Slapstick comedy is arguably one of the most universal forms of entertainment, as its emphasis on physical body movements transcend language and cultural barriers. Slapstick has held a presence in entertainment for centuries, with notable playwrights such as Shakespeare incorporating exaggerated, physically demanding chase scenes and beatings into comedies. Over time, the genre grew in popularity, and began to be explored extensively during the golden age of silent black and white films. Remarkable talents, including Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, and The Three Stooges, utilized slapstick, and in the process, expanded and intensified both interest and subsequent demand for the genre. Slapstick effortlessly moved from silent, live-action films to animated pictures, creating cartoon classics like Tom and Jerry, Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck.
Yet, as cultural tastes have evolved, slapstick has fallen from prestige to vulgarity. Comedy, while still in high demand, is generally considered lowbrow, with dramas consistently defeating comedic films for awards, and general critic acclaim. The objective of our project is to explore a few, specific elements of slapstick comedy, and compare and contrast the ways in which these elements have been featured, in both the golden age of silent film, and today. Our hope is to determine what catalysts may have been responsible for slapstick’s fall from grace, with some current hypotheses including the introduction of cinematic sound, cultural shift towards preference for linguistic humor and an overall higher deference for drama.
The jumping-off point for our project did not come from a specific scholarly article, but rather a gut instinct: with Oscar season rapidly approaching, we thought about our favorite Slapstick comedies and comedians, and questioned whether or not they would have any chance at an Oscar win (or, quite frankly, even a nomination) throughout their lifetime. With a collective sigh, we determined that comedies are not given the same treatment or respect as dramas or documentaries, and the shelves of great comedic actors or directors will forever remain void of Oscar statues. In fact, the last comedy to win an Academy Award, which was exceedingly rare to begin with, was Woody Allen’s 1978 hit Annie Hall, and it was clearly not a Slapstick comedy.
We hope this website serves as an exploration analyzing the decline in prestige of Slapstick comedy by examining the roots of slapstick, the role sound played in comedic films, and whether the classification of Slapstick as “low-brow” is in part perpetuated by the Academy Awards. We hope this project is informative, and gives tangible insight as to why Slapstick is regarded as “low brow” today.
Yet, as cultural tastes have evolved, slapstick has fallen from prestige to vulgarity. Comedy, while still in high demand, is generally considered lowbrow, with dramas consistently defeating comedic films for awards, and general critic acclaim. The objective of our project is to explore a few, specific elements of slapstick comedy, and compare and contrast the ways in which these elements have been featured, in both the golden age of silent film, and today. Our hope is to determine what catalysts may have been responsible for slapstick’s fall from grace, with some current hypotheses including the introduction of cinematic sound, cultural shift towards preference for linguistic humor and an overall higher deference for drama.
The jumping-off point for our project did not come from a specific scholarly article, but rather a gut instinct: with Oscar season rapidly approaching, we thought about our favorite Slapstick comedies and comedians, and questioned whether or not they would have any chance at an Oscar win (or, quite frankly, even a nomination) throughout their lifetime. With a collective sigh, we determined that comedies are not given the same treatment or respect as dramas or documentaries, and the shelves of great comedic actors or directors will forever remain void of Oscar statues. In fact, the last comedy to win an Academy Award, which was exceedingly rare to begin with, was Woody Allen’s 1978 hit Annie Hall, and it was clearly not a Slapstick comedy.
We hope this website serves as an exploration analyzing the decline in prestige of Slapstick comedy by examining the roots of slapstick, the role sound played in comedic films, and whether the classification of Slapstick as “low-brow” is in part perpetuated by the Academy Awards. We hope this project is informative, and gives tangible insight as to why Slapstick is regarded as “low brow” today.