Fabulous Finns – Finnish sense of humor
I haven’t done any of these “Fabulous Finns” posts in a while and with reader Hannu’s suggestion, I thought I’d do what now.
Finns have a grrrrreat sense of humor. I think that was one of the most surprising things I discovered about Finnish people when I first arrived 2 1/2 years ago. Finns’ humor is dry, dark, cynical, silly, sarcastic, sometimes juvenile, simple (in a good sense)…I find it to match my own sense of humor almost exactly.
Finns love to laugh and love to make other people laugh. But unlike the British for instance, Finns don’t have this need to try and be funny every seven seconds. I get this impression that if a Brit doesn’t say something funny, witty, or biting in every other sentence – they’re looked down upon by their peers or something.
My theory as to why Finns have such a great sense of humor has to do with their history. Up until very recently, times were tough here, life always wasn’t so pleasant. I think that hard work combined with poverty make society have a bit dryer, darker, and more cynical sense of humor. This is why maybe Swedes and Germans are known for their lack of humor? Like I said, it’s just a theory of mine.
I can get frustrated sometimes when my girlfriend enjoys some of the Finnish comedy classics like “Kummeli”, but I can’t quite follow along yet. But until my Finnish skills become fluent, MTV3, Nelonen, and SubTV import some excellent comedies like The Simpsons, Conan O’Brien, Seinfeld, Saturday Night Live, All in the Family, The Office (UK, YLE)…what else am I missing?
Of course, there’ s alot of shit being imported from the U.S. as well. I think American producers often go for quantity over quality. That’s one good thing about the British shows, they know when put a cork in a particular series rather than milk it for every penny like in the states.
But the definitive proof that Finns have a great sense of humor is that The Simpsons is HUGE here. Sometimes I feel there are two types of people on this earth, people who love The Simpsons and people who don’t.
