Fart: A Documentary Page #4

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you know, "Yeah, sure.

That's okay."

- ( farting sounds )

- ( audience laughing )

( farting loudly )

And Japan even--

you know, even had

a guy that did that

and there was a--

a famous scroll

which I talk about

in "Who Cut The Cheese"

and it told a story--

this goes back about maybe,

uh, about 300

or 400 years or so,

and, you know,

even in Japanese society,

you know,

farting was funny.

In some places, like,

there were some African...

uh-- uh, countries

where if you farted

in front

of the wrong person,

you could be killed.

( farting )

Man:

John Wycoff,

and the degree is D.O.

Flatulence

in the purest sense

is gas that's made

in the intestines,

usually from

the digestion of food

by various bacteria

and organisms.

I don't know why people

get so embarrassed

about farting.

After all,

it's a natural process,

isn't it?

( church bells tolling )

Some people say

that you get some bloating

and distension

in the abdomen

and, uh,

that can be relieved

by flatulence.

Sometimes some people--

they try to hold in

the flatulence

and that could be, uh,

can cause some discomfort.

You know,

if it's a bodily function,

there's cause and effect.

So something causes it.

Something causes

the gas to build up.

Something causes gas

to release, okay?

It's

a chemical reaction.

Nothing serious

is gonna happen

by not passing flatus.

Female interviewer:

So it's not bad

for you then to hold...?

No, it's more...

It's gonna cause discomfort,

but noth-- nothing...

You're not gonna explode

or have any problems like that.

( farting )

There are a number

of theories of humor,

you know,

and you can theorize

farting relative

to all of them really.

Um...

It's a taboo,

I suppose.

Uh, so Freud would say,

it has comic potential

because it's

one of those things

that we repress.

It was difficult to...

Would you just excuse me

a minute?

( farts )

Oh, excuse me.

I just-- ah.

Uh, it was difficult

to actually--

Ooh, that's a bit..

Actually,

I shouldn't have done that.

- Two, one.

- ( laughing )

Well, farting is--

yeah, we all do it.

Yeah, farting

is something that--

it's a very, very funny,

uh, for young children.

Once you reach

a certain age,

and you're supposed

to grow up

and grow out

of childish humor.

Fart four,

fart five, fart six...

Fart five,

fart 11,

fart 12...

I think that, uh,

the younger generations

tend to be more open

with a lot of things.

than when

I was coming up.

I mean, that's just a totally

different environment.

For them

it's somewhat...

It's-- it's--

everything is about humor.

So, yeah,

it's more accepted

because of the humorous

aspect of it.

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