Reaching Two Different Audiences
Elf is one of my favorite Christmas movies, a classic from my childhood! I loved watching it as a kid and always thought it was so funny even after watching it numerous times! I do agree the superiority theory is used to portray humorous situations in this film. Buddy the Elf is a childlike character who's easy to laugh at because his actions can be seen as inferior to what is acceptable. I also think this is one of the reasons Elf succeeds in reaching both adult and child audiences. Adults via the superiority theory are able to laugh at the ridiculousness of Buddy's actions while children are able to laugh and continue to be entertained by the relatability of Buddy's actions. Without the sense of superiority for the audience and inferiority for Buddy the Elf, the movie might not have reached as wide of an audience.
Furthermore, I think the incongruity theory may be utilized here also. Buddy the Elf's actions are far from how one would expect a middle-aged man to act. This incongruity with what is expected fosters further humorous reactions out of Elf's broad audience. However, where this argument can very easily be made, there's also an obvious counterargument here we shouldn't ignore. Will Ferrell fans would absolutely expect their crazy typecast actor to act in such a way. So, maybe there really is no sense of incongruity utilized in the movie Elf because most fans expect the crazy incongruous actions from the comedy star, Will Ferrell.
Furthermore, I think the incongruity theory may be utilized here also. Buddy the Elf's actions are far from how one would expect a middle-aged man to act. This incongruity with what is expected fosters further humorous reactions out of Elf's broad audience. However, where this argument can very easily be made, there's also an obvious counterargument here we shouldn't ignore. Will Ferrell fans would absolutely expect their crazy typecast actor to act in such a way. So, maybe there really is no sense of incongruity utilized in the movie Elf because most fans expect the crazy incongruous actions from the comedy star, Will Ferrell.
I just realized we wrote the same analysis with incongruity theory! :) I completely agree with your assessment that it's an unexpected contrast when a grown man acts like a child, but that we've come to expect this from Will Ferrell because he usually plays these outlandish roles. Beyond this, I really like your approach in terms of how it appeals to both adult and children audiences. As it is a family movie, we would expect nothing less than Will Ferrell excelling at his silly, slapstick humor.
ReplyDeleteI think you make an interesting point about Will Ferrell fans expecting him to act outlandishly, thereby eliminating the effect of the incongruity theory... However, I think that diehard Will Ferrel followers and others alike all fell in love with Buddy the Elf and found his antics hilarious. Because Will Ferrell is such an incredible actor, I don't think the incongruity theory can be removed from this movie: he plays Buddy so well that he is no longer "Will Ferrell" but is 100% Buddy, so the audience shouldn't have any preconceived expectations for his actions.
ReplyDelete