Older comedies are often a bit dated, but were good back then, even without belittling. Look at Old School, Anchorman, Stranger than Fiction, everything Leslie Nielsen did, Big Lebowski.
You my friend have an obvious taste for comedies that fall into the definition of “crass”. You listed some GREAT comedies but they are chock-a-block with humor that is juvenile, sexist, lean into gender / racial stereotypes and are generally considered “problematic” today. The last of these I can think of is “Tropic Thunder”.
This is what Vince is talking about; our culture has changed and Hollywood no longer wants to invest in Crass Comedies. Mostly because they don’t do well at the Box Office anymore and they can bring a LOT of negative attention.
leisesprecher@feddit.org 1 month ago
What exactly is problematic about them?
Every single one of them makes fun of a ton of stereotypes, the entire point of Anchorman is to make fun of sexism - the sexists are the idiots!
Which movie of the last 50 isn’t? Seriously, every single movie has some problematic bits in them. Ignoring the historic context is just incredibly braindead. You can’t just put modern standards and push them onto everything.
I think, you are exactly of the mindset criticized in the article. You don’t want to offend anyone, you don’t want to risk having tastes changed, because then suddenly you are problematic. And that’s just the exact opposite of art. That’s the mindset of a subject.
Buelldozer@lemmy.today 1 month ago
I think you are taking my comment as combative when it isn’t. I personally enjoyed those movies! There’s little debate though that they are generally crass…I mean c’mon…Leslie Nelson driving on the highway in front of the two nuclear reactors that are sticking up and looking like boobs… (as a singular example).
You…don’t know me…like at all.
ChexMax@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Right, but it doesn’t sound like Vince Vaughn is arguing for a new type of comedy… it sounds like he’s trying to just bring back the old type, which while funny in their day, aren’t really funny now.
Anchorman without the nostalgia goggles… not very funny actually. When you make a movie that’s full of sexism to “make fun of sexism” you’ve still just made a movie that’s full of sexism.
I will say I watched Austin Powers recently, and it held up pretty well. Anchorman has a lot of funny bits, but a lot of it is still just saying isn’t it funny that this guy is mentally handicapped and none of us are acknowledging it? Isn’t it funny for this guy to say tits McGee instead of her name? Isn’t it funny that even the only non sexist guy also doesn’t want her career to succeed? Isn’t it funny how they all sabotage her in ways that are not actually that far from how women were actually sabotaged in the workplace pretty recently?
It’s not just people pretending not to like it for fear of being labeled problematic. Some of us actually don’t think that kind of humor is clever enough to actually be funny
leisesprecher@feddit.org 1 month ago
It was clever at its time. I mean, it’s not like any of that was a secret that needed to be exposed, but it’s a comedy that clearly makes fun of a stereotype, and you can’t reference a stereotype without actually showing. That’s kind of the point.
Take any current stereotype. Muslims, immigrants, whatever, how do you make fun of the people creating that stereotype without showing the stereotype? How can you show that hate against immigrants is stupid, without showing hate against immigrants? Yes, that’s a fine line, but that’s the burden of art.
ChexMax@lemmy.world 1 month ago
Many movies and TV shows seem to do it without making the people creating the stereotype the protagonist or the hero of the film. I think that’s the difference. Make the Muslims, immigrants, whatever the protagonists and then you can showcase the stereotypes and the racists, sexists, bigots, whatever in a way that doesn’t celebrate them as centered.
Or just create comedy that doesn’t rely on sexism or racism to be funny. I think that’s why Vince Vaughn isn’t getting the movie deals anymore, and I don’t think it’s only because producers are scared for their jobs, it’s also because the market for low brow humor is less than it was in the aughts.