I'm reading through a book put out by a manga publisher (Tosuisha/冬水社 if it's
relevant) in 1998 that's a compilation of interview questions given to
different manga characters. One of the questions asked is
人生{じんせい}の中{なか}の汚点{おてん}(笑)を教{おし}えてください。If I understand the sentence right, it
should translate to something akin to, "Please tell me/us about a time in your
life you regret."

If that interpretation is correct, then what's the (笑) doing there? Skipping
around to check out the various character answers, all the ones I've seen do
seem to talk about some rather serious subjects, so it doesn't seem to be a
joke question.

Here's an example page; the question in question is Q62.

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/K4IW4.jpg)
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question
words word-usage
Why would there be a (笑) after 汚点?
Sorry in advance for my unnatural English. If you don't understand what I'm
saying, please point out my mistakes.  
In addition **this answer is just a guess**. This is just my opinion.

* * *

As a native Japanese, I feel "人生の中の汚点を教えてください"(without （笑）) would be a very
very rude question because it sounds like the questioner assumes the
questionee has 汚点 in their life.  
In addition, I somehow feel 汚点 is a harsh word. So "人生の中の汚点を教えてください" would not
only be a rude question but also harsh one.

But with （笑）, this question sounds little more playful. That's why the editor
put （笑） ... I guess.
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