While I loved the movie .... I didn't even see it as black comedy. Perhaps "comedy" in the Shakespearean sense, but ..
No, I saw it as a pretty good look at schizophrenia, the ability of such people to lie about keeping up with their treatments when allowed to roam free, and the moral decision at the end (I agreed with the Voice of the Dog, btw. He obviously could no longer be trusted to keep up with his meds; either he gets warehoused (which no one wants to pay for) or just put him to sleep for the good of humanity at large.)
It also shows us that psychopaths aren't necessarily easily recognizable, and can look as sane and clean-cut as a cop. I also liked that it pointed out that it's inheritable (ie, in the genes), which is exactly why our society used to try to make sure the insane weren't allowed to breed. (It showed he was already schizophrenic as a child, hearing voices. In other words, he was screwed right from conception.)
I found it gripping and horrifying. But then, I spent a miserable, wasted 10 years trying to help a malignant psychopathic narcissist, to my own detriment. That guy needs to be permanently caged or put down, too. At best, he's stuck in a small, redneck town that doesn't let him breathe without the cops knowing about it (this is justified due to the nature of his criminal record.)
I honestly believe that the only real reason "comedy" is up there is because it appears to feature "talking animals" - and we all know, the only place for talking animals is in comedies and cartoons, right? It's the same mentality that tells people "cartoons are for kids", which used to result in small-store owners with some video rentals putting hentai in the kids' section.
And yes, the animals had some humourous lines, but not enough to consider it a "comedy". In fact, once you realize that the Dog and Cat is just himself arguing over the state of his own psychosis, they become .. frightening.
To wit - the Cat says "I've killed before, it's the only time I've ever felt alive." Well, that's something one might expect a cat to say. Then you find out that Jerry had slit his own mother's throat to keep her from going into the metal ward, well .... the Cat was just that part of him that enjoyed the killing, waking up as he failed to take his medication. The Dog was the last remnants of his sanity - which actually gave up on him in the end, and told him he was flat-out better off dead, and so was society.
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BeOneOfUs
10 years ago
I know there was of course, a lot of serious scenes and disturbing content in this film.
But there was a lot of laughs too. Intentional comedy..
Not all "comedies" have to be consistently humorous.
If you didn't "see it as a comedy" then that is fine.
But my post was aimed at the people who are stating that "it is not a comedy" so boldly!
.....Even though it is. Despite what kind of sense of humour you have, the film IS a dark comedy.
You ever see the show "Louie"?
It is similar humour, in way. It is full of dark and depressing content, like death, suicide, sexual harassment and other terrible things....But it is also a comedy...Very dark, but still funny.
It depends on your sense of humour.
It just annoys me when people state that something isn't a comedy just because the humour went over their heads or they just didn't find it funny.
It's one dimensional and just arrogant. I found this film funny. Even some of the death scenes I laughed, out of shock. Along with the people I watched it with and evidently a lot of other people...So, I say again, it IS a comedy, despite what people thought of it.
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10 years ago
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OccamsBarber
10 years ago
Many decades ago my friends and I spent a delightful evening at the cinema watching "Heathers" laughing our asses off along with most of the audience. When leaving there were two people talking about their utter bafflement as to why people were laughing.
Some people just don't get dark humour.
For the record, while I liked this movie Fargo was a thousand times funnier and one of my favorite films.
"Where did they all go?"
"Who's 'they?'"
"You know, 'them.'"
"Name three."
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BeOneOfUs
10 years ago
you argued well but i feel you have now started beating the proverbial dead horse.
I know, that is why people don't reply to me any more on the subject.
Somethings are down to opinion. Somethings just ARE lol. E.g. This IS a black comedy.
And most people are too proud of themselves to ever go back on their word or admit when they are wrong so instead they just....Go away lol.
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