But what happens in the case of an extreme distortion? In the case of extremes, human nature also has a large pull. For example someone suffering from an extremely distorted point of view, which causes them to wear aluminum foil on their head to keep the aliens out, while talking to George Bush through a wok. To many of us this is funny, but where is the positive, where is our permission to laugh? As humans, when we have an extreme we tend to think of it as surreal. We take permission to laugh at this person because, he seems so far out there that no one could really be that bad. Obsession is the same way. Someone who dresses like a Storm Trooper from Star Wars everywhere they go is funny. It is in these extremes that one can see the crossing over from Comedy to Tragedy and back. Take for an example a person with terrible luck, luck so bad that nothing ever goes right. Every time they leave a building they bump their head, tear their pants and a dog steals their lunch. A life in which nothing goes right is an extremely tragic life, hell on earth if you will. Yet, we are compelled to laugh because no ones life could be that bad, its unrealistic at least to us. When this person dies would it be tragic, or would it be comedic since they are finally free of their tragic life. Romeo and Juliet is a prime example of the relation between the extremes. The ending, which we are all familiar with, is an extremely tragic event. Which is why it is considered a Tragedy, but one could argue that this ending is not Tragic, but Comedic. The only way Romeo and Juliet could be together and free of their parents was in death. Is this not happy? It is in these extreme moments that the haziness of the border between the two becomes apparent.
Approaching from the comedic side it is hard to see how.
The extremely comedic or happy could indeed be Tragic. The Three Stooges, which is considered classic slapstick comedy, would not be a life one would want to live.
