Month: December 2023

In the research of the article, I realized that the evolution of comedy should be observed on a longitudinal timeline, so I began to search for information about ancient Greek comedy, the source of modern comedy, hoping to find evidence that comedy reflects society.

Ancient Greek new comedy refers to a form of comedy from 323 BC to 263 BC. It is developed on the basis of Chinese comedy. It mainly describes love stories and civic life, reflecting the social style and humanistic spirit of the Hellenistic period. The characteristics and development history of ancient Greek new comedy are as follows:

The representative writer of the new comedy in ancient Greece is Menander, who is known as the “king of comedy”. His works include “The World-Hater”, “The Female Robber”, “The Lucky Soldier”, etc. His style influenced the later Roman comedy and European comedy(Konstan, 1995).
The structure of the ancient Greek new comedy is relatively standardized, generally composed of five scenes, separated by the chorus between each song, the role of the song team is not much, only to play the role of embellishment and transition. The language of the new comedy is relatively popular, and the formula is relatively simple, which is easy to perform and enjoy.

The influence of ancient Greek new comedy on modern comedy is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

The new comedy of ancient Greece created a comedy mode that takes love as the main line, and finally reaches a happy ending through misunderstanding, conflict, twists and surprises. This mode is called “comedy routine”, which is widely used in modern comedies, such as 50 First Dates and Leap Year.
The new comedy of ancient Greece created some typical and universal comedy characters, such as farmers, merchants, slaves, diners, geisha, etc. These characters represented different social classes and human characteristics, and their personalities and behaviors were realistic, but also full of humor and irony. These characters also have many counterparts and references in modern comedies. Such as Friends, Modern Family, The Big Bang Theory and so on.

It can be found that there are some differences between modern comedy and ancient Greek comedy, such as the weakening of political criticism and the emergence of various humor strategies. After all, no one wants to watch the same kind of comedy and the comedy of teaching.

Knowing that a large part of modern comedy is derived from ancient Greek comedy, I began my attempt to separate the consciousness of “man” and “God” from that of the two. In Hennefeld’ s words（2022）, you can see a modern scholar’s deep understanding of today’s comedy film: a metaphysical madness, a volitional influence, providing a different emotional experience.

Finally, the research direction is determined, that is, based on these two points, two completely different types of modern and modern iconic films are compared, so as to reflect the society’s choice of comedy films.

Reference

Hennefeld, M., 2022. ‘The problem of film comedy in the twenty-first century’. New Review of Film and Television Studies, 20(1), pp.101-118.

Konstan, D., 1995. Greek comedy and ideology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

In terms of ancient Greek comedy, scholars generally recognize Menander as one of the representative figures of this period. As Konstan, David (1995, P.4) puts it: “Menander adapts the plots to a subtle and sympathetic examination of contemporary social issues. “His work emphasizes the trivial as well as the comic aspects of civil society, maintaining a balance between “political criticism” and “humanity”. This tradition of real-life comedy laid the groundwork for the later development of humor strategies.

Back in the realm of cinema, Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936) is widely regarded as one of the classics of comedy cinema. During this period, the balance between “humanity” and “political criticism” was upset. In the midst of social upheaval and professional danger, Chaplin attempted to combine cinematic technology with social critique by presenting the culture of the Modern Age as a profoundly unstable state of contemporary society (Howe, Lawrence, 2013, p. 45). The extreme mockery of the mechanized society shown in the film and the film’s depiction of unemployment and the current state of life show Charlie Chaplin’s thoughts on the reality of society. The silent format of the film allows the audience to focus on Chaplin’s unique body language, which can be understood as a quasi-ritualized and socially acceptable satirical act (Caron, James E, 2006, P.5). presenting the audience with a multi-layered comedic experience.
In contrast, Wes Anderson’s The Grand Budapest Hotel (2014) represents another facet of modern comedy. Due to the film’s unique approach to artistic design, black humor, and borrowing from classical literary traditions, the film is attached to a form of comedy that is both absurd and insightful. Through an in-depth analysis of the complexity of the plot and the relationships between the characters, the innovative nature of the film and its unique focus on social issues have made it one of the most important representatives of contemporary English-language comedic cinema.
In the evolution of humor strategies, the ancient Greek form of comedy shifted from a purely political satirical genre to a new comedic genre that shifted the focus of portrayal from the “gods” to the “human”. From modern times to contemporary times, the humor strategies of film comedy have become more focused on using humor to free the audience from anxiety about the material world, dissatisfaction, and incredible relief in the face of danger (Hennefeld, Maggie, 2022, p. 102). Although modern comedies still view “human beings” as the main object of portrayal, they intentionally make “human nature” more prominent and reduce the “political criticality” of the story to an imperceptible depth. In modern comedies, there is often an undercurrent of melancholy, cleverly hidden behind technique and artistry, so that the audience is not immediately aware of this dimension (Seitz, Matt Zoller, 2015, p. 19). The story of the movie, however, is still based on the characteristics of ancient Greek comedy, making stories derived from life an integral part of the comedic production.
Overall, through a comprehensive study of Ancient Greek New Comedy, Modern Times and The Grand Budapest Hotel, we are able to understand the evolution of humor strategies in comedy films in a more intuitive way. From the classical era to the era of classic movies and finally to the contemporary era, the entertainment that comedy movies did not have at the beginning of their creation is being slowly tapped out, which is more of a skillful reflection of social and global cultural changes. This provides a theoretical basis for subsequent research and echoes the main question of this study, how comedy films reflect and shape social perceptions through humor strategies.

bibliographies

Caron, J.E., ‘2006. Silent slapstick film as ritualized clowning: the example of Charlie Chaplin’. Studies in American Humor, 14, pp.5-22.

Hennefeld, M., 2022. ‘The problem of film comedy in the twenty-first century’. New Review of Film and Television Studies, 20(1), pp.101-118.

Howe, L., 2013. ‘Charlie Chaplin in the age of mechanical reproduction: reflexive ambiguity in Modern Times’. College Literature, 40(4), pp.45-65.

Konstan, D., 1995. Greek comedy and ideology. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Seitz, M.Z., 2015. The Wes Anderson Collection: The Grand Budapest Hotel. New York: Abrams.