Response to Bridesmaids
lead blog post
That clip
was completely the lowest type of humor, poop jokes. The only real redeeming quality of the scene
is that it is very up front about itself.
It does not try to hid the lowbrow nature of the joke. This is both a good and bad thing. It is a good thing because there is no
deception going on but it does not help the joke. The lack of cover means that creator of the
scene, director and writers, didn’t care enough to even try to make the joke
seem better.
The setting
of the joke does make incongruity a possible reason for the comedy, such as it
is. A better reason is superiority
because its nicely dressed people being brought down to something everyone
does. This doesn’t improve the joke but
it does more accurately represent the reasoning behind the joke.
The difference
between Bridesmaid poop humor and South Parks talking poop, other than comedy,
is that South Park was using it to make fun of people who fight against Christmas. South Park’s Mr. Hankey is an over the top of
all the shit people spew out of their mouths when talking about the holidays
and end all for holiday symbols. This is
due to him being a piece of poop that everyone, no matter the ethnicity or
religion, will hate as a holiday symbol.
Mr. Hankey is a satire while the Bridesmaid scene is not even
funny.
I agree with you. Just because poop is involved doesn't necessarily mean it's poop humor. I have to disagree with what you said about Bridesmaids though. I think the over the top nature of the scene is used intentionally. Its supposed to provide contrast to the nature of the store. It also highlights the difference between Annie and Helen's styles. It also plays against the other half of the scene, as Helen quietly torments Annie out in the fitting room.
ReplyDeleteIt could be considered a kind of social satire--not simply just mocking fancy stores by showing that they can be brought down to the low level, but as Thomas was saying showing the way that friends will torment one another in these settings. I think the effectiveness of it for those who find it amusing lies not simply in the gross aspect but in the way that this gross factor seems to parody the typical "mean girls" behavior.
ReplyDelete