Jillian Ramirez
March 4, 2010
COM 232 Tom Hammond
MWF 10 A.M.
Comedy Genre
Comedy films have been around for ages and have always been a popular genre. They are designed to make audiences laugh, entertain, and rouse enjoyment. The comedy genre amusingly exaggerates the language, the situation, action, and characters. Comedies observe the idiosyncrasy and frustrations of life, providing happiness and a momentary escape from day-to-day life. Most have happy endings, although the humor may have a serious or pessimistic side.
The origins of early comedy films were silent and relied on the actor’s talent, timing, and bodily movements to get amusement out of the viewers. As technology evolved, so did comedy. Comedy films first started to appear during the early 1900s when movies were erupting in the public eye. Lovetoknow.com says, “In fact, the very first film to be copyrighted in the United States, the five-second-long Fred Ott's Sneeze, is often described as a comedy. Because of limited technology, early films were silent and thus focused on visual humor, especially the slapstick style made popular by Charlie Chaplin, Harold Lloyd and Buster Keaton.”1 Early movie producers applied slapstick to put across their message to the audiences, using exaggerated movements and comic humiliating actions to raise laughter.
With the development of sound in movies, comedy films were able to take their humor in new directions. Scriptwriters started to incorporate jokes and apply complex situations that brought comedy to a whole new level. The Marx brothers were one of the first revolutionaries in the talking comedy film world, and their brand of fast-talking humor is still unique today. One of the first new styles that emerged with talking films was the screwball comedy, illustrated brilliantly by the Three Stooges. Screwball comedies were short and featured over-the-top physical humor more common in cartoons. The article, The History of comedy, says, “While actors like Keaton and Chaplin still performed their slapstick routines they could also incorporate dialogue and sound effects to their movies. Comedy acts like the Marx Brothers and the Three Stooges also got the chance to take their act to the big screen, creating many comedy movies that are still popular – and often imitated – even today.”2
The 1950s was really when the comedy movie genre became big. Even though it was enormously popular during the silent era, these films were really nothing more than recorded stage acts of the style audiences could expect to see in any cabaret theater. In the 50s and 60s, along with the growing threat of television, Hollywood started to produce character driven comedies with more mature themes. “Many films even went so far as to lampoon serious subjects, such as in Dr. Strangelove’s take on Cold War paranoia,” says in the article, The History of Comedy.
Since then, the comedy genre has left no subject alone. From subjects ranging to homosexuality, suicide, racism, gross-out comedies involving disgusting college frat boys and food fights, comedy has frequently been used as a means to bring sensitive subject matter to the masses. Although, some people have looked at this sort of filmmaking with shock and scorn, incredible comedy films have demonstrate to be box office gold.
The development of the comedy genre has branched off into many different ranges and sub-genres like:
Comedy of manners - A satire on the lifestyles of the social class.
Dark comedy - Based on taboo subjects such as murder or war.
Fish out of water - The main character finds himself in a strange environment, such as gender-swapping roles or a rural chap in the big city.
Gross-out films - Another popular style of comedy film in recent years, these movies focus on toilet humor and are often aimed at younger audiences.
Parodies and spoofs - One of the most common types of comedies, these films satirize other genres or classic films with sarcasm and mockery.
Romantic comedy - A comedy centered around a developing relationship.
Screwball comedy - Most popular in the early days of films, screwball comedies are the most difficult sub-genre to define. They usually involve wacky, almost unbelievable situations and include lots of physical humor.4
As well as the above sub-genres, comedy is often incorporate with other types of film to produce sci-fi comedies, action comedies, and many others.
A convention in the comedy genre would be making fun of other genres. For example, the movie Knocked Up is making fun of love or drama movies by putting a twist on something serious, like having a baby, to make it funnier. The convention is using another genre’s convention to make something comical out of it. Another example would be a movie like Crocodile Dundee, an action movie but with a twist of comedy.
The current status of the comedy genre is booming! Films like The Hangover, Borat, Super Bad, Juno, and Pineapple Express, just to name a few, were extremely popular in the last couple years. I believe people like to watch movies that make them laugh in these tough economic times. It gives them a couple hours to escape and not have to think about reality.
In conclusion, the comedy genre has been around even before the movies. People like to laugh and escape for a little bit. I doubt there is one person who has not seen a genre or a sub-genre of comedy. My clip is from the movie Knocked Up and represent a romantic comedy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L7VXM0AgI0I
My Second clip is from the movie Animal House, it represent a gross-out comedy.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u48PvBTl3u8
Work Cited:
1 Beggerow, John. "History of Comedy Films." Movie Reviews | Online Movie Downloads and More... Love to Know Movies, 13 Dec. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.
2 "Just for Laughs: The History of Comedy." Elite Movie Downloads. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
3 "Just for Laughs: The History of Comedy." Elite Movie Downloads. Web. 17 Mar. 2010.
4 Beggerow, John. "History of Comedy Films." Movie Reviews | Online Movie Downloads and More... Love to Know Movies, 13 Dec. 2009. Web. 16 Mar. 2010.
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