Why Fat People are Funny In Hollywood

The quote listed in the title comes from 2009 box- positioning hit The Hangover. The pull downts that incite Mr. chow chow (played by Ken Jeong) to hypothesize laughing its funny be produce hes plump expose get Alan Garner (played by Zach Galifianakis) charging at Mr. chuck, who is stomping on Alans satchel, and exclaiming Hey There ar skittles in there (Hangover 7655 7645). In return Alan is punched in the stomach by one of Mr. Chows hench manpower, causing Mr. Chow to laugh hysteric wholey and simultaneously slip its funny because hes fat expose of his m come onh (Hangover 7655).Clearly in the barb, the overweight char serveer, Zach Galifianakis, is the howevert of the joke as he is punched truly hard in the stomach and consequently laughed at for his stupidity and weight. In modern movie making, overweight comedians go for had a critical piece in sense of imagination in use ups. Stars such(prenominal) as tail end Black, Seth Rogen, and Zach Galifianakis be m odern examples of such char molders, but in the dec solace thirty years, umpteen other large comedians have substantial and popularized like roles in adopts.The overweight funny man in consume has evolved into a to a greater extent personal, relatable typesetters case due more often than not in region to their accurate reflection of the United States corpulency problem. These characters have excessively created their aver musical style, a music genre that has evolved turn out of humorous drollery, as even stay puts in the realm of naive realism. This genre, which oftentimes involves immature and material pain, yet remains plausible and non fake (like earlier humourous humor), continues to bring sensitive fans to the picture show and create greater love for this group of comedians.This paper will pardon funny fat the great unwasheds emergence, humor, and popularity in American cinema. Evolution of Slapstick funniness in Films When was the kickoff harleq uinade movie theater? behind Montgomery educes it may well up have been Fred Offs Sneeze, occupyed in 1894 by William K. L. Dickson. The film was st ruse outd for dubietying Thomas Edisons Kinetoscope Company in the Black Maria Kinetographic Theatre which Dickson built for Edison in wolfram Orange, New Jersey (Montgomery 17). This film was released just three years later on Edisons invention of the Kinetoscope in 1891.It is not a coincidence that a comedic install of film was released soon after the production of the moving picture, but it but suggests the necessity of comedic entertainment in American culture. From the early days of film, japery became a staple on American cinema. In the early 20th century, films were silent and device characteristic legion(predicate) comedies. The initial type of comedy featured was humorous comedy, which was a gift to America from France (Durgnat 67). The term humourous evolved from the epitome paddles formerly used by circus c lowns to beat each other.The yelled crack of the devil paddle blades as they crashed together could always be depended upon to produce laughter and applause (Dale 1). Slapstick is a type of comedy involving exaggerated physical violence and activities which exceed the boundaries of communal sense. The world-class American humourous comedy producer was Mack Sennett, who with the function of actor/producer Charlie Chaplin, created numerous hilarious films loved by the American people (Durgnat 70). In these films, there was no audio component, requiring all humor to be certified on physical actions (Montgomery 18).Raymond Durgnat states that in early Chaplin, Dough and Dynamite (1915), the gay body is all but reduced to an apparatus for punching, kicking, ducking and escape (Durgnat 69). Chaplin has been considered the master clown and in 1916, Chester Conklin, an actor and comedian, stated without a doubt the one person who has been most(prenominal) successful in making pe ople laugh is Charlie Chaplin (Montgomery 108). Chaplin and others continued to produce silent slapstick comedy films through the Roaring Twenties, a time when film became increasingly popular and very successful.In 1926, Warner Brothers introduced the offset printing film with audio attached. Because of the imperfections of the initial product and smaller budgets in the 1930s due to the Great Depression, films with an audio component remained imperfect, allowing silent films to observe their popularity and stay popular and not outdated. adjacent Chaplin and the others of the first generation of slapstick comedy was the bumblele Stooges Larry Fine (born Louis Fienberg), Moe Howard (born Moses Horwitz), and Curly Howard (born Jerome Horwitz) (Matlin 163). This trio continued to produce popular short films and a few feature films until the late 1950s.The iii Stooges were the last true slapstick comedians, where Leonard Matlin argues that the use of clever scripting and directi on places the physical burden on others but still gives the Stooges elbowroom in which to clown (Matlin 168). The Three Stooges were some of the last slapstick films, which essentially died out as many other forms of comedy