Started from the Bottom

A recent movie I saw this past weekend was St. Vincent with Melissa McCarthy and Bill Murray. I really enjoyed it because it had some humorous parts as well as some serious and realistic parts. A quick summary of the plot is that Vincent (Bill Murray) is a gambler and a drunk that has no money. He lives in a broken house that is dull and boring. Maggie (Melissa McCarthy) and her son Oliver (Jaeden Lieberher) move into the house next door. When Oliver loses his keys he has to ask Vincent if he can stay with him until his mother returns home from work. Vincent eventually becomes Oliver’s babysitter and they form a close relationship. Vincent impregnates a hooker so he begins to prepare himself to become a father. With the help of Oliver, he quits smoking constantly and eases up on the drinking and smoking. In return, Vincent teaches Oliver how to stand up for himself and become a man because his father is not really in the picture. However, his addiction to drugs and alcohol lead him back down a terrible path. He has a stroke in his home and is found by Oliver and his mother. Between Oliver, Maggie, and the hooker/lover, Vincent regains full mobility and lives a happy life with his new child and wife. 

I would consider St. Vincent a comedy according to Aristotle because it is a story of the rise in the fortune of a sympathetic central character. While at first a viewer may not see Vincent a someone they admire, they realize his previous struggles and come to appreciate him more. Specifically, after they realize that he was in the army and saved over 200 soldiers and when he has his stroke. A comic hero does not put much effort into making the audience like them, but rather the audience comes to like them based on their actions. Vincent is a comic hero because he does not perform any actions that make people want to like him. His drinking and smoking around Oliver makes people think he is irresponsible and stupid. Another criteria for a comic hero is that the person needs to be an ordinary person. Vincent is not privileged or have any special talents so he can be considered an ordinary person and therefore a comic hero.

I think this movie is an example that people can really change for the better. They can grow and change, which creates more opportunities for themselves to become successful. They can be successful in life by achieving happiness, earning more money, or even finding true love. A comedy is simply the satisfaction of deserving people succeeding. Vincent clearly succeeds in his life because he has a son, overcomes his alcohol and drug problem, and lives a happy life with his wife and neighbors.