Zach Buddie's Blog, I Guess

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Superbad and Its View of the Phallus

Greg Motolla’s 2007 film Superbad is one of the quintessential examples of a sex comedy, which is simply a genre of comedy where the main focus is on sexual themes. Sure, there are other key elements within the film which follow the standard guidelines of any teen movie: alcohol, peer pressure, social awkwardness, etc. However the film is very sex-centric, what with the whole plot being driven by Jonah Hill’s character wanting to fornicate with Emma Stone’s. Fun fact, both Michael Cera and Emma Stone were 19 years old as of filming Superbad , but Jonah Hill was 24. I get that all their characters are supposed to be the same age or whatever, but still, that one is still a bit odd to me. Anyway, the film treats sex as a final objective, as if sex will suddenly propel Hill’s character into perpetual bliss, as if finally having sex will cement his stardom, even if it is only truly from a personal standpoint. This ties in fairly well with the themes explored in the writings of Freud and L...

Tom and Jerry: The Household Comedy of Brutality

Tom and Jerry are one of the most iconic, recognizable duos in all of cartoon history. The charming, animated, domestic ultraviolence of the age-old cat versus mouse tale has weaved its way into the hearts and minds of the last five generations or so. It relies heavily on simple, slapstick scenarios, often involving the pain of Tom the cat and pleasure of Jerry the mouse. Slapstick humor is defined as “comedy based on deliberately clumsy actions and humorously embarrassing events.” This means that anything from The Three Stooges to Blazing Saddles has indulged in a bit of slapstick every now and then, even if it is considered to be childish and cheap to most critical audiences. However, despite the negative connotation associated with slapstick, Tom and Jerry has managed to not only create a formula that performs remarkably well, but also one that stands the test of time. Tom and Jerry continues to be a relevant series down through generations, constantly getting reboots, reruns, ...

The Deadest of the Pools

Starting out as a cult classic character within the restrictive realms of “true OG” comic nerds, Deadpool has blown up far beyond what anyone had expected into a massive cultural phenomenon. The wise-cracking, ultraviolent anti-hero has been a symbol of geek culture for years, but with the arisal of two full-length films starring Ryan Reynolds, Deadpool’s appearance on the big screen has allowed him to embed himself into the hearts of most families. As Owen states in her writing, I too believe that Deadpool is a beautiful representation of the theory of benign violation, considering how many lines it crosses even just within its general summary. Deadpool is a story about a man named Wade Wilson, a mercenary with a morbid sense of humor. After being diagnosed with cancer, he is subjected to an experiment that leaves him horribly disfigured, but with an accelerated ability to heal. This sets Wilson off on a sweet revenge plot against the corporations and to get his girl back. Alread...

The Good Post: Ethics in Comedy

The comedy series The Good Place caught me by surprise when I first encountered its concept. Of course the general plot of “main character ends up somewhere, realizes it was a mistake, and commences a journey to right the wrong” has been done many times before. However, what sets this series above similar scenarios revolves around the concept of a comedic hell. Hell is generally seen as any religious person’s worst-case scenario: an eternity of inescapable suffering, often surpassing the realms human understanding itself. Yet in The Good Place , this does not seem to be the case. Hell is a concept that has been touched upon in works of nearly all genres; primarily in horrors, thrillers, or dramas, but now hell introduces itself to comedy. Sure, the setting in The Good Place is still, by all definitions, a hell, but not the traditional ‘fire and brimstone, demons prodding you in the kidneys with their pointy demon staffs’ hell, and as Barford states, the series often uses this to its...

Buddy the Elf: An Entrance Into Benign Violation

Ah, yes. The ever-present Elf . Throughout my experience in public school, this film in particular has consistently been the go-to for any sort of event that involves a movie, whether or not it was anywhere near Christmas. With this film, Will Ferrell has achieved what is arguably the most iconic of his smorgasbord of popular roles. The film remains a massive success in terms of profit and notoriety, and has solidified itself as a staple of both holiday films and family comedies. It is not difficult to see why it struck a chord with so many. The film’s plot is the standard ‘fish out of water’ scenario, which is highlighted in many of the scenes that Ramsden details in her initial article. A wide-eyed, purely innocent Buddy the Elf (played by Ferrell) is shown the realities of living in New York City, chasing after a crotchety businessman who is completely unaware of Buddy’s status as his son. As Buddy is being exposed to these brutal situations in a strange new land, it very well sho...

Rise and Grind, Viners: A Virulent View on Vociety's Voluptuous Vine Vobsession

I am going to get a very unpopular opinion out of the way right off the bat: I have never gotten the hype surrounding Vine. To me personally, I feel like the format has great potential to be funny, but often falls flat when too many people attempt a rushed, seven second joke execution. However, it is undeniable that there have been a handful of true gems, and it is apparent that the majority of the youth conglomerate of today can be found with more Vines quoted in their vocabulary than legitimate original thoughts. Vine really does appear to encapsulate the ‘voice of a generation’ more accurately than most of its contemporaries. While I would argue that, within the realms of popular phone applications, Vine was never even in the top ten, it has arguably spawned more lasting, quotable memes than any other app. A topic that Testa brings up in her article (side note: Nikoleta Testa sounds like a reincarnated version of the famed inventor and engineer Nikola Tesla. I seriously cannot be...