Blades of Glory: A Deeper Meaning

"Blades of Glory" reminds me of my childhood. It is one of my dads favorite comedies, and although I understood pretty much none of the jokes the first hundred times I watched it, I will always love this movie.

"Blades of Glory" is a good movie to watch when you're looking for a light movie, and one that will make you laugh a lot. However, Blades of Glory contains some commentary, especially regarding homophobia and masculinity. I read one review on the movie before writing this, and the author commented on how the movie had too many homophobic jokes for his liking. 

From my perspective, these jokes were purposeful. The movie makes many jokes about how figure skating isn't a masculine sport and about a "bromance". Two male athletes competing as a couple in figure skating made the men subject to jokes and a bit of humiliation. However, in the end the duo wins the gold medal. 

Because the athletes are able to step outside of a man box, and not worry about how people perceived them as a couple on the ice, they were able to overcome many adversitites that happened throughout the movie, as a strong duo. Masculinity was not the goal for Chazz Michael Michaels and Jimmy MacElroy. What's really so wrong with two males figure skating for the gold? 

Much Ado About Comedy

Much Ado About Nothing, one of William Shakespeare's famous comedies, is a prime example representing themes and motifs required of Aristotle for a comedy: sexual jokes (yes, actually, the great Shakespeare rarely gets through a play without sex jokes), romance, the rise in fortune of the fools, Dogberry and his crew, Benedick and Beatrice, and Hero and Claudio, and a happy ending.
Sex and romance are clear leading themes in the play, with the immediate attraction between Hero and Claudio upon first sight, as well as the evident dramatic history between Benedick and Beatrice, with an not-so-subtle underlying sexual tension. Shakespeare explores the folly of human nature in romance through the antithesized relationship between Ben and Bea, as their actions clearly counteract their deepest feelings and what they truly want. Additionally, through Claudio's misinterpretation of Hero's loyalty and chastity- one can argue Shakespeare even subtly criticizes the then present social taboo of women's sexual freedom by weighing it against Claudio's loyalty to Hero, and even the importance of true love itself.
And, as with any Shakespeare play, there are the bumbling fools, Dogberry and his watch, the equivalent of Dwight Shrute's volunteer sheriff's deputy position- basically fake police. This group slapsticks their way through trying to acquire occupational respect, and consequently accidentally succeeding and catching the "bad guys" and saving the day, without ever really realizing the gravity of their actions.
This double edged romantic comedy is brilliant because with it's two simultaneous love stories, Shakespeare presents opposing relationships, flips them, and then brings them to the same happy ending. The play is just a long taunting of the audience. Most importantly, it deals with real, sincere situations that many can relate to, and simply emphasizes and colors it in. That's why Shakespeare is so timeless, because despite era, the human condition and the inherently genuine dilemma's humans face stay constant.

Repeating Lessons

The film Groundhog Day needs no introduction. It is a classic comedy that nearly everyone has seen, and it even holds up to Aristotle's definition of comedy. The main character Phil, played by Bill Murray, begins the story with a very bleak and worn down personality. He's fed up with how life has been treating him through his life. The film follows him repeating the same day over and over again until he comes out much better than he was before in an almost overnight transformation to those around him. Ignoring the considerable humor packed into the film, Phil's transformation rise alone is enough to classify Groundhog Day as a comedy.

Groundhog Day fits into two sub classes of comedy, the romantic comedy, and the black comedy. While it may not be as clear cut of a rom-com as other films, the film does present an interesting take on uniting a couple that winds up being surprisingly well matched. It starts with the couple essentially hating each other and it ends with them falling in love. This fits the standard outline for a rom-com, but the added twist is that Phil only has one day to get Rita Hanson to fall in love with him while he has over eight years (according to some) to fall in love with her. He employs various methods to reach his goal, each failing until they reach the "happy ending" and he breaks out of the time loop. The black comedy becomes more clear from seeing his attempts to escape the loop in more violent ways, usually through his suicide attempts, whether those be a more traditional bath electrocution, or engaging in a more numerous car chase with a groundhog resulting in an explosion.

