Judd Apatow’s film Funny People questions why comedians are, in Apatow’s opinion, generally unhappy people. The film centres on two comedians, a veteran stand-up comedian and comedy movie star named George Simmons (Adam Sandler) who has been diagnosed with terminal leukemia, and a young aspiring stand-up comedian named Ira Wright (Seth Rogen). The film portrays life as a comedian through these two characters and their relationship with one another, with Ira serving as George’s hired assistant and writer, while George acts as a sort of mentor to Ira. It is through these characters, and the many other comedians in their lives, that Apatow explores the idea of comedians as unhappy individuals.
The film ultimately views comedy and the use of humour as a defence mechanism used by people to cope with their unhappiness, and that the people who excel in comedy are able to do so because of the pain they experience. Humour is viewed as something that comes to people who are already unhappy; comedy is a reaction to their unhappiness. The topics and themes of the comedy produced by the characters in the film have their origins in the things that make them unhappy. The notion of comedy as a reaction to unhappiness is demonstrated in Funny People through the comedy of George, Ira, and the other comedians around them, as well as the way the characters themselves act in real life when they are not performing comedy. Ultimately, Apatow presents comedy as a way of coping with and distancing oneself from unhappiness.
The stand-up comedy of the characters in the film is related to the same things they are unhappy about. The characters themselves may not be entirely aware of this, but it is clear that the things that inspire them to write comedy are the same things that make them unhappy. Ira’s stand-up material illustrates this very well. Many of his jokes are direct reflections of his own insecurity. He is not confident in his relationships with women, and as a result, much of his comedy is about his inability to successfully pursue romantic relationships with women. Many of his jokes also make reference to his own perception of himself as being romantically and sexually unattractive. He calls himself down in a way by constantly referencing his own habits that are somewhat looked down upon by the general public, like masturbation and flatulence. His comedic persona that he has developed in his routine is a reflection of how he sees himself, and this self-image is not a flattering one. His seemingly playful self-deprecating humour ultimately paints a darker portrait of a deeply insecure young man who is unhappy and lacking self-confidence. This is an insecurity that permeates Ira’s life much more deeply than he hints at in his act, and it affects him in more ways than just his relationships with women. Ira is deeply insecure about himself as a comedian; he has a great passion for comedy, but he is not as successful as he would like to be. At the beginning of the film, he is still not being paid for performing his act, and audiences do not seem to be responding positively to his material. This pain is strengthened by the sense of competition felt amongst Ira and his roommates, Leo Koenig (Jonah Hill) and Mark Taylor Jackson (Jason Schwartzman), both of whom are having considerably more success in their careers than him. Later in the film, it is revealed that Ira’s insecurity reaches back to childhood, when he was ridiculed and embarrassed by the mispronunciation of his birth surname, Weiner (actually pronounced “whiner” as opposed to the common misnomer “weener”). Ira’s embarrassment over his surname was so profound that he was actually driven to change his name to Wright. He also discusses his parents’ divorce and their hateful relationship with one another. Ira suggests that he may feel a certain degree of guilt about his parents’ divorce, or that he perhaps feels devalued in the eyes of his parents by the experience, when he says to George, “My mom thinks that my dad is the devil; I’m not sure what that makes me, technically.” Although he makes the statement like an offhand joke, it is extremely revealing about Ira and how he views himself. When Ira tells his childhood stories to George, George hints that these are likely what drove Ira to become a comedian in the first place.