emerged onto the film cyclorama. One of these personal directions of humor Louise Dobson describes in a 2006 edition of Psychology Today as hate-me humor, a style in which you are the butt of the joke for the amusement of others (Dobson 76).She continues stating this character is often the familiar clown or fat guy and includes examples like earth-closet Belushi and Chris Farley (Dobson 76). Dobson directly identifies the fat guy as an example of such comedy because of how popular these comedians have become. From this article it is evident that funny fat people are essential to American comedy, so some(prenominal) so that the generator is able to classify them as the fat guy and American demonstrateers are able to identify with popular overweight comedian s. Although there appears to be a reasonable argument that this comedy genrefalls into hate-me-humor, I would suggest that these comedians exist as an of slapstick comedy.The laughs these characters receive come from the same qualities the captain slapstick comedians, like Charlie Chaplin, shared. Raymond Durgnat describes this stating Slapstick comedians are childlike, and in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress (Durgnat 72). If you replace Durgnats word slapstick with overweight, the sentence would read overweight comedians are childlike, and in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress.Looking at many overweight comedians we see that this very well could be the case. The characters impulsive and childish actions are very common in their films (many examples to watch in next section) and generate laughs similar to those of traditional slapstick humor. In recent years, no director has released a true slapstick comedy film. The genre has been avoided (except in childrens automobiletoons) in movies perhaps because the producers believe that the modern American culture is too advanced for this immature, simplistic, outdated humor.In reality, current comedy has progressed into a new form of slapstick comedy, where the exaggerations have been toned eat up and the humor has become a little more earthy. Looking through the last four decades we can see countless examples of films featuring this realistic slapstick humor. These characters consort to be lovable, goofy, wild and consistently overweight. Modernization of Slapstick Comedy hard-nosed Physical Humor. In order to analyze the continuation of slapstick humor in American cinema, a look at the period flat following the Three Stooges (the last true slapstick productions) is essential.In 1963, the release of the first Pink lynx film, aesthesisring Peter Sellers marked a new era for slapstick comedy. The Pink Panther series stretched nearly two decades with Selle rs as the star, relied on slapstick humor, yet remained plausible. Most scenes from the Pink Panther movies are absurd and over the top in every manner, yet the events of the plot could be realistic, creating a new breed of slapstick comedy. At the end of the Pink Panthers dominance, National Lampoon released zoology House in 1978, starring some(prenominal) actors including John Belushi.Following the release of the film, Belushi evolved as the works center make-up providing countless hysterical events. In the movie, John Bluto Blutarsky (played by John Belushi) appeared in virtually a dozen scenes, yet is the most memorable character of the film through his ridiculous actions. In the movie he rarely speaks, and acts very childish, both parallel pieces of the earliest slapstick comedians. Belushi has a handful of memorable quotes and scenes, most of which are truly ridiculous, yet believable.He has several immature one line quotes including Toga Toga , Blow-job, Holy give away Hol y Shit Holy Shit , and Food Fight (Animal House 4400 6355 3025 3537). All of these quotes fit abruptly into the description of childlike and in consequence act out the impulses which as adults we suppress that the classic slapstick comedians possessed (Durgnat 72). Bluto continues to act wildly doing many things including falling off of a ladder trying to peep in a sorority window, c hurry a beer can on his head, smashing a guitar someone else is trying to play, and chugging an entire bottle of Jack Daniels and smashing it on a automobile.All of these actions are absurd and exaggerations of what any human might do in a similar scenario, yet all are possibly plausible. A last scene from Animal House that demonstrates the development of slapstick comedy begins with Bluto (Belushi) going through the lunch line where he load a ridiculous amount of provender on his tray and in his pockets. spot doing this he also stuffs enormous amounts of the food in his mouth, including a hamb urger in one bite. He then proceeds to sit down at a table filled with some clean cauterize preppy students.There he is ridiculed for his eating habits and called a P. I. G. pig (Animal House 3435). In response to being classified as a pig, he attempts to be a zit, stuffing his mouth with mashed potatoes and spraying everybody at the table by mashing his cheeks with his hands as seen in the following picture (Animal House 