Now the real question, is there any value to films like this other than a simple laugh? I would argue that they can teach us a lot. Groundhog Day especially carries a few good messages for people to take with them demonstrated in the positive shifts Phil displays. Groundhog Day models many of the behaviors that most people would agree should not be displayed including theft, manipulation, and all around reckless behavior. However after Phil moves past these behaviors and takes on more altruistic behaviors, his life begins to pick up. In a way Groundhog Day is a movie about comparisons. There is as close to a controlled environment as you can get so Phil can test out how living in different ways can affect others and himself. The comedy helps to show us how making more thought out careful choices leads to a better life than more immediate instant gratification type behaviors. Part of how Groundhog Day and many other comedies successfully present enhancing lessons for society is by presenting us with a relate able average character and how they can move to a higher state of being without being special. In the end it falls down to the writers and directors of comedies to create good messages, but in good comedies that follow the rules, with a bit of analysis, it is not hard to find deeper meanings that show us interesting facets of human society.

Forrest Gump

Forrest Gump is the perfect example for why a comedy is a meaningful art form. The story follows Forrest Gump, a cognitively impaired but well meaning and unceasingly optimistic man through the events of his life. The film repeatedly demonstrates the idea that life is truly a mystery, and that you shouldn't allow personal detractors stop you from accomplishing things. This is evident throughout the movie, for example, such as the time that Forrest, who had spent his life in leg braces, breaks them while running from bullies, only to learn that he can not only run fine, but that he can actually run incredibly fast, which later secures him a scholarship to the University of Alabama. 

He goes on to win a football game for this school. Furthermore, Forrest fights in Vietnam, as terrible situation for anyone, yet he manages to make a lifelong friend and business partner and, despite being injured, meets the president. Gump also wins medals, creates a famous shrimping fleet, meets the president multiple times, and even starts a jogging movement, all of which further the idea that while everyone has issues that could potentially restrain them from achieving great things, anyone can do anything. Nothing quite portrays this idea like the famous line from the film, "My mom always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

This simple yet effective phrase embodies the recurring motif of the movie perfectly. It's meaning is simple; the outcomes of life are random. You cannot truly know what each one (or chocolate) will be until you try it, and as such there is no reason not to. This phrase, as it relates to the film as a whole, states that it is human nature to be afraid to choose from a variety of unknown possibilities, so you have to jump in with positivity, regardless of any outstanding circumstances (which won't really hold you back anyway).

A Midsummer Night's Dream

A Midsummer Night's Dream is one of William Shakespeare's most famous plays. Dictating the stories of multiple different groups of people of very different classes, Shakespeare's play focuses on groups whose lives collide in every which way. A Midsummer Night's Dream is a great example of a comedy that enhances the audience's view of the world because it can appeal to so many different audiences. In the play, there is everything from magic and spells to royalty and manipulation, all that moves the characters forwards. The play is a bit different from a typical comedy, however, because the "main" character is not so simple to be determined. in King Lear, Lear himself was the hero, but in this play, it can be argued that many characters would appear to be the sympathetic central character. Although all of these interpretations are merited and credible, I personally believe that Puck is the most like the sympathetic central character that a comedy requires. Puck brings characters together and ultimately, is one of the most powerful characters in the entire play. A Midsummer Night's Dream also has the happy ending that is necessary to be a comedy. The four main lovers end up in two happy pairs and the magical and mischievous couple also end up together. Everyone ends the play in happy moods and little of their imminent fates is left to be desired. 

A Midsummer Night's Dream enhances our view of the world through its depiction of connections, conflict, and eventual resolution. Puck, as I stated before, has much of the power in the play, and while he makes a few mistakes, he is eventually able to correct them and give everyone the happy ending that they deserve. At first, it seems like there may not be much of a message to be gained from this play besides "don't use magic to manipulate people," but it actually represents manipulation and trickery as a whole. Even in its most simple and seemingly harmless form, any kind of trickery can be detrimental, and A Midsummer Night's Dream warns of these dangers. Another more obvious message has to do with love and affection. Sometimes, the person that has the best first impression and that someone thinks may be the one for them is not actually a good fit at all. Finally, touching on the magic aspect and referring back to other books that we have read so far in the year, appearance and reality and how seeing is not truly believing. The appearance of something good may turn out to be the complete opposite and vise versa. I believe that A Midsummer Night's Dream is an amazing example of a comedy that is a meaningful work of art, not only because of the language that Shakespeare used, but the meaning that he put into that language as well.

