Funny Isn’t Always Funny
(Mini)
Topic: A play on gossiping.
Cast:
GINGER: trying to do the right thing, even if it's uncomfortable
CRYSTAL: unaware of how innocent comments can be hurtful
(Scene opens with CRYSTAL walking across the stage and GINGER running to catch up with her.)
GINGER: Hey, Crystal, that was really not cool. (They stop.)
CRYSTAL: (Innocently confused, she doesn't understand.) What?
GINGER: What you said back there to Quinn.
CRYSTAL: (Still confused) What are you talking about?
GINGER: (Not too accusing, more said out of concern. Cautiously) I heard you when I was walking
past the cafeteria. You were laughing at her haircut.
CRYSTAL: (Trying to brush it off) It was just a joke. Everyone was laughing.
GINGER: Quinn wasn't.
CRYSTAL: (Not angry yet, almost amused) Who are you, like the moral police?
GINGER: (Pauses. Comes to a decision.) I guess I am. I mean, I don't like to see people getting
hurt.
CRYSTAL: She wasn't hurt. It was just a joke.
GINGER: Jokes can really hurt. Even if you aren't trying to be mean, it can still be really hurtful
for people to point out the things about you that are different or odd.
CRYSTAL: (Giggling) Well, her haircut is sure both different and odd. She looks like a cross
between Clay Aiken and Sponge Bob.
GINGER: (Angry at her joking) That's just what I'm talking about. Stop saying things like that about
her hair.
CRYSTAL: Gosh, Ginger, this is just what friends do. Don't you ever tease your friends?
GINGER: I do sometimes, but then someone teased me once about something and it really hurt
my feelings.
CRYSTAL: When was that?
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GINGER: (Crosses in front of CRYSTAL during this monologue, but doesn't look at her.) My dad had
lost his job and we had to move into a really small apartment. We couldn't really afford
to buy new clothes, so we bought some shoes that I found at the Salvation Army. They
were really cool and I liked them a lot. They would have been like seventy-five dollars in
a regular store and I only paid like three dollars for them. When I went to this new school,
some kid said something about me having the ugliest shoes in the school. I guess she was
trying to be friendly or something, but I was so embarrassed I wanted to hide in the
bathroom all day.
CRYSTAL: (Not really believing this would upset GINGER) Did that really hurt your feelings?
GINGER: (Trying to make her understand) Yeah. I mean, we really couldn't afford nice shoes and
I was really embarrassed. I thought my shoes were cool, but I guess they really weren't.
Hasn't anyone ever made fun of you and that made you feel bad?
CRYSTAL: (Pause) Well, yeah, I guess. My great-aunt sent me a handmade shirt from a Navajo
reservation and I wore it to school one day. The girls called me Pocahontas for a week.
GINGER: How did that make you feel?
CRYSTAL: Pretty lousy.
GINGER: Exactly. Even when people are just trying to be funny, the things they say can really hurt.
CRYSTAL: (Beginning to understand) I guess you're right. I shouldn't have called Quinn Lassie. I
guess I'll go apologize.
GINGER: That's a good idea. I think the best thing you can do is stop listening to other people
joking and making fun of people and remind them how it might feel to be on the receiving
end of that kind of "joke."
CRYSTAL: Good point. Come with me?
GINGER: Sure. (They exit.)
THE END
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