No favorite movies from before the 80’s and 90’s, Allison? I know you had that somewhat harsh (but funny) line from your Moon of the Wolf review, where you said that telling someone a movie was made in 1972 was the same as telling them to put it back on the shelf, but there has to be some good ones you’ve liked?
Heck, I might even be able to recommend one that might interest you and Phelan. The Town That Dreaded Sundown from 1976 is a moody proto-slasher about a killer with a sack on his head… that also happens to feature a wacky cop comic relief sidekick (referred to as Sparkplug, because of course). Also, a trombone may or may not be involved in a death scene, in a way that is both creepy and ludicrous.
May I recommend the horror movie Cube (1997)? The acting is unintentionally over-the-top hilariousness with a unique enough premise that was originally thought of by Jim Hensen (weirdly enough). And oh man, I can’t wait to finally finish school and get a hopefully well-enough paying job that I can be one your patreons! Granted I don’t know when that will be, but it’ll happen eventually.
If you’re planning on redoing your “set”, I really like your black-light thing going on. The blue/purple on the wall really helps the separation of foreground/background. I also appreciate how it isn’t too busy or too bare.
The late Christopher Hitchens once wrote an article in Vanity Fair entitled “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” His contention was that women aren’t funny because they don’t have to be. Humor is how guys who aren’t big and handsome get girls, while girls get guys simply by existing, because guys are horny and desperate. According to Hitchens, in order to be funny a woman has to be at least one of three things: fat, lesbian, or Jewish. I don’t know what your religious background is, but assuming you’re not Jewish, thank you for disproving Hitchens thesis, Allison. 🙂
Hmm, I don’t agree with Hitchens at all, but I have heard a version of that argument that makes more sense (not 100%, though). I wish I had the books in front of me right now, but I think the best explanation of why women are seen as less funny than men was in a book John Cleese wrote with his Psychotherapist Robin Skynner. They also concluded that it’s because women don’t need to be funny in the way that men do, but not because of courtship. They say that it’s because of the ridiculous nature of masculinity.
Masculinity sometimes has an element of falseness and a desperation to keep up appearances, ignore certain emotions that have been branded as un-manly, and defend one’s virility and authority at all times. Even when the armor of masculinity becomes silly looking or paper-thin. So poking holes into the Armour of masculinity is very funny to us. Comedy is about pain and/or our reaction to incongruity, and it’s funny to see someone knocked down a peg. For example: Allison taking the piss out of Mitch/Hasselhoff on Baywatch is funny because he’s almost a parody of maleness, trying way too hard at it to look natural.
Skynner and Cleese say that they think women are seen as less funny because they don’t need to do that kind of macho posturing. They’re more honest with their feelings than men might be. They don’t need to reduce themselves to pretending that they’re strong, they simply are strong when they need to be. Yes women have plenty of pressure to perform professionally and/or in the public sphere, but it’s different because they have to earn that respect rather than expect it. So when you try to poke holes into the armor of feminine strength it doesn’t have the same effect because it isn’t a false strength. You can’t knock them down a peg as easily either because women already are a couple pegs down (alas).
So it’s not that women aren’t funny or can’t be funny, it’s that the power dynamics behind the comedy aren’t the same. You can’t just swap in a distaff counterpart to a male character and expect it to work exactly the same.
Yet it can and does work when it works. John Cleese’s daughter Camilla and first wife Connie Booth are demonstrably funny. Gilda Radner was funny. Allison is funny. And for the sake of argument, men can be funny without worries about their masculinity being at the subconscious core of their humor.
Cleese and Skynner make a good point about male posturing and how deflating it is funny. However, females do their share of posturing too, and it’s just as funny to see them fail. Nobody doesn’t love seeing a snooty prom queen get a pie in the face. Or take Margaret Dumont, who served as a comic foil for the Marx Brothers in several movies. She always played a high-class society dame perpetually befuddled and flustered by her co-stars’ crazy antics. The humor was in watching her bravely trying to soldier on in the face of their lunacy. And I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than when Allison makes fun of the meanness of Stephanie or the blah-ness of Summer on Baywatching. The “Oh, I died!” line in her “Dead of Summer” review had me literally clutching my sides. 🙂
I laughed so hard when Ash when touched your boob. So random! LOL. Also, I love the Wild Wild West song too! One last thing: I hope that you’ll join Brad and perhaps Phelous when Nut Job 2 comes out.
8 Comments Comments RSS
No favorite movies from before the 80’s and 90’s, Allison? I know you had that somewhat harsh (but funny) line from your Moon of the Wolf review, where you said that telling someone a movie was made in 1972 was the same as telling them to put it back on the shelf, but there has to be some good ones you’ve liked?
