restrictions to them, for example, when you refer to these issues, they are better socially
acceptable if you use respectful or euphemistic terms.
According to Ross (1998), jokes that bring these themes are essential to make people
overcome their feeling of fear or shame and laugh about something that, in daily routine, would
be considered sacred or forbidden to talk freely in society. Like other ways of formulating
taboos, joking helps to establish the bounds of what it is right to think and say, by breaking some
rules, but keeping some limits. (p. 61).

When the comedians use euphemisms or innuendos instead of explicit language or taboo
words, the audience is able to better accept the joke, and so their responses are influenced in a
positive way.

The force of taboo words changes from one social group to another.
Restrictions have loosened about what words can be printed and
broadcast, but they still increase the tendency to laugh. (ROSS, 1998, p.
65)

Not Politically Correct Jokes

According to Collins English dictionary, politically incorrect is a term used to refer to

someone who does not care if they offend or upset any group of people in society who have a
disadvantage, or who have been treated differently because of their sex, race, or disability.
Cambridge dictionary defines the term politically correct as follows: 1. describes someone
who believes that language and actions that could be offensive to others, especially those relating
to sex and race, should be avoided; 2. describes a word or expression that is used instead of
another one to avoid being offensive.
This division of attitudes towards language can be seen in arguments about political
correctness. This term has acquired unfavorable connotations, so it arguably is better to use
more neutral terms, such as social awareness, to refer to the idea that language has powerful
implications. (ROSS, 1998, p.53).
Some comedians and people interested in analyzing humour have argued that Rafinha
Bastos jokes exceed the limit of what would be acceptable to society, being classified as
offensive.

In the documentary "O riso dos Outros", by Pedro Arantes, some comedians are against the
politically incorrect humour; in their opinion, this humour only serves to reinforce stereotyped,
prejudiced views. For them, there are other ways to make humour without humiliate others. They
argue that humour is also a way of doing politics.
In the text A Falcia do Politicamente Incorreto, by Pablo Villaa, he discusses the
notions of politically correct and politically incorrect jokes, and points out that Rafinha Bastos, as
well as other comedians, makes humour through the ridicule of vulnerable individuals to such an
extent that he becomes no longer politically incorrect, but offensive and full of prejudice.
On the other hand, there are those who argue that jokes are simply jokes and that the only
intention behind them is that of entertaining people, or in other words, humour is not something
to be taken seriously and that would form opinions. According to Rafinha himself, the role of the
humorist is not to make theories about humour, but tell jokes; if he would have to think about
who the joke will affect for every joke he tells, he will not be able to make jokes, given that every
joke has a target which is either a situation, a person, or an object.
Humorists who treat humour just as a tool to produce laughter consider that attacking
minorities is a rule of thumb for humour. According to them, the humorist is not responsible for
the problems of the society. He just portrays what happens in society in a funny way.

Methods

Assuming the Superiority Theory and Psychic Release Theory (Ross, 1998) as theoretical
frameworks and taking into consideration the concept of politically incorrect, we decided to
analyze five jokes from a Brazilian comedian called Rafinha Bastos and sought the way humour
is constructed in his jokes.

The five jokes selected were found in website pages after a long search, and they were the
ones broadcast all throughout the country and that caused several discussions and divergences in
terms of opinions, which is why they were the chosen ones to this analysis.
After being selected, the jokes were analyzed using the Superiority Theory and the
Psychic Release Theory. They were split into two groups: one belonging to the former theory
and the other belonging to the latter. Subsequently to this, we analyzed each joke under the light
of the theory of that particular group.

Analysis

The analysis followed the steps mentioned previously. Using the Superiority and Psychic
Release Theories, we analyzed all five jokes, but only one of them (Sample 1) was analyzed
using only the Superiority Theory.

Sample 1:
"Eu acho todo mundo bonito. Isso efeito colateral de uma temporada de shows que eu fiz em
Rondnia".

