By now, I’m sure most of you have played, or at least are aware of the game Cards Against Humanity: A Party Game for Horrible People. If not, all you need to know is that it’s a Q & A card game, and the writers of the game aim to make the cards as “despicable and awkward as you and your friends.”
I own this game and have played it several times over the last few years, and while it’s unlikely its creators set out for anyone to actually learn anything, Cards Against Humanity can teach us about not only about things we didn’t know were things, but also about our friends and ourselves.
Starting with things I didn’t know were a thing, I learned what bukkake is, and what a Fleshlight is. I won’t elaborate. Y’all have Google. But the more you know, ya know.
Cards Against Humanity also shows us the depths of our co-players' perverse wits. It’s a peek inside our friend’s, cousin’s or brother-in-law’s level of depravity — a getting-to-know-you kind of thing. Did Tim just fill in the blank for, “White people like ______” with “Firing a rifle into the air while balls deep in a squealing hog”? Nailed it! I like Tim a little more now.
More interestingly though, I’ve learned who is not a horrible person: Just one friend of mine — yes, the rest are all bad people, like me. She dislikes the game because she says it's racist. I admire her conviction, but I’d say C.A.H. transcends racism and is generally awful to all people.
No group is safe from disparagement or stereotyping, and not just your usual scapegoats, but also grandmas, fetuses, babies, preteens, amputees, “the profoundly handicapped," and “Asians who aren’t good at math." No one is safe. See Tim’s winning hand, above.
Finally, by playing C.A.H., we learn about ourselves. I’m not ashamed to say that I think the answer cards that say, “Home video of Oprah sobbing into a Lean Cuisine,” “Getting so angry that you pop a boner,” or “Pooping back and forth. Forever.” are funny.
What does that last one even mean?
It means nothing, because it’s just a game in which people can get their drink on and be gross together — because some of us are gross and horrible, and we have fun expressing that part of ourselves in a benign way.
There is one card, however, that I just can’t play, that I never think is funny; which is kind of messed up, because there are several that are just way beyond "kind of messed up." But my breaking point is “Dead babies.” Maybe it’s because I’m a mom, or maybe because somewhere deep down I have shred of decency, but either way I learned even my vulgar, depraved sense of humor has a limit. See there — in a twist of irony, Cards Against Humanity has even taught me that I have some humanity, after all.
