The Art of The Ridiculous

When did we forget how to have fun at the movies? Though I am a huge fan of Christian Bale, and the Dark Knight trilogy was good, my favorite batman will always be Michael Keeton. Followed closely by Adam West. The newest installment of Batman is deep, dark, and meaningful. All movies have this need now. Where is the fun in movies?

I spend a good deal of time analyzing documents from fiction to poetry to official documents for school, work, or because I simply can't turn the critical eye off. I cannot read a Facebook post without mentally editing the grammar. (I mean that: there seem to be none without at least one error.)  When I turn on the TV, it is to turn off, to have some fun. So I enjoy The Simpsons, though recently they have lost their edge. I like Big Bang Theory because it is smart humor, but fun to follow.

And I sometimes wish superhero movies would rediscover the fun. In fas, Tony Stark in the new Avengers universe brings some light-hearted fun with him. Still, I miss the days of Adam West, The Tick, and Eathworm Jim. Many are speculating that Hawkeye and Black Widow are going to get their own movie now. I keep hoping someone will make a Captain Planet movie. Remember that one? Environmentalist propaganda starring Tom Cruise as the voice of Captain Planet, the hero who promised to take polution down to zero. Earth + wind + water + fire + heart = Captain Planet.

Super heroes used to be fun, not tortured. It was dissociative fiction, not drama.

B-Movies to the Rescue

It seems that the last enclave of the ridiculous is the sci-fi b-movie. It all started with the very appropriately titled (and not sci-fi) Snakes on a Plane. I can't be the only one who waited the entire movie for Samuel L. Jackson to yell, "Get these m--f--ing snakes off my m--f--ing plane." You know he's going to say it. It's Samuel L. Jackson on a plane full of snakes. I don't care that releasing snakes into a plane is the most inefficient possible way to do whatever it was they planned to do. I don't care that releasing a bunch of cobras would probably have been simpler and more effective. I don't even care that cold blooded snakes would freeze to death in the subzero temperatures they seem to keep airplane cabins at. I was just happy that the chihuahua died and the surfer lived.

I heard a rumors that Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No was going to have sharks in outer space. It appears that is not the case; they will be in DC. The basic story line apparently revolves around whether the Congress can break the philibuster before the sharknado hits. It promises to be the most realistic look yet at what it would actually take for Congress to agree on anything.

But you can't just make a stupid movie and expect people to like it. I enjoy Sharknado, Big Ass Spider, and even Dinocroc Versus Supergator. These are good b-movies that parody much of what we watch in supposedly serious movies. I watched The Starving Games for free, streamed through Netflix. Before the first ten minutes finished, I wished I had bought a ticket so I could demand my money back. It was two hours of my life wasted even though it only runs 83 minutes. I was that angry. Scary Movie, by the same writers, was decent, but they have begun to parody themselves with grade school humor.

The Line in the Sand

Club Dread is about as far as I can take parodies and b-movies. It stands on that line between purposely ridiculous and just stupid. In all, it just barely tips the scale towards watchable. The Expendables series leans toward parody without quite being a b-movie. (Really, many of Arnold Schwartzeneger's early work approached ridiculous to begin with. Who really shouts "Get to the chopper?") However, the second installment has that "I'm going to refill my popcorn and smoke" moment when Chuck Norris appears. Yeah, we all laugh at Chuck Norris jokes (though he actually is a world champion martial artist, Korean War veteran, and philanthropist), but the middle of that movie is not the place to tell Chuck Norris jokes.

Off Key but On Target

So how do we keep True Lies from turning into Last Action Hero? How do we get the audience to accept a selachimorphic cyclone? What keeps a campy movie from going crappy?

1. Self referential. You would think this is obvious, but your parody needs to parody something other than itself. Many of the recent parody movies try to be funny by showing how funny they are. The point of a b-movie or parody is to make the familiar look ridiculous, not to make the ridiculous look funny.
2. Respect your audience. We know it is a b-movie. We know you aren't being serious. Don't insult our intelligence with slapstick grade school humor and bathroom/butt jokes. Let us laugh at society, not you.
3. Follow your own rules. There is a scene in The Starving Games where a character loses an arm, then has it next scene. (Or was it teeth?) Make rules for your world and stick to them. Even Monty Python gets this. So you have a fire-breathing spider with telekinetic powers? Great; stick with it.
4. Don't forget the story and plot. Do you have scenes that are just there to be funny? Cut them. If it doesn't add to the plot or story line, cut it. Just because it is a b-movie doesn't mean the rules disappear.
5. Get into the classics. If you want to write a b-movie you should study. Believe it or not, this type of storytelling predates not only film but also America! Read Gulliver's Travels (the book, not the horrible, horrible Jack Black movie). Read The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy at a minimum, and I recommend the other books in the series too. These are satire not camp, but the same rules of good storytelling apply. Watch Monty Python and the Holy Grail The Fifth Element, and Dr. Strangelove. Actually, you can't go wrong with any Peter Sellers movie here. These movies are excellent examples of smart humor in ridiculous worlds. But consistent worlds.

Writing a bad movie is easy. Writing a bad movie we all like... that takes talent.