(She left her) Lady Bird

Major spoiler warning (although it’s been out for four months, so I think it’s fair game now)

For a long time, I thought I hated comedies. Happy endings seemed predictable, and the humor seemed corny and cliche. It felt like I was rewatching the same movie over and over again. I remember haphazardly going into Lady Bird with low expectations, but I was blown away. I realize now that it isn’t really comedy’s fault its genre is plagued with poor concepts and poor execution.

Lady Bird, which also is the self-given name of the movie’s protagonist, follows the story of a high school senior in Sacramento, California who dreams of more. Although she’s not the best student, Lady Bird dreams of going to Columbia or NYU. Although her family’s not the most wealthy, Lady Bird tells others she lives at one of her favorite high end homes. She ends up falling in love with a popular theater kid and joins the program, seeking him out.

True to life, everything does not go Lady Bird’s way. She receives rejections from all of her New York schools except one, which waitlists her, the popular girl she was trying to befriend finds out the house Lady Bird claimed was hers isn’t, and when she finally gets the boy of her dreams, she finds out he’s gay. Basically, her life seems to fall apart throughout a bunch of moments (very teenage like).

Lady Bird’s self-redemption begins when she leaves her “too-cool-for-school” (literally) crew for her true friend. The two go to prom and embrace their inner goofiness. Upon receiving her acceptance off the waitlist, Lady Bird flies off to New York with no goodbye from her mother who is furious that she applied to expensive out-of-state schools behind her back. Her father sends her packet of unfinished letters from her mother, which detail her love and regrets. Lady Bird then binge drinks in the post-mortem of her old angsty teenage self and begins using her birth name. The movie ends with a wholesome call between Christine (Lady Bird) and her mother.

What makes Lady Bird so special is its indescribably accurate portrayal of human interaction and emotions. It dares to be open and genuine in moments that bring laughter and thought. Unlike other movies, comedies have to take much more precaution when dealing with heavy-handed issues. It’s a lot easier to be reflective or deep when the ending isn’t a happy one. A comedy, in order to achieve its original intentions, must be perfect if it wants the same impact as a movie about something more severe than teenage emotions. Comedies excel when they are able to reveal something personal. Lady Bird is one example in which a movie is able to pry into the viewer and make them feel vulnerable, and it achieved that through human-like nuance. In that sense, Lady Bird truly practices what it preaches. We are reminded to be genuine and true to ourselves through a movie that uses genuine interactions to convey its message.

Comedic Satire

Satire is the use of humor, irony, exaggeration, or ridicule to expose or criticize something especially current events like politics. It can be portrayed as a genre of literature, graphic and performing arts. A film that depicts satire is a thrilling horror film by the name of Get Out written and produced by comedian Jordan Peele.
Get Out tells the story of a young black man who visits his white girlfriend's family. During his visit, he is put through several uncomfortable moments that were racially tense. At first, he reads his girlfriend's parents strange behavior as nervous attempts to deal with their daughter's interracial relationship. As the visit progresses, a series of increasingly disturbing discoveries lead him to something he never could have imagined. Throughout the film, these uncomfortable happenings are balanced out by times of comedy.
Altogether, the film Get Out is comedic satire because it depicts something as real as racism in the modern world although making it less uncomfortable by adding comic relief. It is packed with symbols and imagery that remind us of the history of slavery and the Old South - starting with the plantation the girlfriend lives on, the maid and gardener of the house are African American, and the Armitage-resembling clothing the house helpers wear. All of these examples are overridden by the main character's positivity and his comedic explanation of them simply being "white-washed".

The Emoji Movie

The Emoji Movie at first seems rather simplistic and childish, but as I continued the movie I realized it holds a much deeper meaning. Gene is that main emoji in in this movie. They live within Textopolis, a digital city inside the phone of his user Alex. He is the son of two meh emojis, however, Gene struggles throughout the movie to preform his job as an emoji. When he is finally given an opportunity to preform his job, Gene panics and is unable to make his selected face. This failure is devastating to Gene, and makes him flee is home and his family in order to fix his "malfunction".

While Gene is on his journey to change himself for what he deems as better, he has to overcome a lot of obstacles along his way. The movie uses these obstacles as comedy to portray a larger picture. Once Gene has overcome these obstacles and finally is given the chance to change who he is, he decides against it. This choice plays into the bigger picture of the movie. This movie although a bunch of laughs is a prime example of how when you don't succeed or are not successful at something and want to drastically change who you really are to conform in order to better fit in with society. Gene struggles to impress his parents and friends throughout the movie, and it isn't until the end of the movie until Gene realizes he is comfortable and happy with who he is. I think the Emoji Movie uses comedy to express and teach a deep lesson without having to use a dark tone, but rather using a lighthearted approach.