3455) The focus of the scene is the unrealistic quantity and grossly unhealthy timbre of food Belushi eats as well as the animalistic, childish manner in which he feasts.Following the incident he proceeds to be give chase around the cafeteria, ultimately ending in a brawl and food fight. The sequence of events in this scene all are fundamentally humorous, yet very childish and exaggerated beyond what any viewer would seem from a twenty year old man. However, all of the actions in the scene are perfectly capable of being true, making this portion of the film ex tremely humorous in its realistic slapstick fashion. Nearly a decade later, in 1987, Planes, Trains, and Automobiles featured John dulcorate, another overweight comedian.In this film, the development of slapstick comedy continues paralleling Belushis contributions to the genre. sweeten acts extremely childish and wildly, yet his actions remain plausible, exhibiting similar humor to that of John Belushi. In Planes, Trains, and Automobiles sweetens humor can amply be grasped in a scene on a commercial inwardness plane flight. On the plane, co-star Steve Martin has just been downgraded from first class to private instructor seating, and finds his seat next to John Candy. It quickly becomes exit that Candy fills up way too much of the seat, creating an un genial situation.To make things worse Candy proceeds to take off his shoes in order to help relax, clearly releasing a disgusting odor observed by others in seats around him. He continues his gross movements by victorious of f his socks and spinning them around to air them out. When doing so, his dirty sock is very close to Steve Martins face, and based on the expression on Martins character it is clear that the sock smells wretched. This act is unbelievable, childish, and ridiculous, all similar characteristics of slapstick comedy.Later in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles, John Candy continues to provide humor through another similar evolution of slapstick comedy, where he accidentally spills several beers on the bed in which he (who barely fits on the bed alone because of his enormous frame) and a complete stranger share. The move is very careless and results in an unbelievably uncomfortable situation that makes the audience laugh hysterically because of the continuation of inauspicious events all linked to Candys childish careless actions.A last scene from this film takes place in a rental car, after the duo (Martin and Candy) have managed to run into every problem possible on a trip to Chicago to g et home for Thanksgiving. In the car, Candy attempts to get comfortable by tampering with the seat position. He uses the buttons on the side of the seat, jerked meat the seat around for a few minutes, failing to find a satismanufacturing plant position. Although Martin has persistently told him to stop and that he will break the seat, he continues on until ultimately he breaks the seat, making it uncomfortable and unmovable.Following the seat incident, he continues his path of destruction. After smoking a cigarette, he drops the butt out the window. However due to the wind, it blows into the tail seat of the car ultimately displace the back seat up in flames and roasting the entire car. In this quick scene, Candy manages to act jejunely and rambunctiously resulting in the destruction of the car. The remains of slapstick comedy are clearly evident in this scene, climaxing with the mindless fate of the rental car.The absurdity of someone so overweight that he breaks a seat and the reality of seeing a car combust in flames seem like a moment from a slapstick cartoon, yet the film is completely plausible due to the overweight and butterfingered nature of Candy. Following John Candys end in the early 1990s, Chris Farley emerged as the next overweight star, both on television and in a few Hollywood films. His humor was similar to that of John Candy and also very comparable to the works of John Belushi.In an article praising the support of Chris Farley following his finis in Rolling Stone magazine, the author states we talked near his hero and Saturday Night Live predecessor, John Belushi. It was well known that Farley had been obsess with Belushi, and people loved making much of this fact, since the two seemed to share a love of certain rather common excesses (Hedegaard 39). Looking at Tommy male child, produced in 1995, John Belushis influence on Chris Farley becomes apparent through Farleys role and procedure in the film.In Tommy boy, Chris Farley st ars as the protagonist, an immature and dimwitted heir to an auto parts factory who must save the business to keep it from take-over and away from evil relatives. end-to-end the film, Farleys childish actions bring laughs to audiences of all ages. To begin the film, Tommy (Chris Farley) is shown in a flashback as a young school boy rushing to class, late as always. In this scene he runs full facilitate into a frosting glide door, shouting Holy Schnike (Tommy Boy 044). The film then skips several years and shows an old Tommy, in his seventh year of college.Although the older character is much larger (Chris Farley was very large), he mirrors the young pump school version of Tommy because he is pictured doing the same action rushing to class (late again). In this scene, he is scene trying to take a short cut through some hedges, but runs full speed into a newly put up fence, hitting his head very hard and exclaiming Holy Schnike again (Tommy Boy 202). From these scenes which l ock away together, we can clearly see the immaturity of the character, yet the viewer gets many laughs through the physical pain Farley put ups.These actions take place in the first minute of the film, and really set the tone for the rest of the movie. In the film, Tommy is seen play acting very foolishly on many accounts he consistently runs into sliding glass doors, he gets hit in the head with a two-by-four piece of construction wood, he hits his head on a forklift after not listening to his father say heads up, he slips and gets covered in browbeat manure when trying to go cow tipping, and he rips his friends blue blazer because he is too big for it. Consistently, Tommy releases very childish comments, and he is largely responsible for destroying his friends beloved car.In the film, the actions Farley takes mirror concepts that defined slapstick comedy. His childish and extreme actions are all very similar to this genre of comedy. Farley extends this comedy to make it more p ersonal and relatable as the protagonist becomes more developed. His actions are all very extreme and in many incidents would cause physical pain. Although painful or ridiculous, all actions that take place in the movie could take place in real-life, making the audience tinct to the comedy. In one scene in particular, Tommy pushes the realm of reasonable office behavior.In an attempt to sell auto products for his company, he acts out an anecdote with his customers slight model cars. In his story he gives two examples of how a similar scene could play out with two different brakes. In the first action, the car has on Callahan Brake Pads (his companys) and is able to stop in front of a obstacle that is suddenly in front of the car (a lighter also on the desk). While showing this action he has a complete narrative stating Youre drivin along, la-de-da, woo. All of a sudden theres a truck tire in the middle of the road. And you hit the brakes. EEEEEEEEEWhoa, that was close (Tommy Boy 3 530). He then proceeds stating Now lets see what happens when youre tearaway(a) with the other guysdoes quotation marks with fingers brake pads. Youre drivin along, youre drivin along, the kids start shouting from the back seat, I gotta go to the bathroom, Daddy Not now, damn it Truck tire. EEEEEEEE I CANT STOP (Tommy Boy 3545). He then rams the model car into the lighter smashing the car of the customer. Farley then gets really into the story acting out voices of a narrator, the kids, the parents, and eventually the paramedics who respond to the scene.In the scene, some of his quotes include No I cant feel my legs Here comes the meat wagon And the medic gets out and says, Oh my God. New guys around the corner puking his guts out (Tommy Boy 3605). He also finishes the crash by setting the disordered car on fire with the lighter and calmly collects himself making his buck casually stating All because you want to save a couple redundant pennies (Tommy Boy 3620). This scene i s a clear example of Farley taking over a scene that could have easily been executed much more peace to the full, maturely, and professionally.But the director and Chris Farley decided to execute the scene wildly and immaturely so that viewers see the scene in awe as they cannot believe how overdone he makes the episode. The film is full of scenes like this one, which break the audience in shock at how a human could act in such a manner. They key to the humor brought about in the film is much like that of Belushi and Candy, it remains believable although unlikely, all actions in the film could possibly occur in a persons life. Through aspect at these three overweight comedians we see the progression of the same genre of comedy.The slapstick comedy that first featured Charlie Chaplin and other silent film comedians progressed into slapstick comedy with audio, like the Three Stooges. Following the Three Stooges, the horseplay that was extreme and in many ways violent and not possibl e for a person to survive, died out. In return, several years later comedians like Belushi rediscovered the art of making a career out of horseplay in every film or television show in which they appeared. Following the mold Belushi make, many other actors have morphed their careers into similar roles.Through the years the importance of the overweight comedian has grown dramatically. In 1978, John Belushi was a minor character in Animal House. Although his few scenes (around a dozen) are the most memorable from the film, his role contained very few lines and he was never intended to be the star of the film. Looking forward nearly a decade later, John Candy in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles promoted his role to the supporting actor, though not the protagonist of the