Heck, I might even be able to recommend one that might interest you and Phelan. The Town That Dreaded Sundown from 1976 is a moody proto-slasher about a killer with a sack on his head… that also happens to feature a wacky cop comic relief sidekick (referred to as Sparkplug, because of course). Also, a trombone may or may not be involved in a death scene, in a way that is both creepy and ludicrous.
Oh, and it was tastefully based on a true story! And I’m not even kidding!
May I recommend the horror movie Cube (1997)? The acting is unintentionally over-the-top hilariousness with a unique enough premise that was originally thought of by Jim Hensen (weirdly enough). And oh man, I can’t wait to finally finish school and get a hopefully well-enough paying job that I can be one your patreons! Granted I don’t know when that will be, but it’ll happen eventually.
If you’re planning on redoing your “set”, I really like your black-light thing going on. The blue/purple on the wall really helps the separation of foreground/background. I also appreciate how it isn’t too busy or too bare.
The late Christopher Hitchens once wrote an article in Vanity Fair entitled “Why Women Aren’t Funny.” His contention was that women aren’t funny because they don’t have to be. Humor is how guys who aren’t big and handsome get girls, while girls get guys simply by existing, because guys are horny and desperate. According to Hitchens, in order to be funny a woman has to be at least one of three things: fat, lesbian, or Jewish. I don’t know what your religious background is, but assuming you’re not Jewish, thank you for disproving Hitchens thesis, Allison. 🙂
Hmm, I don’t agree with Hitchens at all, but I have heard a version of that argument that makes more sense (not 100%, though). I wish I had the books in front of me right now, but I think the best explanation of why women are seen as less funny than men was in a book John Cleese wrote with his Psychotherapist Robin Skynner. They also concluded that it’s because women don’t need to be funny in the way that men do, but not because of courtship. They say that it’s because of the ridiculous nature of masculinity.
Masculinity sometimes has an element of falseness and a desperation to keep up appearances, ignore certain emotions that have been branded as un-manly, and defend one’s virility and authority at all times. Even when the armor of masculinity becomes silly looking or paper-thin. So poking holes into the Armour of masculinity is very funny to us. Comedy is about pain and/or our reaction to incongruity, and it’s funny to see someone knocked down a peg. For example: Allison taking the piss out of Mitch/Hasselhoff on Baywatch is funny because he’s almost a parody of maleness, trying way too hard at it to look natural.
Skynner and Cleese say that they think women are seen as less funny because they don’t need to do that kind of macho posturing. They’re more honest with their feelings than men might be. They don’t need to reduce themselves to pretending that they’re strong, they simply are strong when they need to be. Yes women have plenty of pressure to perform professionally and/or in the public sphere, but it’s different because they have to earn that respect rather than expect it. So when you try to poke holes into the armor of feminine strength it doesn’t have the same effect because it isn’t a false strength. You can’t knock them down a peg as easily either because women already are a couple pegs down (alas).
So it’s not that women aren’t funny or can’t be funny, it’s that the power dynamics behind the comedy aren’t the same. You can’t just swap in a distaff counterpart to a male character and expect it to work exactly the same.
Yet it can and does work when it works. John Cleese’s daughter Camilla and first wife Connie Booth are demonstrably funny. Gilda Radner was funny. Allison is funny. And for the sake of argument, men can be funny without worries about their masculinity being at the subconscious core of their humor.
Cleese and Skynner make a good point about male posturing and how deflating it is funny. However, females do their share of posturing too, and it’s just as funny to see them fail. Nobody doesn’t love seeing a snooty prom queen get a pie in the face. Or take Margaret Dumont, who served as a comic foil for the Marx Brothers in several movies. She always played a high-class society dame perpetually befuddled and flustered by her co-stars’ crazy antics. The humor was in watching her bravely trying to soldier on in the face of their lunacy. And I don’t think I’ve ever laughed harder than when Allison makes fun of the meanness of Stephanie or the blah-ness of Summer on Baywatching. The “Oh, I died!” line in her “Dead of Summer” review had me literally clutching my sides. 🙂
I laughed so hard when Ash when touched your boob. So random! LOL. Also, I love the Wild Wild West song too! One last thing: I hope that you’ll join Brad and perhaps Phelous when Nut Job 2 comes out.
Charmed was your best Manic Episodes, I appreciate the effort you put into it every year by rewatching the whole thing every year.
I rewatch the Charmed reviews at least twice a year. I appriciate hte effort you put into it.