A Word on The Rules of Humor

What ho!

I was talking to my good friend Mitchell the other day [Hi Mitchell!] and I was trying very badly to explain why Hot Fuzz is my favorite comedy/action movie thus far. But after some thought and coffee and alcohol and listening to an episode of "John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme," I think I know why.

Here's why:


Actually the "why" part will come after the following backstory which is necessary in order for the "why" to have its full intended impact.

So, here's the backstory on the "why:"

I was listening to "John Finnemore's Souvenir Programme" [season 2, episode 4, available on itunes and unofficially endorsed by yours truly] and this episode included one of my favorite sketches paraphrased below:

[preliminary bit of exposition dialogue]

John: ...The new boss? I'll tell you what I think of him. He's vain, he's witless, he's morbidly obese and he's standing right behind me, isn't he?
Woman: No.
Man: Of course he isn't. We would've said.
John: Oh. Well, then, I can go on to say, he's ignorant, pretentious, has appalling personal hygiene, and he really is standing right behind me, isn't he?
Woman: No, he's not.
John: Then why have you got weird, awkward, frozen looks on your faces?
Woman: Because you've just launched into a tirade of furious bile against a man we just met.
Man: Also, you seem to be suffering from quite a powerful delusion that he's following you.
John: Yeah, but...oh, God, has no-one told you? I'm a sitcom character.
Man and Woman: Ohhhh..
Woman: So sorry.
Man: We'll make allowances.
Woman: Yeah, and can I just say, I think it's great they're making jobs for you people.


[end clip of sketch]

The reason why I find this funny [and I think why JF thought it would be funny] is because of two reasons:
(1) it sets you up for one scenario and switches to a different scenario unexpectedly
and
(2) it challenges the traditional formula for funniness which, although classic, does get a little stale after a certain amount of time.

As much as tradition is king in many areas of study, a break from the traditional rules of humor is refreshing, and can make us laugh because it points out existing rules we never realized were there until they were broken.

One thing I found a refreshing break from tradition in Hot Fuzz was the way they handled Nicholas buying a birthday present for Danny. If you haven't seen Hot Fuzz, I'll give you a bit of its backstory. And if you have seen Hot Fuzz, I'll give you the backstory anyway because I'm the Queen of this blog and I want to. The part of the movie I have in mind is the bit when Nicholas finds out it's Danny's birthday, and he leaves the party to get Danny a present which puts him in a place where he witnesses a murder, and the present is impounded as evidence, leaving Nicholas and therefore Danny presentless.

The first time I saw the movie, I thought it would play out as follows:

Danny: Hey, where'd you go off to?
Nicholas: [too embarrassed to tell Danny he was getting him a present ] I--uh--nowhere.
Danny: You left my party and hurt my feelings!
Nicholas: I--uh--yeah!
Danny: Well, you can go find yourself a new adorable little friend! [storms off adorably]
Nicholas: Danny, wait! I--oh, dammit.

Followed by them having to work together even though they're angry at each other, saving each other's lives, Danny accidentally finding out about the birthday present, and the two of them sharing an apologetic handshake.

Here's how it actually played out:

Danny: Did you really get me that plant?
Nicholas: Yes, I did. But it's been impounded as evidence.
Danny: Well, maybe Dad'll still let me water it.
Nicholas: Yeah.
Danny: [pats Nicholas manlily on the shoulder].

which was funnier, sweeter, and in all other ways better, than the scenario I had expected. However, the imagined scenario is the one I've seen more often in movies/telly than an alternative to that scenario. When I made a mental note of that, I asked myself, "Self, if the alternate is better, why do people always use the traditional one?" "Why, self," I answered myself, "it's because the traditional one has worked in the past, and because we already know that it's funny, so there's no risk involved." This isn't an eye-opener, because a lot of people have already made this criticism of tradition. And while I strongly believe that tradition is an important component of family life, science, possibly government, religion, and all that crap, I believe that the world of aesthetics deserves a little bit more tradition-breaking than it typically gets.

Hot Fuzz also broke tradition in the way it dealt with relationships between the characters. If Danny and Nicholas were written into one of our typical comedy serials, I can guarantee you that some 50% of the comedy would come from everybody thinking they're gay. It's happened in Psych, Supernatural, The Office, The IT Crowd, and probably other shows that I'm not thinking of at the moment. I wish I had a nickel for every time I've wanted to shout at the TV, "IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE A ROMANCE--REGULAR FRIENDSHIPS EXIST TOO, YA KNOW." I never shouted that at Hot Fuzz. To be fair, I never shouted it at anything else either, because I don't shout, but that's something I'm trying to work on.

There's an episode of The Dick van Dyke Show where Ritchie has a "take your father to school day" and Rob has to explain to a room full of six-year-olds how to be funny (season 1, episode 23. I think). I disremember the actual quote, and amazon prime won't let me watch the episode to find it out, but basically what Rob said was that people laugh at things that were unexpected. The opposite can be true, too. I think the best fun I had watching Supernatural (season 4, whichever episode is called "On the Head of a Pin") was when the demon of interest said "Go directly to hell," and I thought "do not pass 'Go,' do not collect $200,' and then just after I thought it, he said, "do not pass 'Go,' do not collect $200." I don't know if this was funny because of the coincidence or because I was just tickled that my thought was something considered funny by professional writers who were trying to be funny on purpose.

That's not to say there's a "right way" to be amused. You can have whatever sense of humor you happen to have. It's just that mine is a scrupulous, analytical, calculating brain which has to analyze everything that's not bolted to the floor, and when my gut likes something, my brain has to think up every conceivable argument for why I'm allowed to go with my gut. So, if I've shouted at you for not liking a thing as much as I do, it's because my brain has worked very, very hard to justify my gut and it is now overly sensitive on the subject, and I apologize.

That's all I've got to say about that.

A Word on The Strong Female Character

I have to take a break from studying because if I don't, I'll go insane and then I will die.

And because I'm taking a break anyway and I have writing on the brain and I have nothing else to do, allow me to say a few words on

The Strong Female Character

1. A true SFC does not have to adhere to any sort of rules about how to be a true SFC except those which you write into her DNA.

2. An SFC does not have to be eternally pissed-off.

3. Nor does she have to be vivacious and outgoing.

4. Nor does she have to be sultry and introverted, yet outspoken when she does speak to people.

5. An SFC is allowed to be saved by an SMC. This will not piss off the audience unless they have trouble distinguishing between 'human' and 'disgusting weakling.' Which, to be fair, they should, because humans are weak. And females are humans. Therefore females, like males, are--or at least are allowed to be--weak.

But wait! you say. What about Planet of the Apes and The Lord of the Rings where the SFC's aren't even human, but Elvish or apish? Then go back to CS Lewis's rule that even if it's not human, it's still 'hnau' [i.e. flawed being with a soul]. Treat it like it's human.

6. Don't force your SFC to indulge in mind-boggling mental/physical prowess or heroism just for the sake of making her an SFC. That's stupid.

Good night!

And don't complain when people's SFC's aren't good enough or are too good, because writers aren't God, and their characters aren't as realistic as His.

Actually, you can complain if you want to. I'm just tired of people hating on every FC out there for being the wrong level of S. Here's an idea: delete the S altogether and let it whatever kind of FC grows organically in your brain, be she S or BS or WTF or OMGSTFU. If you think Hermione is too OMGSTFU, then that's okay, because that's how Hermione happened in JKR's brain. Unless it wasn't, and JKR's just terrible at portraying her visions. But I don't think she is.

Good night!