Post-modernism has been a theme recently in most of my classes. One of the things I've noticed comes up a lot is the use of humor to create political discourse. "South Park" and "The Daily Show" are some of the most obvious examples of this on television; it's a bit less obvious in film. Nonetheless I attended two screenings of movies (coincidentally on the same day) that both used humor to encourage discourse on the Gulf War of the late 90's and suicide bombings of the new millennium. The movies were Three Kings and Four Lions, respectively.
In Three Kings, humor is used to discuss the US's involvement in Iraq's invasion of Kuwait. The comedy is a strong feature throughout the first half of the movie, then is rather abruptly taken over by a serious tone with the murder of a Kuwaiti prisoner's wife. It is a somewhat typical Hollywood movie, with big name stars (George Cloony, Mark Wahlberg), plenty of explosions, and a nice neat happy ending.
Four Lions is a much smaller independent film from Britain. In it we see four jihadists planning a suicide bombing in London. The four (actually five) men are universally incompetent, and for the most part very likable characters in spite of their goals. The film uses a slapstick, screwball comedy to present the idea that terrorist cells are not necessarily highly trained soldiers but simply confused extremists with limited intelligence who may be expressing more frustration for their alienation as England-born Pakistanis. Unlike Three Kings, there is no convenient Hollywood ending; all of the jihadists succeed in their task of blowing themselves up, but not with the results they were hoping for.
I think the use of comedy to encourage political discourse is an important tool in the post-modern age. In the current climate of reality TV, economic crisis, and unsuccessful attempt to occupy various cities, it's useful to hook us in with something that interests us and makes us laugh, while at the same time giving us something to think about.
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