JUNE 1997:

WHY ARE STUDIOS SO ASCAIRED OF COMEDY?

Studios? Ascaired of comedy? What, am I nuts? They put out comedies all the time! Heck, the highest paid actor in the business (at least for this fifteen minutes) is Jim Carrey - who makes COMEDIES! So obviously - like one of Jim's more famous characters - I'm talking out of my ass here, right?

Wrong.

Let's take a few moments to examine the types of comedies the studios put out. More and more those comedies have been retreads of old movies and TV shows: THE BRADY BUNCH MOVIE (and sequel), McHALE'S NAVY, SGT. BILKO, THE ADDAMS FAMILY (and sequel), CASPER, THE NUTTY PROFESSOR (and planned sequel), THE BIRDCAGE, FLIPPER (not so much funny 'ha-ha'... ), the list goes on. They also seem fond of romantic comedies. Remember THE PHILADELPHIA STORY, IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, THE LADY EVE and great films like that? Well nobody else seems to, because the romantic comedies we get shoved at us are more along the lines of MR. WRONG, A THIN LINE BETWEEN LOVE & HATE, THE PALLBEARER, FLIPPER (not your typical romance, maybe...), this list goes on as well.

Jim is about the only guy the studios aren't afraid to
let loose in a crazy comedy.

What do all these films have in common? Recognizable elements from other mediums. The films based on old movies and TV shows? Hey, that's instant name recognition! LEAVE IT TO BEAVER - everyone remembers that show, let's make it into a movie! That'll be safe. The romantic comedies I listed? They star actors from hit TV shows - Ellen Degeneres, Martin Lawrence, David Schwimmer... Flipper. All recognizable names certain to lure in audiences already familiar with their TV incarnations (check these films' grosses to see how well that theory works). That'll be safe. And 'safe' is what we want, right? Well, it's sure what the studios want. They want nice, safe, unthreatening product to feed to us masses who buy movie tickets. And therein lies the problem. Comedy should not be nice, safe, or unthreatening. Just the opposite. What makes us laugh is very rarely nice. It's usually cruel and meanspirited and snotty and disrespectful. Think of a gentle, classy comedy you like. Now think of the jokes. The things you laughed at probably aren't so nice and gentle, are they? Mel Brooks said it best: "Tragedy is when I cut my finger. Comedy is when you fall into an open manhole and die."

Remaking 'Leave It To Beaver'. This is what passes
for comedy these days. Way to go out on a limb, folks.

What are the highest grossing comedies of all time? Are they 'nice' and 'safe'? Are they 'sweet' and 'gentle'? Shit no. The highest grossing comedy of all time is HOME ALONE - about parents who forget one of their children when they go away on vacation. Not very politically correct, eh? I mean, those parents might come off as UNSYMPATHETIC! Can't have that. Then the abandoned child must fend for himself when a couple of robbers set their sights on his family's home. Hey, that's SCARY! Think how that might negatively impact any poor child left alone some night. And then the kid rigs up all sorts of elaborate, Rube Goldberg-ian devices to thwart the robbers. Wait a second here - that's VIOLENT! We can't show kids violence, they might imitate it... you know, one night when they're left alone. The kid wins the day by basically pummeling the snot out of the robbers. All that tear-jerky, cornball crap about the old guy living next door? That's wallpaper. This is one of the meanest, cruelest, most violent comedies out there. And it was marketed for kids! And you know what... IT MADE PEOPLE LAUGH! And why did it make people laugh? BECAUSE IT WAS MEAN, CRUEL AND VIOLENT! And mean, cruel and violent are funny (whether HOME ALONE was funny is another matter).

Love them or hate them, at least the Farrelly Brothers
make crazy comedies with a distinctive, down-and-dirty style.

Who are the filmmakers out there willing to push the outside of the comic envelope? Those unafraid to be funny, no matter what the politically correct (or those afraid of the politically correct - an even scarier, more pathetic group) might say? Well, I've compiled a list of my personal favorites, people I think have been making risky comedies. They are Joel and Ethan Coen (RAISING ARIZONA, FARGO), Bobby and Peter Farrelly (DUMB & DUMBER, KINGPIN), David O. Russell (SPANKING THE MONKEY, FLIRTING WITH DISASTER), Kevin Smith (CLERKS, CHASING AMY) and Albert Brooks (LOST IN AMERICA, MOTHER). All but Brooks work, for the most part, outside of the studio system. Why? Because their films don't follow the accepted comedy format for the 90's. This format is: The characters have to be sympathetic at all times, everyone must learn something over the course of the film, the story has to have 'heart', the jokes can't possibly offend anyone - especially minority groups, those with physical handicaps, or anyone insecure enough to take jokes in a movie personally. And oh yeah - it can't be funny. But I guess that goes without saying once you examine all the other prerequisites.

The Coens make thoughtful, intelligent, stylish comedies -
which would explain why they've only received studio backing for one of their films.

All the abovementioned filmmakers make movies that adhere to the rules of classic comedies, not the revisionist standards foisted on us by those more interested in not offending the easily offended. Every movie I listed in the previous paragraph has had some element that's really pissed people off, whether it be scatological humor (Kevin Smith), unsympathetic characters (Albert Brooks, David O. Russell), cruel attitudes toward their characters (The Coen Brothers), or sheer we-don't-give-a-damn crudity (The Farrelly Brothers). They've all got detractors who don't like their attitudes. But at least they HAVE attitudes! And that's what good comedy is all about - attitude. How much attitude are we getting from LEAVE IT TO BEAVER or McHALE'S NAVY? The only attitude on display there is the attitude that we're all morons who would rather see something familiar than funny.

And then there's Albert. The most fearless comic filmmaker working.
And it's that fearlessness that most comedies are missing.

And this brings me back to my main theme - why are studios afraid of comedy? Because good comedy, by definition, takes risks. And risks are the last thing that executives whose jobs depend on the bottom line want to take. It doesn't help that comedy is, more than any other creative form, a taste judgement. And that's the second-to-the-last thing executives want to base their jobs on. But as long as those in charge of greenlighting the comedies that come out of the studio pipelines continue to run scared, we're going to be drowned in a continuing flood of remakes and retreads and bland, blander, blandest. You should never be afraid of anything in comedy - especially the chance you might offend someone. Every good joke will offend SOMEONE. It's time to stop cowering and start swaggering. And start allowing ourselves to be funny again.

Point to the actor who got chubby - rather than the actor who shows his chubby - to return to the SPEW archives!

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