Knocked Up, a Modern Comedy

Judd Apatow's movie, Knocked Up, is like the brain child from someone if they took Aristotle's definition of a comedy and then binge drank and wrote an entire screen play all in one night. Apatow followed all of the guidelines listed out by Aristotle in the classic sense of a romantic comedy when directing Knocked Up. In the movie there is the comic hero (Seth Rogan) who contains the perfect amount of charm and is a classic example of a neutral good because of the fact that he's always trying his best but is also always so far from perfect. In addition to that is the rest of the characters in the movie who make up the ordinary people, who are all just along for the ride of Katherine Heigl's and Seth Rogan's accidental pregnancy.

The plot of this movie involves two young people who end up having a one night stand that results in an unexpected pregnancy. The entire rest of the film is spent showing both of them trying to cope with this disaster, and realizing that neither one of them is mature enough for the baby, at least at the moment. The Movie ends, as all comedies do, with a happy ending where they decide that they are in fact able to love each other and raise this child in L.A. despite being so underwhelmingly adult like (particularly Seth Rogan) throughout the first hour of the film.

I think that comedies can undeniably make a bigger statement about human nature or some aspect of society while still being comedies, however I do not think that this movie does. I think that a lot of the lost persona and struggling young person ideology that the movie portrays in the beginning, which is pretty realistic, is lost because of the ending where everything works out perfectly. I really like this movie and think it is very cute and hilarious, but if it were to make a bigger statement about human nature or show the ill effects that a poor choice can really have on individual's lives all of that message was lost by things working out perfectly. 

The movie followed Aristotle's idea of a comedy and even added the sex jokes and human commentary about being able to find joy in all situations but I think that if the commentary in this movie were to be more realistic and meaningful the movie would have to end in a much darker way, which would really ruin the movie. All in all after analyzing this movie I think to make it meaningful is to take away from its enjoyability so it is really a lose lose situation.

Little Miss Sunshine

Little Miss Sunshine is the stunning story of a dysfunctional family determined to get their daughter, Olive, into a beauty agent across the country, and decide to take the journey west in their problematic Volkswagen van. The main character, played by Steve Carell, is Olive's suicidal uncle who is forced to go on this trip because he is no longer trusted to be alone.

The movie follows the family as they drive from Albuquerque, NM to California and invites the audience to laugh at the misfortunes that befall the family. Some of these misfortunes are comical, like when the starter in the family van breaks, and they have to jump into car, as they do not want to stop it. However most aspects of the movie incorporate dark humor, like when the grandfather dies and they sneak his body out of the morgue, or when son realizes that his dreams of going to the air-force is impossible due to his colorblindness. Altogether through its humor and disappointments, Little Miss Sunshine demonstrates the importance and strength of family, even one as seemingly flawed as the protagonist's.

Little Miss Sunshine embodies Aristotle's definition of a comedy because it utilizes an imperfect, sympathetic comedic hero who has wishy-washy morals and dark humor. Throughout the film our hero deals with everyday sort of issues, mainly: depression, death, and getting along with extended family. Additionally, by the end of the story the main character undergoes a change in fortune, transforming from a depressed, suicidal man who has alienated himself and gets no joy from life, to a slightly less depressed uncle who has established a sense of belonging by loving and being loved by his family.

What about Mary?

For insight into the mind of the plainest and most forgotten Bennet sister, check out her blog.

How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days

It’s a quirky story about two people who meet by chance (so it seems). Andie, the protagonist, works for one of the fastest growing beauty magazine companies. She is a deep, intellectual woman yet she is known as “Andie Anderson, the How to Girl”. To save her friend by proposing a unique story, Andie must emanate all the mistakes that women make to lose the guy such as being too clingy, possessive, and moody. Benjamin Barry, on the other hand, works for an advertising and specializes in “sports and beer”. In an attempt to obtain the chance to make a pitch to his company’s new client, a diamond provider, Benjamin is set up by his co-worker competitors to make a girl fall in love with him in ten days. Benjamin’s competitors who know about Andie’s article, match them together.