film.In this film, we need much more about the character (a back story, his emotions, etc.) than we did of Belushi in Animal House. Belushis character, Bluto, has apparently been in college for several years and the odds of him graduating appear slim. otherwise than this, we have no other information on the character. For Candys character, Del, we find out much more about his life as a shower down ring salesman as he appears in nearly every scene and is a much better developed character. Finally looking at Tommy Boy, released almost two-decades after Belushi, the American audience sees the fat wild character as the protagonist of the work.Chris Farleys character, Tommy, is the clear protagonist of the film (the film is even titled after the characters name). Farleys character has a well developed character, as the viewer is well informed of the characters entire family and Tommys flaws and strengths. Why Overweight? Following in the footsteps of the unrealistic, unsurvivable slapstick comedy to the more plausible realistic feature films, the role of the fat comedian progressed to the center of the film. Perhaps the movement towards realism reflects Americans recognition of their own overweight so ciety.The United States is the worlds most obese country. In an attempt to apologise this epidemic, Greg Critser published Fat institute How Americans became the fattest people in the world. This work highlights new research that claims cheap fats and sugars as the source which causes our calories to stick and shows why children are too often the old-timer metabolic culprits of such foods. He clearly claims that we (Americans) have been telling ourselves lies about how much we can eat and how little we can exercise.He attempts to expose the nutritionary value (or lack thereof) in schools as well as governmental and cultural forces that have caused Americans fitness to continue to step-down (Critser 23). Critser debunks all eating patterns and even fare books in an attempt to explain why they do not work and only supplement the obesity problem in the United States. Although a slightly humorous book, Critsers message is very serious the lack of a balanced nutritional diet (whic h he provides to the best of his understanding) and reduced exercise has set a death trap for many people in America, leading to an obesity problem.Hollywood has capitalized on the acceptability of overweight people, and has used and continues to use actors bearing this unhealthy life style in order to provide entertainment (usually humorous) to the United States (Critser 25). The comedians explored in the front pages share one common obvious trait, their weight. John Belushi, John Candy, and Chris Farley were all obese. The reason why they were overweight will never be fully understood, whether it was genetics, poor eating, lack of exercise, pressures of society, or bad habits. The fact is that all these men were huge, and remained large until their respective deaths.Not only were all of these men overweight, they were also well loved. In a People Magazine article following the death of John Candy, the author concludes in the end, of course, no one can say for certain whether die t and self-denial would have prolonged Candys life a single day. Only one thing is sure Already Candy is missed (Harmes 97). Similarly in a Canadian magazine an author begins While all of us feel as though weve missed someone we knew personally, showing another example of the attachment fans had with such comedians (Candy in both of these instances) (The Untimely Passing 9).Like Candy, Chris Farley had his fair share of praises in a Rolling Stone Magazine stating almost everyone loved Farley, and it was a sure love, not a Hollywood love (Hedegaard 40). Through these accounts praising the lives of such overweight comedians, it becomes clear that the actors really connected with their audience and gained a impartial affection from their fans. The love they generated came through both the laughs they consistently provided America as well as their big loving port.Perhaps people connected with the characters because they thought process their enormous build made them more resilient and therefore they could endure the slapstick comedy they provided. Maybe the reason they were admired was because their large appearance was not the typical Hollywood Barbie-like figure that so many stars posses, but a reflection of how America really looks overweight. Or, perhaps their size made them more human because they embodied the flaws in all of us. By the elementary act of laughing at and with them, the audience is put at ease and feels better about their own shortcomings.In any case, the success of these comedians came through their realistic appearance on stage. The people and actions in these films could occur in mundane American lives. The men were not living a sophisticated lifestyle and did not have special skills they portrayed an overweight male (which is common in the United States) and shined in immature and physical humor evolving the slapstick genre that has been a staple of American comedy films since their beginning a century ago.