Regina Richardson 

Comedy

Definition:

Comedy - a play, motion picture, or other work that is humorous in its treatment of theme and character and has a happy ending. (The American Heritage Dictionary. 2^nd ed. 1991.)

§         Begins with a problem involving recognizable social situation

§         Problem takes form of mistake or false identity

§         Ends with problem overcome or the disguise abandoned

(Comedy definition modified from Dr. White’s Genre Handout)

Aspects of Humor*:

1.   Scatalogical humor is comedy based off the body and its functions.  Comedian uses the odd noises, fluids, body parts to make joke.

2.      Satire is use of wit, especially irony, sarcasm, and ridicule to attack the vices and follies of humankind.

*reference borrowed and modified from Curtisha Wallace’s presentation

Example:

Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) based on a novel written by Anne Fine and directed by Chris Columbus. 

Representational Genre:

Drama or Dialogue = characters speak directly with each other

Narrative Genre:

Comedy, Romance, Drama

Subject Genre/Audience appeal:

Mrs. Doubtfire is a family comedy, but movie rating states children should be at least 13.  You have the audience appeal of Robin Williams and Sally Fields.

Highlights of genre elements in example:

Comedy: Daniel disguising himself as Mrs. Doubtfire

Satire: witty for Daniel to say, “I’ve had two big developments” while he’s taking off his bra

Scatalogical humor: Daniel undressing and redressing himself in the female bodysuit

Related Genres:

Romance, Satire, Drama

Additional examples of genre:

Forrest Gump, Rain Man, Good Morning Vietnam

Sources:

Mrs. Doubtfire. Dir. Chris Columbus. Perf. Robin Williams, Sally Fields, Pierce Brosnan, and Harvey Fierstein.  Videocassette. Twentieth Century Fox, 1993

The American Heritage Dictionary. 2^nd ed. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1982.

Sources (cont)

Wallace, Curtisha, “Comedy as Genre.” Tragedy Class. University of Houston Clear Lake, 10 Jun 2002.

White, Craig. “Comedy.” Tragedy Class.  University of Houston Clear Lake. 07 Jun 2002.

Questions:

1.      Why is a comedy predictable?

Comments:
Susie: A lot of humor and antics are repeated.

Aimee: You equate certain actors with certain things they do, like Robin Williams does voices.

Diana: Some actors do cross over from comedy into other types of roles.

Aimee: You do go into it expecting a happy ending and expecting to laugh.

Dr. White: As we saw in Mrs. Doubtfire, the standard is for men to dress as women. In Shakespeare, women dress as men. Any modern day examples?

After much discussion, the class was able to come up with Shakespeare in Love, Just One of the Guys and a Whoopi Goldberg movie.

2.      Do you think that seeing a comedy more than once affects how you react to it (laugh more/less, keep going back)?

Comments:

The class decided that it depends on the quality of the comedy.  If the quality is good, they laugh every time. One student also pointed out that the second time you view a comedy, you tend to see the more serious issues. As with Mrs. Doubtfire, you see that there is an issue of divorce and family separation.

     Do you think a comedy could exist without a problem?

Comments:
Aimee: There has to be an issue. It makes the movie funnier.

Regina: Comedy can’t stand by itself?

Jennifer: Movies such as Scary Movie and Not Another Teen Movie have no real issue and they are able to stand by themselves.

The class agreed that these were Parodies and Satires and are able to stand alone (with no real issue). A student suggested that comedy is kind of like a book in which you are able to read over and over again. Dr. White told the class that, compared to today when people watch movies again and again, when he was young people only saw movies once and then re-lived them with friends. Now, if he sees a movie from his youth, it’s not the same movie that he remembered.