For some people, roasting might seem closely related to bullying and insulting. Who would want their flaws noticed and commented on by some strangers? To avoid any cruel and harsh comments and behavior, the moderators of the subreddit came up with 13 rules that the users have to follow. Main rules include making sure that the people in the picture actually agree to being roasted and someone isn’t using their picture, and the roastees also have to be at least 18 years old. It is extremely important to understand that all of this is done to brighten people’s day and make them laugh and not abuse someone, so it is crucial to evaluate one’s abilities not to cross that line.

Even with all these rules that protect people from being bullied, why do people agree to risk it and expose themselves to being a target of mockery? Very often people remind themselves that it’s healthy and even necessary to learn how to make fun of yourself in order to ease up on yourself as sometimes we tend to look at things too seriously. Making fun of things people don’t like about themselves or the situations they are in help to ease that tension and even see how ridiculous it all actually is, or how little it all really matters.

Those who like to roast others walk a thin line of landing a perfect joke that will make the roastee and others have a good laugh or receiving some looks of disappointment if the joke was mean or seen as wrong. Very often, insult comedy is explained through the theory of benign violation. Normally, when someone calls you an inappropriate name, it is thought to be an insult, but if the situation in which this happens is benign, and it causes laughter instead of a serious violation, it becomes a comedy. It’s a tricky “art” of turning some unpleasant truth into an amusing joke, but people seem to really enjoy it and with practice and deeper understanding, become good at it.