“What a Loser That Guy Was”: Norm Macdonald’s Humorous Critique of the Romantic/Warrior Narrative

Abstract

Illness narratives are stories that focus on, or are inspired by, the sometimes life-altering experience of illness. Most narrative constructions of these illness experiences are built upon one of three broad narrative “skeletons.” One skeletal subform, the romantic/warrior narrative, is critiqued by comedian Norm Macdonald in a humorous anecdote that mocks the expectation that cancer patients must wage an epic and heroic battle against their pernicious cancer to have a chance to survive. Macdonald explicates that such a mentality produces heroes and villains, winners and losers, and places additional burden on cancer patients. In this analysis, I argue that Macdonald’s effective use of humor and fulfillment of the five functions of health-related narration enable his story to gain narrative rationality and serve as effective rhetorical tools in encouraging the audience to accept the narrator’s critique of the romantic/warrior subform.

Speaking Shame and Laughing It Off: Using Humorous Narrative to Conquer the Shame of Anorectal Illness

“…While not applicable to all situations, this study found that humor may help illustrate patients’ medical decisions. Humor makes the story more honest (Iannarino, 2018b), and reveals the narrator’s authentic values and judgments behind their decision, even if it is not mainstream. For example, when a patient stated she would be glad to choose to remain nude if it reduced the pain of wound cleaning, the story brought a delightful release by challenging the belief about maintaining dignity.…”

“…They can also serve to empower, adding normalcy to the stories of marginalized patients (Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt & Buchholtz, 2018). Incorporating humor into illness stories can indicate that the narrators have become more reflective about their experiences and have carefully designed stories that better reveal their lives, a life that sometimes even hints at flaws in our culture (Iannarino, 2018b). When patients share narratives, humor’s intimacy makes it easier to discuss suffering, drawing the storyteller closer to their audience (Pruulmann-Vengerfeldt & Buchholtz, 2018).…”