Humor is nothing to laugh about.

Like I've said before, the Pattersons take everything in their lives way too seriously. Not only is because it's a way for dim people like them to sound important, they don't have anything like a sense of humor. Every fucking thing they do, no matter how trivial, is mentally magnified to the point where they think if they don't brush their teeth exactly right, the Sun will die and the World come to an end. Their monstrous vanity and lack any real sense of proportion or their place in the world preclude them from stepping back and laughing at the follies that swallow their time and steal their happiness. They cannot laugh at themselves because, like children, they believe if people laugh at them, they don't respect them. They'll just be pathetic zeroes that their 'betters' haul out to guffaw at forever and ever. That doesn't, however, stop them from making wisecracks at other peoples' expense. We remember the gales of laughter Elly stifled down at the whimsical prospect of cigarette smokers burning themselves half to death. That's because when a Patterson makes a joke, he/she isn't really happy as much as making a display of veiled aggression.