Wholesome Humor

While a work of tragedy leaves the audience with a feeling of catharsis, I think the wholesomeness comedy brings with its finale is enough to also categorize it as a great art form. I think one of the main reasons people don’t think comedy can be as meaningful is because it can be ruined by trashy, cliche moments so quickly. But when done right, the either dreaded or beloved “rom com” can bring a feeling of wholesomeness that matches the catharsis that comes from a tragedy.

For example, She’s the Man, which is a modern take on Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, takes the audience through mischief, humor, despair, and love, and ultimately has a happy ending. I admit that the “in the end, the athletic fun girl gets the mysterious but caring jock” chord is struck a little hard by this movie, I still think it qualifies as a comedy because of the investment the audience gets in the character’s lives. By the end of the movie, however corny it may be, you are happy to see Amanda Bynes and Channing Tatum get together.

She’s The Man, and of course by extension Twelfth Night, is also a qualified comedy because it enhances our understanding of the world through the construction of gender roles in modern times. Amanda Bynes’ character, Viola, goes undercover as her brother to train with the men’s soccer team at her brother’s school, after the girl’s program was cut at her school, in hopes of beating her own school’s men’s team. Viola is not the typical “jock,” but ends up falling for him, and her experience in this role as a man shows the audience in a comedic but earnest way that there is not right or wrong way to be a gender, and that being your authentic self is the best thing you can be, no matter what it feels like other people or society are telling you.