1 Lecture 7: What’s Funny? Professor Daniel Cutrara There’s Something About Mary (1998) Ed Decter and John J. Strauss (story) Ed Decter & John J. Strauss and Peter Farrelly & Bobby Farrelly (screenplay)

Previous Lesson Independents Little Miss Sunshine –Journey to Production –What makes it work 2

This Lesson Laughter Types of Comedy There’s Something about Mary Assignments 3

4 Laughter Lesson 7: Part I

Why do People Laugh? Laughter from aggression Laughter feeling superior –Plato Laughter at the juxtaposition of incongruous elements. –Schopenhauer 5

Aggression Slapstick –Charlie Chaplin, Marx Bros. –Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote –Abusive physical comedy –Grabbing hair, pulling noses 6

Superiority Characters who appear foolish –Putting on airs –Deluded The Princess Bride –Vizzini The Office –Steve Carell’s character 77

Incongruity The juxtaposition of elements that we don’t expect. –Mistaken identity –Gender crossing –Age and behavior switching –Human and animal Tootsie Dexter 8

Comedy Subgenres Lesson 7: Part II 9

Comedy and Subgenres Comedy –Dramedy –Satire –Black Comedy –Farce –Screwball Comedy –Romantic Comedy –Comedy of Manners, Situation Comedy –Parody 10

Comedy Functions with other genres- drama, action, adventure, mystery, etc. Dramedy Employs –Irony, Dramatic irony, Sarcasm –Situations that create laughter as noted above. 11

Farce (Broad Comedy) Exaggerated situations and characters Slapstick Fast pace plot Happy endings Some Like it Hot (1959) The Producers (1968, 2005) 12

Satire A narrative that holds up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn. Satire and political satire use ironic comedy to portray persons or social institutions as ridiculous or corrupt, thus alienating their audience from the object of humor. Wag the Dog (1997) Dr. Strangelove… (1964) 13

Black Comedy Black Comedy is defined by dark humor that makes light of so called dark or evil elements in human nature. Very Bad Things (1998) 14

Screwball Comedy Combines elements of farce with slapstick, and rapid fire dialogue. Battle of the sexes in the midst of courtship. Rich and poor- poor being noble. –It Happened One Night (1934) –Runaway Bride (1999) 15

Romantic Comedy A popular genre that depicts romance in humorous terms, and focuses on the foibles of those who are falling in love. Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008) 16

Comedy of Manners Comedy that satirically portrays the manners and fashions of a particular class or set. The sitcom critiques middle class behavior. Whit Stillman’s Metropolitan Wes Anderson’s The Royal Tennenbaum’s 17

Parody In film, styles and storylines are imitated in comedic ways. Epic Movie (2007) Scary Movie 1,2,3,4 (2000-6) Galaxy Quest (1999) 18

Structure of Comedy The most structured of genres. Construction of gag Timing of delivery 19

The Direction of Laughter Laughing with the characters –protagonists Laughing at the characters –Aggression, superiority 20

21 There’s Something about Mary Lesson 7: Part III Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly 21

The Backstory The Farrelly Brothers –Dumb and Dumber (1994) –Kingpin (1996) –There’s Something About Mary (1998) –Shallow Hal (2001) –Stuck on You (2003) –The Heartbreak Kid (2007) 22

A Mix of Comedy Styles Romantic Comedy meets Broad Comedy Dramatic Irony combined with Slapstick 23

Mary Overview Concept –First love, lost and found Character –The average guy Plot and Structure –Breaking the rules Theme –Love is about sacrifice 24

The Story Act One –Ted finding the courage to pursue the woman of his dreams. His backstory gives the narrative an emotional core. Act Two –Healy and Tucker as Antagonists. Focus on Mary. Act Three –Woogie’s betrayal. Ted’s character arc. What he learns about love. 25

The Element of Suspense The Protagonist’s desire creates the following tensions. –Who will Mary choose? –Will Ted get there in time? 26

The Element of Surprise Twists reveal character information that turn the story. –Tucker/Harv –Dom/Woogie –Brett Favre 27

What Makes it Funny? Pause the lecture and watch the first clip from There’s Something About Mary. What creates the humor? –Situation –Character –Use of suspense and surprise –Slapstick –Incongruity 28

Dramatic Irony Pause the lecture and watch the second clip from There’s Something About Mary. –What do the police know that Ted doesn’t? 29

Development Change Pause the lecture and review the end of the script. –How does this ending effect the overall impact and meaning of the film? 30

Development Change (cont’d) Pause the lecture and watch the third clip from There’s Something About Mary. –How does this ending compare to the script’s? –How does it change the meaning of the film? 31

Non-Traditional The chorus –the musicians Breaking the fourth wall. –shifting away from traditional narrative 32

The Wrap Up Comedy A diverse genre The most consciously designed narrative. It’s funny if it’s funny. 33

34Assignments Lesson 7: Part IV There’s Something About Mary

E-Board Post #1 Approximately 200 words. Pick a film and breakdown the comic structure of one of the scenes. Comment on two of your peers. 35

End of Lecture 7 End of Lecture 7 Next Lecture: The Bible for Television Alias (The Cast) 36