Sample 2:
- Ae rfos! Dia triste hoje, hein?

Sample 3:
"A mina [Paula Fernandes] ficou famosa porque cantou com o Roberto Carlos. Se tivesse feito
um boquete, tava em Hollywood"

Sample 4:
"Toda mulher que eu vejo na rua reclamando que foi estuprada feia pra c@ral#o",T
reclamando do qu? Deveria dar graas a Deus.

Sample 5:
"Que bonitinha que est a Wanessa Camargo grvida", disse Marcelo Tas no "CQC". Ao que
Rafinha respondeu: "Eu comeria ela e o beb. No t nem a".

The first joke, as it is possible to see, was told by Rafinha after a tour on the state of
Rondnia, Brazil. It was canvassed with the Superiority Theory, since it displays people from
Rondnia (a minor, oppressed group in Brazil) as butts. Rafinha told this joke so as to mock
those people, which ended up offending that group and so they cancelled Rafinhas show and
threatened to sue him.
The second joke was posted by Rafinha in his twitter on Mothers Day and had dozens of
replies to and against it. This one was analyzed with both theories, Superiority and Psychic
Release Theory, firstly because it holds orphans as the targets, secondly because it deals with
death, and finally because it was Mothers Day, a special but quite delicate day.
The third one was also categorized under both theories. In this sample, we have women,
represented by Paula Fernandes a Brazilian famous singer, as butts in a context that deals with
sex (oral sex, to be precise), a tabooed issue in our society.
The forth joke was presented in a stand-up comedy that Rafinha Bastos did. He
discriminates women by placing them at a disadvantage, abusing stereotype. It was categorized
under the Superiority theory, but also under the Psychic Release theory, because it involves

something forbidden in our society: rape. After having told the joke, Rafinha was accused of
condoning rape.
The fifth joke, again, was analyzed with the help of the two theories. Rafinha used
women as the target of his joke, making a comment about the pregnancy of the Brazilian singer
Wanessa Camargo. He said 'eu comeria ela e o beb', dealing with an issue considered sacred,
which had as consequences a number of criticisms and his departure from the TV show CQC.
With these five jokes, it was possible to perceive that jokes made by Rafinha Bastos are
usually constructed based on the Superiority Theory and the Psychic Release Theory, which
means; he uses people/groups of people as targets and deals with subjects considered taboos in
our society.
If we take into consideration what Pablo Villaa stated in his text, and the dictionarys
definitions, Rafinha Bastoss jokes may be considered politically incorrect, due to the fact, as
Rafinha himself informed, he makes jokes about everything and everybody without any
problems. However, we have to look at the other point of view, which is the point where jokes
are simply jokes, and nothing more.

Final considerations

It seems to us, based in Ross theories and in our analysis, that Rafinha Bastos jokes are
constructed using / attacking butts and dealing with taboos. This might be seen, by some people,
as quite offensive and might be considered not politically correct. Nevertheless, as Ross says in
her book, humours situations are going to be funny or not depending of whom will face them.

References

Arantes, Pedro. Documentary - O Riso dos Outros. Available at:

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVyKY_qgd54&hd=1>. Access in November 29, 2013
Ross, Alison. (1998). The Language of Humour. New York: Routledge
Villaa, Pablo. A Falcia do Politicamente Incorreto. Available at:
< http://www4.cinemaemcena.com.br/diariodebordo/?p=3301>. Access in November 29, 2013.
Relembre cinco piadas polmicas de Rafinha Bastos. Available at:
<http://f5.folha.uol.com.br/televisao/984895-relembre-cinco-piadas-polemicas-de-rafinhabastos.shtml>. Access in November 29, 2013.
Religio, homofobia e famosos: veja frases de Rafinha Bastos. Available at:
<http://diversao.terra.com.br/tv/religiao-homofobia-e-famosos-veja-frases-de-rafinhabastos,ce8b507c7255a310VgnCLD200000bbcceb0aRCRD.html> . Access in November 29,

2013.