These are my professors intrructions:
The Comedian Comedy and the Romantic Comedy
DUE DATE: Wednesday, 15 May by 11:59 pm
Introduction: For the last month, we have discussed two kinds of film comedy: the Comedian Comedy and the Romantic Comedy. Both subgenres deal with the problems that the individual faces in society; in both cases, a “misfit” who is unable or unwilling to conform to society’s requirements finds a way to adapt to society in a way that also changes society. In the Comedian Comedy, the misfit comedian does this by disrupting the narrative; in the Romantic Comedy, the heroine overturns the repressive old order through her choice, usually (but not always) of a lover who represents the opposite of that order’s repressive rules.
I gave you a lot of examples, but most of my examples were of old 1920s and 1930s movies; one or two were from the 1950s, but that’s not, like, much better. For this assignment, I would like you to find your own example of either a Comedian Comedy or a Romantic Comedy and apply what we know about those genres to the film.
Prompt: Picking either a Comedian Comedy or a Romantic Comedy (but it can be any movie comedy of your choice) discuss how it “overturns the repressive old order” through its use of comedy genre conventions.
Basically, I am asking you to pick a film; write about why it fits either the Comedian Comedy or the Romantic Comedy; and then show how it fits the theoretical framework that we’ve discussed in those genres: How does Ace Ventura overturn the repressive expectations of his conformist society? How does Bridget Jones’s choice of Colin Firth over Hugh Grant overturn the repressive control of her society? Or is Bridget Jones the “misfit comedian” who fails or refuses to conform to societal norms, only to shatter them through her disruption? IT’S UP TO YOU!!
I am leaving the question of the prompt fairly open to allow you to adapt it to whatever makes sense to you. I expect your essay to focus on the relationship between the text and the theoretical framework of its genre; beyond that, I want you to find a topic that interests you (as much as that is possible). There is a critical/theoretical aspect to this assignment, so be warned that a textual interpretation may not be the best way to approach your topic. Then again it may be. It depends on your topic. Obviously.
Either way, your essay should go beyond summary. Don’t spend three pages telling me what happens in Bridesmaids. Similarly, I don’t want to read three pages of “Billy Madison is funny.” This is a class about comedy, so the assumption is kind of that the film you’ve chosen is, you know, funny.
Because this is a formal assignment, I will require both properly-cited direct quotations and a Works Cited page.
So, those were my professors intructions. You can choose any type of comedy movie as long as it fits the requirements listed above. Please provide multiple quotes in the essay. Please let me know if you have any questions or concerns.
Thank you!
