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Blacque Comedia.Jan 27 '12 Write an essay on this topic.The Bottom Line - What is a black comedy? First off, I think we all agree that this question does not mean comedies made by blacks although some of their films could fall into the black comedy category. By my definition, black comedies are films that offer humor mixed with serious subject matter. A lot of times, the serious subject matter can be the basis for laughs. At the same time, in a lot of black comedies, the laughs don't come easy. Little Miss Sunshine and the recent The Descendants have just as many dramatic elements as they do comedic ones. While there are differences between black comedy and satire, there are films that fall squarely into one category and ones that straddle the line between the two. I'd argue that Dr. Strangelove, Network, Wag The Dog and Three Kings all fall into the latter category. Thank You For Smoking falls more into the straightforward satire category while American Dreamz is a failed and utterly unfunny attempt at both. A large majority of the Coen Brothers films would fall directly into the black comedy category. Raising Arizona, Fargo and The Big Lebowski all stand as prime examples. Consider that the last one makes light of Vietnam vets, the Aryan Brotherhood, kidnappings, porn and threats of castration and you have one extremely black comedy (one of my favorites). A good obscure example is a largely forgotten film from the 70s called Homebodies. The film is a horror comedy that focuses on a group of AARP qualified people living in a Cincinnati tenement. They receive word that they are about to be evicted and the tenement will be bulldozed to make room for condos. The senior citizens decide they're not going to stand for it and murder soon starts happening. The premise of Homebodies is amusing in a sick way. Yet the laughs do not come that easy and some of the violence is gruesome (albeit not as gruesome as what you would see in a Freddy or Jason movie). Unfortunately, the movie is not available on DVD. But it can be found on Youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtTPmMPxqPA. I've heard and seen it argued that two recent films (David Fincher's Fight Club and Quentin Tarantino's Inglorious Basterds) are black comedies. The former can definitely fall into that category. The latter I'm not too sure on. To me it's more of a war film with a sense of humor. Of Tarantino's films only Pulp Fiction could fall squarely into the black comedy category. Likewise David Lynch's excellent Blue Velvet has some moments of extremely dark comedy and satire. But it doesn't fall squarely into either category. If you like humor with an edge, watch a good black comedy. From the ones Inamed above, here are some stand-outs: The Big Lebowski Dr. Strangelove Pulp Fiction Fargo Three Kings Little Miss Sunshine  |
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