MovieChat Forums > General Discussion > What happened to comedy films?

What happened to comedy films?

posted 3 years ago by M1sterDoct0r (4423)
58 replies | jump to latest

I was cleaning recently & I found my "Kung Pow: Enter the Fist" DVD. Haven't seen it in almost 2 decades. Gave it a watch & It genuinely made me laugh out loud.

And then it occurred to me, I hadn't watched a film that has genuinely made me laugh out loud in a while. The Disney Marvel films are mostly comedies but they're only good for a chuckle or 2 most of the time.

I think the last time was 2016. With Deadpool & The Nice Guys. So what happened? Are they just not as profitable anymore or are they just going through a transitional phase? Cause you barely see big studios banking on comedies anymore. Like has the market for it dwindled over the years? Kinda like Horror did but is having a renaissance in the past decade.

Or is it as some people claim, as in, "it's too PC out there" or "Cancel culture has ruined comedy" and all that. The reason why I don't buy that argument is cause there are a lot of 'offensive' & mature comedic tv shows out there. And they're very popular & people love 'em

[–] R_Kane (15828) 3 years ago

Mina, I’m “insisting” on nothing, nor am I here to promote an agenda. I am PERSISTING in keeping the focus on the OP’s topic and not on a discussion of social trends. I did not create the phrase “fratboy humor.” I found it in a critique of an Adam Sandler debacle and have found it a useful description. I ignore MASH because MASH, the movie, isn’t funny. Neither was Popeye, which was largely pathetic. Altman wasn’t funny. No laughs. M*A*S*H may have been satire. I’ll grant that; but satire is not necessarily funny. MAD Magazine WAS funny, and satiric. On the other hand, Jonathan Swift, who wrote Gulliver’s Travels and A Modest Proposal, was not a humorist, though there might be some dark chuckles occurring to deep readers during Proposal.

I’ve lived long enough to see nihilism come—and go away—before; but “funny” remains a constant.

But, for what it’s worth, I support you in your campaign to call out nut jobs who are using the internet to create the illusion that their views and goals are the norm. I congratulate you for that.