Comic spirit and Bringing Down the House :: essays research papers

      waggery has existed with the gay spirit as far back as humans began writing the first plays and stories. Comedy and laughing at other peoples situations has always been a truly good way to tell an entertaining story. Yet, at the same time, it can be an effective way to sh are lessons ab stunned life and the human condition. The mirthful spirit takes many forms throughout human civilization and several formic examples can be seen in Roman and Greek comedies. Greek comedies often stool mood from the conflicts make believed by stereotypes and imbalances. For example, the play Lisistrata has a main character who is a woman who tries to match the Peloponnesian War by convincing all the women of capital of Greece to stop having sex with their husbands. Taking place during a period when women did not have king in society (compared to men), this Greek drollery used the imbalances of women to create a funny story while at the same time as qualification a statement against war. A more modern comedy that uses imbalances and stereotypes to create humor is the movie Bringing Down the House starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. The humor in this movie is created by the use of multiple stereotypes, imbalances and final role reversals of a white, wealthy male and a black, ex-convict female who first meet to each one other in an Internet chat room. There are also contrasts between young and old people. Although the imbalances and stereotypes throughout the movie create funny situations, it may have a negative side effect because it takes value of racial, gender and age stereotypes, which may be insulting or hurtful to some people, but to get a laugh.     The story begins with Steve Martins character, Peter Sanderson, chatting online with person who he thinks is a pretty, blonde lawyer. When he finally arranges to meet her for a first date, he is shocked to find out that the blonde lawyer turns out to be a black ex-convict named Charlene (played by Queen Latifah) who wants Peter to help prove her purity from being set up in a swan robbery that sent her to prison for four years.      The movie uses several elements of imbalance and stereotypes to create uproarious situations in the story. For example, there is contrast between Peter and Charlene. On the surface in the beginning of the movie Peter seems to be a regular a white male with a successful, upper middle class lifestyle.Comic spirit and Bringing Down the House essays research papers      Comedy has existed with the human spirit as far back as humans began writing the first plays and stories. Comedy and laughing at other peoples situations has always been a very good way to tell an entertaining story. Yet, at the same time, it can be an effective way to share lessons about life and the human condition. The comic spirit takes many forms throughout human civilization and several classic exa mples can be seen in Roman and Greek comedies. Greek comedies often create humor from the conflicts created by stereotypes and imbalances. For example, the play Lisistrata has a main character who is a woman who tries to stop the Peloponnesian War by convincing all the women of Athens to stop having sex with their husbands. Taking place during a period when women did not have power in society (compared to men), this Greek comedy used the imbalances of women to create a funny story while at the same time as making a statement against war. A more modern comedy that uses imbalances and stereotypes to create humor is the movie Bringing Down the House starring Steve Martin and Queen Latifah. The humor in this movie is created by the use of multiple stereotypes, imbalances and ultimate role reversals of a white, wealthy male and a black, ex-convict female who first meet each other in an Internet chat room. There are also contrasts between young and old people. Although the imbalances and stereotypes throughout the movie create funny situations, it may have a negative side effect because it takes advantage of racial, gender and age stereotypes, which may be insulting or hurtful to some people, just to get a laugh.     The story begins with Steve Martins character, Peter Sanderson, chatting online with someone who he thinks is a pretty, blonde lawyer. When he finally arranges to meet her for a first date, he is shocked to find out that the blonde lawyer turns out to be a black ex-convict named Charlene (played by Queen Latifah) who wants Peter to help prove her innocence from being set up in a bank robbery that sent her to prison for four years.      The movie uses several elements of imbalance and stereotypes to create humorous situations in the story. For example, there is contrast between Peter and Charlene. On the surface in the beginning of the movie Peter seems to be a regular a white male with a successful, upper middle c lass lifestyle.