The story follows with Andie making the “common” mistakes testing Ben’s limits and Ben learning how to manage her. This relationship satisfies Aristotle’s definition of a comedy because Andie and Ben are obviously compatible (as seen during their first meeting), but their rise for power in their jobs forces them apart (although, ironically, it brought them together at first). The hurdles they face are their conflicting objectives and the importance they associate with their jobs. Though humorous, the mingling between the two is more meaningful than it seems. Similar to Pride and Prejudice, Andie acts as the stereotypical drama queen concerning herself in minuscule details when Ben just tries to cope with the relationship he is in. The twist, however, is that they are insanely compatible and only realize this once they escape New York and stay with Ben’s family. Only there can they be true as they are away from the societal pressures of the city and immersed in family life. This reveals that people are not always as they seem for a plethora of reasons.

As Andie quits her job in the end because her promotion does not allow her to write about what she really care about: politics and social events, she realizes that by trying to play the game of being an author of a cliche women’s magazine, she is not being true to herself. Ben also realizes this as he upgrades himself from “sports and beer” to diamonds. Here, both of the characters break through the barriers of stereotypes to discover that they can be whatever they want to be and that they love each other (of course, because it is a romantic comedy). Thus, the takeaway is that one should not let stereotypes and societal expectations hinder them from being true to themselves. The movie does this through over exaggerating the cliche dramatic relationship, thus demeaning it and instead letting a genuine relationship rise with the fall of the facade they both upheld.

Superdumb

While often less sophisticated than other genres, comedy has the unique ability to help us take ourselves less seriously. Sure there exist some comedies that tell a truly inspirational story or make a profound social commentary, but the vast majority of them are just "dumb". I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing, as being able to laugh at relatable situations allows us to, in effect, laugh at ourselves.

Perhaps the peak example of "dumb comedy" is Superbad. The plot is remarkably crude: two nerdy high school seniors need to get some booze for their party so that they can (you guessed it) impress their respective crushes. On paper it sounds like drivel, but it's hard not to laugh when you're watching. The two "comic heroes" aren't glorified party animals, but are instead awkward kids who manage to fumble through every social interaction. Watching them attempting to talk to girls or pass off their friend's fake ID at the liquor store is cringeworthy, yet that's exactly where the film's value comes from.

The characters in Superbad are incredibly relatable to many of us, but that alone doesn't make the movie worth watching. Sure we as viewer like relatability, but it does nothing meaningful on it's own. The fact that they completely fail gives us a chance to laugh at not only their absurdity, but the absurdity of our own antics. Social ineptitude is unsurprisingly a touchy subject for most people, so comedies like Superbad provide the perfect outlet to step back and take oneself a little less seriously. The ability comedies give to find the humor in our own mistakes and flaws is hugely important, particularly for the self concious teengers we all are. Although they may lack nuance and stand-alone value, the personal effects comedy can have certainly makes them meaningful as an art form.

My Fair Lady

I think that very few comedies can be considered meaningful. In fact, the meaning in comedies is not apparent or easily found. The reader or viewer must be intentional in their search. For instance, I easily enjoyed reading the "original" comedy, Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen, but once I finished I just as easily forgot the novel due to its lack of obvious meaning and importance, like that found in tragedies such as King Lear.

Nevertheless, I think there is something to be said about the humor and love stories of Jane Austen's novels and some of Shakespeare's plays such as "Twelfth Night", "As You Like It", and "The Taming of the Shrew". By crafting humor with irony and contrasting it with the seriousness of love, readers can take these works seriously and not just as entertainment for women. These comedies are the exception, though, as many more modern comedies use too little irony and satire for their humor and more ridiculous or extreme circumstances to convey a love story thus making the work less meaningful.

For example, the popular romantic musical "My Fair Lady," taken from the play "Pygmalion" by George Shaw, has many situational similarities to Shakespeare's "The Taming of the Shrew" though the characters are a little different. "My Fair Lady" is clearly a comedy as Aristotle defined it. The heroine (Eliza Doolittle) is a young women clearly of a low class due to her unclean clothes and accented, harsh speech. A somewhat abusive man takes on the challenge of transforming her into a lady and the sympathetic heroine rises in fortune through her new knowledge of what it means to be proper and her relationship with the man. This musical enhances the viewers understanding of love as something that can overcome the oftentimes ridiculousness of social classes. Furthermore, it emphasizes how love develops in the wake of prejudices such as sexism and misogyny. This musical is one example of a meaningful romantic comedy that should not be dismissed as trivial.

