A something/someone walks into a bar, and raises so many questions I can't even

A walks into a war and asks for a drink . The may have other people with them, who may or may not be their friends. The bartender asks a revealing/inappropriate/interesting question. either goes into a tirade or tells a short story the punchline of which is rather powerful if the joke works. Other things may happen to including interactions with other patrons at the bar, or some ridiculous event may occur in the bar such as third parties showing up and interacting with the cast of our joke.

Why a bar? Why a bartender? Why is the protagonist generally a man? What about the gender of the bartender? If it's a therapy thing then is emotional health really so bad in American that people are treating their bartenders as makeshift therapists? Is the bar the only 'third place' outside the home and the work where individuals can go unwind relax and socialize with their friends, a place of no obligations? Is this the result of complete undermining of public spaces in America, specially by the conservatives but with pretty much full support of wealthy liberals under the guise of crime control and what not but the root cause of which is always serious or casual racism? Americans, who are generally considered to-your-face and forthcoming in front of strangers, do they not agree with the assessment, and could it be that they feel truly comfortable revealing their 'real' selves only when drunk, perhaps at a bar?

Is the joke perhaps outdated? What might be a good replacement for a bar? Is the entire format outdated and no longer reveals the concerns and anxiety of the modern American psyche? Or is this a timeless format that can be easily adapted to modern times in America? Why has this format gained so much popularity, is it because it's more family-friendly in nature that others and reveals the American taboo against having conversations of sex, race, religion in polite conversations?