Humor Mechanisms in Film Comedy: Incongruity and Superiority

In humor studies, incongruity and superiority are traditionally regarded as two independent concepts. Taken separately, each concept both under- and overdetermines the field of humorous phenomena. When redefined, incongruity and superiority do not represent incompatible views of humor but are strongly interwoven in at least four specific ways: (1) normalization, (2) evaluation through indirect communication, (3) solution, and (4) conditioning. Moreover, such an integrated view of superiority and incongruity helps reduce the gap between concepts and observations. These findings are based on a detailed analysis of two films, The Naked Gun and A Fish Called Wanda. Their relevance for humor in other genres, contexts, and uses remains to be verified.