Sweet Home Alabama

Recently, I watched the romantic comedy Sweet Home Alabama. The movie starts off with a southern-raised New York fashion designer named Melanie who is proposed to by a distinguished man named Andrew. There's one problem: she's married to her high school sweetheart from Alabama who refuses to divorce her. His name is Jake. Melanie is very ashamed of her poor Southern roots so she has not gone back to her home in years. She finally goes back to get things straighten out once and for all. As the movie progresses, she learns to accept her roots and falls back in love with Jake.

The movie teaches that an individual should embrace themselves. It sounds simple, but it is hard for people to truly do that. In the beginning of the movie, Melanie constantly told Andrew that she did not want him to meet her parents. She was embarrassed of where she spent her childhood. In fact, when Melanie was in Alabama and news reporters found her in Alabama, she told them that she came from a lot of money. The truth was she didn't: her dad's job was portraying reenactments of the civil war. Throughout the movie, it is shown that Melanie always loved Alabama. From laughing with her old high school classmates to going to her favorite places growing up, Melanie loved all of it. Melanie chose to go to New York because she wanted to grow and be somebody outside of her tight-knit community. In fact, her Mom constantly pushed her to get out of Alabama so she would not turn out like her. Also, Andrew comes from a family of wealth so it was hard for her to be fully herself and tell him everything. The movie also teaches to not underestimate individuals' capabilities. Besides the reason that Jake would not sign the divorce papers, Melanie always hated the reason that he had no ambition and wasn't doing much with his life. When Melanie went back to Alabama, she still thought that. It wasn't until she found out that Jake owned and ran a successful business. The movie shows that people change and are not always stagnant in their ways.

I think comedy is a meaningful art form because like this movie it can teach simple but effective life lessons.

Importance of Comedy

After reading any tragedy, the importance of comedy is clear. Any tragedy focuses on the fall of a noble tragic hero. Tragedies can invoke sadness and fear on an audience, and make us feel like an outsider. On the other hand, comedy focuses on a comedic hero, someone who is easier to relate to.

Because of this a good comedy can give us insight on an idea of viewpoint while still being entertaining. The audience can enjoy the plot because it is able to relate to the characters and the happy ending will leave us content, even if the subject of the content is serious or controversial. It is generally easier for me to understand and feel like I am part of a world that is more relatable, and this is much more common in a comedy, where characters are not perfect or at there essence simply just serving one purpose. The audience simply has to approve or support of the comedic hero, but does not have to envy nor feel sorry for them.

It is also important for us to look at the message or moral that is delivered from these literary works/films. In a tragedy, a single decision or misfortune can lead to the downfall of a seemingly perfect or admirable hero. This is problematic because of mistakes should not condemn us and they certainly should not define us. In a comedy, the comedic hero rises up despite their circumstances and will make mistakes along the way, and this journey that we experience with the unveiling of a plot is what leaves the audience feeling the euphoria and relief of our comedic hero's success.

Zall Good!

Alexis G. Zall is a popular 19 year old YouTuber who makes mostly comedic videos, many parodying YouTube culture, or the norms and trends of the YouTube community. I'd say I kind of grew up with YouTube, from cracking up over ComputerNerd01's parodies of popular songs in 5th grade to discovering the beauty guru community and falling head over heels with YouTube's resident teen heartthrobs in middle school. I've definitely grown apart from my passionate investment in becoming a famous YouTuber and deep rooted desire to check my Subscription tab whenever possible, but I do watch a few creators regularly. YouTube has revolutionized media and career opportunities with its heightened accessibility, and despite the fact that I miss the old, pre-algorithm YouTube, I do believe so many good things can and do come from the platform.

To me, Alexis's videos are funny and refreshing, and it's a breath of fresh air to see her use her (young and extremely talented) voice to make a statement on both the YouTube society and society at large. One of my favorite satirical videos of hers is titled Reacting to People Who SMASHED or PASSED Me!, and is part of her series in which she jumps on a popular YouTube trend with extreme hyperbole and irony in order to point out its flaws. In this video, she presents an over the top, extremely bubbly personality - so much so that it's hilarious and cringe worthy and clearly mocking the fake front that many popular YouTubers put on for their videos. As this sugary sweet persona, she explains the trend of YouTubers publishing videos saying who they would smash or pass. She is also playing off the spin off trend in which YouTubers react to people who have smashed or passed them in their videos. She deems it as a trend that has "surprisingly gotten a lot of hate!", dripping with irony (it is a trend 100% worthy of hate). She also says with exaggerated confusion and air quotes that it's been dubbed "misogynistic" and "objectifying." Throughout the video, she uses extreme hyperbole to act like she's trying so hard to appear sexy and enticing. She wears a black lace bodysuit and takes off her jacket because "Oh my god, it's so hot in here," twisting and turning to conveniently end up in a sexy pose for the camera, commenting on YouTubers' tendency to present themselves in the best light possible, whatever it takes.

