Elite Humor

I've decided that Americans have a broken humor center. Not fully broken, mind you, but one that seems to lack a true appreciation of dry witty humor. Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy brought on this line of thinking (no big surprise there.) The movie, like the book, was gleefully confusing, complex, twisted and at some points down right illogical. It is SUPPOSED to be this way. I was rather impressed that screenplay writer made it as logical as it was (for those of you who somehow missed out on the books, the books were written so that you really really needed to read all the books in the series to understand what in the world was truly going on.) But the reviewers, both critical ones and "average people" reviews are not grasping this. The best reviews are from people who read the books. No shock there. Chances are, if you like a good dry twisted and convoluted plot, you have already read the book. And you will like the movie (which, while not perfect, was great. Especially the sperm whale. lol!) And if you don't get the movie, or really don't find it funny, I feel bad for you.

I mention all of this because after I left the theatre, these people behind me were talking about how stupid it was. The jokes didn't make sense, the acting was dry, etc. **sigh** Pardon me if I sound like an erudite here, but what astounds me is the lack of class in the American comedic audience. While I am oft throughly amused by a flatulence joke, or an evening of the Blue Collar comedy tour, I rather like the intellectual comedy that makes the journey across the Atlantic. The fact that I have had to EXPLAIN Monty Python to people (and no, I don't mean translating their accents, which are heavy at times) is rather sad.

Thankfully, I have developed friends over the years who understand and enjoy british humor as much as I do. Because the sadest thing for me was having a discussion in my humanities class in high school (senior year Honors english) about british humor, and having my teacher give me a mildly condescending smile and saying "Katrina, not all of us feel the need to have deep thoughts about comedy. Most of us just want to sit back and laugh, and the British comedies are just not funny." Ugh.

I think I'll find my teacher and bring her to Hitchhiker. Should be good for a laugh. For me. :-)