Comedy Cliches

 

Comedy Genre

Definition

The genre comedy is normally a light hearted drama which usually aims to create entertainment and keep the audience amused. The comedy genre over exaggerates situations and the characters to make the film humorous.  Comedies are often satirical in tone and have a happy conclusion to the thematic conflict.

Slapstick

In the film genre comedy there are lots of different types of humour used and slapstick is just one of these techniques which some audiences find amusing. It usually involves aggressive, physical or visual actions. People are invited to laugh at other people’s misfortunes. Perhaps it is the surprise element that makes the audience laugh or perhaps they just enjoy seeing somebody suffer minor accidents to make them feel better.

Hero

The main character of the film is usually seen at the end as a hero. This may be shown in many different ways. He is usually known as one of the idiots at the beginning of the film who wants to overcome his misfortune. This causes the audience to know right from the start that this character is going to entertain them throughout the film, and as he is a likeable character the audience will want him to be happy. They will also be interested to see how he can overcome his stupidity.

A best friend/ Side kick

The main character usually has a few friends who are also idiots at the beginning. They are quite often hopeless as friends which can be seen as funny to some audiences as they get to see the mistakes made by them. The audience may be able to relate to the main character and feel sorry for him as he doesn’t stand a chance.

Stereotypes

There are a variety of stereotypical characters used in the comedy genre and they are very often connected with a minority group of some kind. People are more inclined to laugh at or about somebody who they feel is different from themselves. It is perhaps not so much that they are actually laughing at the minority group but more that they are trying to show that they are part of the main stream community. Laughing at other people makes them feel more powerful. The minority groups targeted may be those with disabilities, those of a different race, of the opposite sex, of a different sexual persuasion or two dimensional characters.  As an example of this in ‘My Best Friend’s Wedding’ the best friend of one of the main characters is obviously gay and the audience laughs both at him and with him as his ‘campness’ is exaggerated. 

Romantic sub plot

This type of comedy is usually called ‘romantic comedy’ which typically involves a relationship between a man and a woman. This story line may appeal more to the female audience as it is about relationships and love interests, although the male audience may be able to relate to the male main character if he has had unfortunate situations with his own relationships. This could add more entertainment and enjoyment for the audience.

Journey

One of the clichés seen is a journey which the main character and their friends will embark on. This means that as the film progresses the audience will feel attached to the characters and begin to understand them.

The Film: Dodgeball

The film ‘Dodgeball’ is a comedy genre which uses lots of clichés. It is about Peter LaFleur (Vince Vaughn) the owner of Average Joe’s which is a small unsuccessful gym. He can’t manage to pay the mortgage so enters a dodgeball tournament in an attempt to win the big prize money and prevent the owner of Globo-Gym, White Goodman (Ben Stiller) buying it from him.

At the beginning of the film you see Goodman being the typical ‘idiot’ who is quite full of himself. This means that right at the beginning the audience already are starting to dislike him as he is very arrogant and big headed. Physical comedy is then introduced as the picture shows how Goodman used to be fat. Some audiences may find this funny as very over weight people may have a comical factor which thin people may not have.

The scene then leads to LaFleur who is asleep on the sofa in a dirty apartment while a message on his answer phone says that he needs to pay his bills. This is another cliché as it is very common in comedies of the stereotypical man. It also means that the audience can get a feel of the character and get to know his sort of personality. LaFleur appears as a hero at the end as he manages to overcome his conflict with life.

The gym which LaFleur owns has a small number of customers who are also ‘idiots’, for example Gordon acts younger than he is and Justin gets stuck in a piece of gym equipment. This is physical comedy also known as slapstick. The audience may find this funny as you can tell that he is an idiot.

Another cliché which appears in ‘Dodgeball’ is the relationship between LaFleur and Kate Veatch. Veatch is working on a transaction for White. The audience may believe Veatch to be LaFleur’s love interest as they have a close relationship throughout the film.