I understand that it's for laughs - and I got some enjoyment your comment - but I also think it tends to cross over into 'real life'. It's used (maybe not by the parent, but by many) as a substitute for actually examining the merits, being open-minded, curious, learning.
Under these social 'rules', if we can ridicule it, shame it, that's the end of the discussion. It crowds out people who are atypical, and who are inventive and challenging the norms and the estabilishmen (in whatever place they are). It creates a very conservative culture.
To riff on: I think people have become much less expressive, much more afraid of ridicule, as social media has enveloped our lives. When the whole world wouldn't see, it didn't matter much if you took a chance with how you dressed that day.
What does 'correct' mean here, and what makes something 'correct to ridicule'? Other than when it's harmless, I think ridicule is toxic. It's an appeal to toxic emotions and interactions, and that spreads to other things, and especially in today's culture, it's a disease that we need to be careful about inflaming. Also, it fails to look at merits - almost the point of ridicule is to avoid that, which will lead to many mistakes, much harm, and closes the door on much innovation.