She says that she's not on the Internet to brighten viewers' days with comedy or spread messages about positivity and confidence, she's actually here so that "dear God, hopefully, someone wants to f**ck me!" Alexis is using irony to call out the smash or pass trend for demeaning women and reducing her and other young female creators to a merely sexual presence, continuing to say, "Quick, before I get any older or less desirable, lets look at some people who have smashed or passed me!" She holds up bleach while viewing the videos in case someone doesn't want to smash her and ruins all her self worth, and sobs with relief when people say they'd smash her. After watching a few videos in which "how funny, looks like they...forgot...to mention me?" she decides to just take the question straight to her friends via phone call, imitating the YouTube norm of being "so nervous" to call your friends on camera and ask them a quirky question. She tells one of her friends, "This YouTube trend came around and its been the perfect opportunity to finally get like this thing that everyone's been talking about, self esteem?"

Overall, Alexis employs irony by saying the opposite of what she means, and she does the entire video in a hyperbolic manner, exaggerating the mannerisms and cheesy norms of popular YouTubers in their typical videos to shed light on the absurdity of YouTube culture and this trend. This all combines into one pretty clever parody that points out creators' tendency to simply follow blindly whatever the newest online trend is, resulting in a total lack of interesting and original content. Alexis also calls out this specific trend for objectifying women and assuming that they should place their entire self worth in whether or not some random person on the Internet would smash them.

Arrested Development

Arrested Development is a current hit tv series that focuses on a dysfunctional family, the Bluths. Michael Bluth has to keep his family together after his father is sent to jail. His brothers and sister constantly have to rely on him economically while also crashing at his home once in a while. The relationships between the siblings, their patents, and the children all have exaggerated comical traits that help gives the show its popularity. I personally find this family an exaggerated version of my dad's family, which is why I am so drawn to it.

Every other episode, a family member has to stay at Michael's house for one reason or another, which tends to happen to a lot of dysfunctional families in real life. This exaggeration makes the sibling financial instability at times funny instead of depressing which is how some shows would display family financial issues. Arrested Development also makes fun of individual relationships within the show. Michael's brother Buster is a "momma's boy" extremist since he is in his late thirties and living with their mother except when he occasionally runs away to Michael's to escape her suffocating affection. The show has an overall happy and casual vibe over events that would be portrayed as dramatic and serious in other types of shows. But with this satirical view, the audience can laugh at situations that affect even them more.

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.

Birdman, The Most Meaningful Art Form

Comedy has been around for thousands of years.  Since the age kings and queens comedy is the one thing that stuck around (Along with a little bit of chivalry). Through plays and court jesters, dramatic comedy has always been there. Even now, it is still very prominent. Take Birdman for example.   Birdman is a story about a man named Riggan, who played a comic book character in 4 movies. But then found himself hitting rock bottom. To revitalize his career, he produces and directs a Broadway play while battling with his family, his friends and himself. Throughout creating the play and making it happen, he loses an actor to a broken light falling from the rafters. He has to hire a new actor who is very hard headed and has to have everything his way. This only adds to Riggan's frustration along with everyone telling him that he can't recover from his downfall as a celebrity. This affects him so much so to that for a scene in the play he brings out a real gun, instead of a fake one, and blows his face off. Now the audience finds this fantastic. They say they love the play for its realistic gore detail. Although some might not find this funny, it is, in its own right, hilarious. The audience isn't necicerally applauding. his performance, but they are praising his pain. The darkness and the background of Riggan are what also makes this as dark and funny as it is. The satire's focus is on the actors in Broadway as well. It shows all the pain and suffering they go through just to get the perfect performance. So to answer the question, we definitely need dramatic comedy. Because without it, how else would we make fun of the worst parts of life?