George has issues from childhood that also make appearances in his comedy. He tells many jokes about his troubled relationship with his father. The jokes are often about his father showing obvious dislike for George. In reality, George speaks a great deal off-stage about his relationship with his father. George feels he is a disappointment to his father and that his father doesn’t respect him as a comedian or as a man. George also hints that his father may have been abusive. Although Apatow briefly shows a sort of reconciliation between George and his father, the scene appears in a montage where George is attempting to reconnect with people in his life before he succumbs to his illness; despite the seeming heartfelt and sincere reconciliation that George has with his father, the other events in the montage show George unable to reconnect with a lot of people, many of whom are comedians who are too self-involved to really sympathize with George. At the end of the montage, George expresses a great deal of regret for the way things have turned out when he says to Ira, “I played it all wrong.” The montage, and the scenes following it, also deals with his regret over the dissolution of his relationship with his former fiancée, Laura (Leslie Mann). George wishes that their relationship had never ended and that the two were still together. This desire manifests itself in George’s stand-up, when he makes frequent reference to his single life, the “one that got away”, and the fact that he does not have children. In one very telling stand-up routine, he jokes about his married friends who encourage him to pursue a romantic relationship, whereas he would sooner spend his life with his riches and material wealth. This reflects one of the central factors of George’s depression; he is an immensely wealthy person, but his wealth brings him no happiness and he is ultimately alone. As the home video that opens the film illustrates, George was much happier as a young man when, even as a poor and struggling comedian, he still had meaningful friendships and relationships with other people. George also tells many jokes about aging and death, which is an obvious reflection of his fears about his illness and impending death. One other important element he jokes about that is essential to understanding George’s character is his lack of belief in God. In his time of struggle, he feels utterly alone because he has absolutely no one to turn to, no faith or positive philosophy to comfort him.
Outside of George and Ira’s stand-up, there are instances in which both characters use humour to cope with unhappiness or intense emotions. One such scene takes place when Laura comes to visit George after learning that he is dying. When Laura confesses to George that he was the love of her life, she grasps his hand, in tears. George then makes a joke about her large hands, saying, “They always made my penis look small.” Although she laughs at the joke and he somewhat cheers her up, the joke is very telling about George. When sharing this incredibly emotional and intimate moment with Laura, he is unable to deal with the intimacy of the moment and makes the joke because it is the only way he can lessen its impact. A similar event takes place when Dr. Lars (Torsten Voges) gives George and Ira the news that George’s condition is worsening. George proceeds to jokingly mock Lars for his accent, telling him that it makes him seem scary. Even when Lars makes his discomfort about the jokes obvious, George continues to berate him with jokes, and Ira even joins in a little. This seems like a strange time for George to begin telling jokes, but he is unable to react any other way; the severity of the moment is so intense that George can only respond with humour, because it is his only weapon against his suffering. The same is true of Ira in this situation. Ira also hides behind humour when he is attempting to ask Daisy Danby (Aubrey Plaza) out on a date and embarrasses himself.
The film views unhappiness not just as a potential cause for comedy, but as an essential ingredient to it. Comedy’s dependence on unhappiness is illustrated through characters like Mark Taylor Jackson and Randy Springs (Aziz Ansari). These characters are the most successful of the small-time comedians in the film; audiences respond well to Randy’s stand-up, and Mark is the star of a sitcom on NBC titled Yo, Teach! for which he is paid $25,000 a week. Randy and Mark, when compared to Ira as peers, are considerably happier and more confident than Ira. They are enjoying their success and are optimistic about their direction in life. However, the comedy produced by these characters is not of the same calibre as that of visibly unhappier characters like Ira, George, Leo, and Daisy. Randy’s stand-up, while popular, is depicted as being somewhat witless, focusing more on his wacky behaviour than actual jokes or comedy. Mark’s sitcom is viewed by the other characters as being formulaic and uninventive, resorting to lowest-common-denominator sitcom structures rather than taking risks to be funny. Even though these characters are more successful and, ultimately, happier than the central characters, they are less talented as comedians because they do not experience the pain that Apatow views as necessary for understanding comedy.
Funny People’s main theme of comedy as a product of unhappiness ultimately views the pain suffered by the main characters as more than just an inspiration for their comedy, but as an ingredient essential to the genesis of all brave and meaningful humour. Even though the film ends on an optimistic note, the ending is modest and the neurosis and personal struggles of the characters are still present to the end. Even as their lives and careers are on an upswing, their improvement seems to come more from an acceptance of their mental and emotional states rather than a successful triumph over those feelings. Judd Apatow makes the theme of comedy’s essence of unhappiness resonate deeply with the stand-up comedy, contrast amongst characters, and character interactions that populate the film.
No comments:
Post a Comment