The different sense of humor that each members of each culture possess. What Americans find hilarious, people in England may very well scoff at to be say, "tasteless". The perception of humor have different standards due to difference in culture.

A good example is the flop of the movie "Forrest Gump" in many foreign countries. I watched it and found it to be excellent. In many Asian countries however, the people found it to be literally some goofball walking around talking about his dull life. This was probably because America viewed the Vietnam War, the 60's, and all that in a different light than the rest of the world. Americans were able to connect with the subtle humor in the movie while others can't, because of the difference in culture.

On the other hand, a very popular show in mainland China depicts an old communist cadre just sitting around the dinner table and talking about his day-to-day activities in his office. My American classmates, some of whom can speak Mandarin, did not understand any of it, but I did. It was poking humor at the immense amount of corruption in the Chinese government, by acting as if it was normal. People in China find this incredibly hilarious.

Humor is based on culture, and differences in culture affects one's decision if something is "funny" or not. One thing that seems to bound across cultural differences seems to be obscenity in humor. It is ominpresent in every place I have lived in. Quite interesting.

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