The form of comedy expression can be roughly divided into two directions, one based on language and the other based on physical actions. However, the R-rated comedies of the "Hangover" and post-"Hangover" era made a very bad start: blindly violently piled up embarrassing elements, and a large amount of scattered three-vulgar content was mainly against the guest, which obscured the necessity of a reasonable story, thus destroying it. The completeness of the comedy.
Take family themes as an example: every era has its "meeting with relatives" movie, because it can use the family as a unit to highlight the contradictions and differences between generations and provide a space for social reflection. "Guess Who's Dinner" in the late 1960s is one of the best, not only has Spencer Qusay, Catherine Hepburn and Sidney Podiat's generation classics, but also draws on the story of interracial marriage. , Deeply reflected on the enduring classic issue of racial discrimination rooted in the depths of American society.
After the social contradictions eased, the representative of "Meet In-laws" in the new millennium fell on Ben Stiller and his famous series "Meet Father-in-Law". The protagonists no longer carry heavy social burdens, but start from the different identities/lifestyles of individuals, launching a tit-for-tat that is both life-oriented and dramatic. At this time, the resonance demand for the audience's cultural background turns into the resonance demand for the identity background. The relationship between mother-in-law/wife-in-law is universal, and the problems encountered by the protagonist start from the parents' shortcomings-from marriage proposal to pregnancy to the child's middle-aged crisis-to be out of control, with a high level of life feel.
But 16 years later, "Why is it him?" In ", all the advantages of the former in performance, humor and taste have disappeared.
2016 was the most declining year for comedy movies. "Crime Master", "Boss", "Nine Lives", "Office Christmas Party" are trite, "Supermodel 2" is simply mentally retarded, and "Neighbors 2" and "Greensby" are unsatisfactory. , Only the "Tear-resistant Detective" which does not engage in the basics, and the "Keanu Cat" by the black brothers can be regarded as a small highlight, which can not make a big storm.
What's wrong with comedy movies? Judging from the market performance of these works, the veteran represented by Will Ferrell is absent. There are too many Mesozoic projects and lack of happiness. Only the trees can not see the forest, and the few new generations and playing tickets can be successful. But from the work itself, impetuous creative thinking and simple thinking of making quick money are even more terrifying things.
If "Why is he?" "Can't make you think of "Meet Father-in-Law" directly, so there is only one reason: you are not familiar enough with comedy movies. In this three-secularized family comedy, the two generations of comedians' understanding and reproduction of the same subject matter, even the same template, are vividly expressed. And behind the stage and behind the scenes of this modern imitation of "Meet Father-in-Law", we saw old people who took a back seat (Ben Stiller and his old partners Sean Levy and Stewart Cornfield participated together. Producer, the original screenwriter John Humberger even took over the guide), and the newcomer who can’t wait to get off the banner (Apatou/Seth Logan’s Jonah Hill is in the screenwriter, James Franco Assume the protagonist). In this new version, the two sides of the struggle have become conservative fathers and the daughter's weird billionaire boyfriend, while the father has become the normal one.
Even if you choose the Christmas schedule, this seemingly family comedy is very vulgar. Compared with the irresponsibility of the humorous part, the film is slightly more reliable in casting: the old white Brian Cranston who succeeds Robert De Niro is the core and biggest highlight of the whole film, but in the bad script , Has not been explained in the first act, but acquiesced to be in the middle-aged crisis; James Franco is still the usual shit in recent years, it is almost impossible for you to tell whether he is acting or not. be yourself. In addition, after solo Gagan-Michael Kay is still important in role-playing in such movies (after all, talent), Cedric Kells and Megan Morally have a higher sense of existence, but instead The female number one, Zoe Dach, dragged her back, neither fit nor called. Whether it was with the male lead or with her family, she did not successfully establish a relationship, and it was not as existential as Kaley Kuko's voice.
But compared with the performance gap, "Why is it him?" The conceptual difference between "" and "Meet Your Father-in-Law" is even more interesting. After 16 years, the protagonist changed from a son-in-law to a father-in-law, which seems to be directly proportional to the age of the audience. Compared with the family concept and family members in "Meet Your Father-in-Law", "Why is it him?" "What is more important is the change of relatives and friends to dog friends, not relatives are better than relatives-from emphasizing the family to emphasizing the individual, this is a factor of changes in the times that is worth considering.
Another important change is the social identity of Weng-in-law. In "Meet Your Father-In-Law", the son-in-law is a conscientious nurse, and the father-in-law is a high-tech retired CIA; "Why is it him?" In ", the father-in-law is a conscientious middle-class boss, and the son-in-law is a fashionable high-tech entrepreneur in Silicon Valley. We can clearly see that in the two eras, the film shifted from emphasizing family/social values to emphasizing personal values, from the son-in-law to please the elders, to the so-called "new wave" of forcing the elders to accept the three abuses. And the money worship and money supremacy expressed in it were abruptly misinterpreted as a different concept of life-honestly supporting the family, but was acquired by the rich and rampant future son-in-law every minute, and finally inexplicably suddenly shook hands and said welcome , Is simply the standard Jack Su to please young audiences who have a long rebellious period.
You can invite the hottest Ma Yilong to speak for Silicon Valley, but there is no way to eliminate the basic values of deformity and twisting.
Excluding the foundation left by "Meet Your Father-in-Law", "Why is it him?" "All the plots and stories that are the same as the forehead, scribbled plots and stories, and the humorous fragments of the forehead-like, occasionally joyful rather than disgusting. Vulgarity and vulgarity can indeed bring a certain sense of humor, but no matter how whitewashed, it will never be the mainstream value.
Even if you use a genius, handsome, and rich little tech industry boss for packaging.
Before Hollywood concocts more vulgar comedies, I think it's better to slow down and think carefully about what is comedy.
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