“It takes a certain kind of person to do what I do”. No-one's ever impressed; no-one's ever fascinated.” Kenny is an Australian mockumentary-style film that follows the numerous misadventures of Kenny Symth as a porta-john worker. This quote is addressed directly to the audience in the opening sequence of shots at Kenny's home. The character Kenny is played by Shane Jacobson, and the film was directed by his brother, Clayton Jacobson, which was released in 2006. Kenny, creates humour and relatability for the audience by utilising any preconceptions made by the audience before watching the film. This is coupled with the film’s use of stock characters and the exaggeration of Kenny Smith’s unusual, daily circumstances. Kenny employs its mockumentary style of film to invite the audience to enjoy typical Australian humour, which is dry and sarcastic. Argument 1: Stock characters are a character archetype recognisable by audiences across many platforms. Kenny makes the …show more content…
The mockumentary style of the film allows Kenny to speak freely and directly to the audience, forging that emotional and personal link. The scene shows Kenny driving his work truck and talking to the camera. “They think I eat it, or they think I scrub it on ‘me self, ya know I plumb it!.” This ostracization that Kenny describes for himself while talking directly to the camera during his opening scene prompts an innocence in Kenny’s character, where the audience sees that his job may affect his relationships with others. His display of loneliness throughout the film makes his funny moments much more noteworthy to the audience. His dry voice blended with his Australian sarcasm makes the sequence of shots where Kenny humorously describes his life connect with the audience, who share Kenny’s outlook on his tough, working
Another of his quotes from the DVD commentary accurately sums up the film as a whole: "On the surface it's kind of funny, but you're only laughing because you want to cry."
As an electronics salesman in his late twenties, Shaun doesn’t have much to brag about in life. He drinks at the same pub everyday with the same friend and has the same relationship issues with his girlfriend that they’ve had for years. In the early scenes of the film, Shaun fails to maintain this relationship and Liz dumps him. He then ends up at his local pub and again, drinks himself under the table. Shaun’s character represents the status quo that so many people are a part of; t...
Johnson, the owner of the burger joint where David/Bud works. At the beginning, Mr. Johnson is almost completely reliant on David’s help in running the restaurant, believing immaturely that he cannot act by himself. However, when David teaches him how to work independently, he becomes disillusioned with his current life: “I'm just not sure I see the point anymore. … But it’s always the same, you know? Grill the bun, flip the meat, melt the cheese. It never changes. It never gets any better or worse” (Ross). Here, his taste of freedom of choice has opened his eyes to the lack of significance in his invariable job of flipping burgers. Through Mr. Johnson’s newfound desire to escape his mediocre existence, Ross reveals that Pleasantville’s regularity is actually oppressive since it stifles people’s drive to achieve something greater than what they currently have. Then, throughout the rest of the film, Mr. Johnson develops his love for painting through his interactions with David and his “mother” Mrs. Parker, with whom he has an affair. Eventually, after a mob destroys his nude painting of her and trashes the restaurant, Mr. Johnson confides to David: “I don't know what I'd do if I couldn’t paint anymore, Bud. I just don't know what I’d do” (Ross). This quote shows that he has become so passionate about painting that he cannot imagine returning to a life without it. Painting has essentially become his raison d’être and has introduced new meaning into his life, allowing him to reach a state of self-fulfillment in the Technicolor world. Thus, through Mr. Johnson’s character change, Ross demonstrates how the Technicolor world frees people to follow the dreams that they could not realize under the strict confines of the black-and-white
And experimental social psychologists...have studied how social forces and the pressures of a given situation can change the way we behave, regardless of our personalities and background” (43). Many of the Candid Camera hoaxes highlight the fact that people are not accustomed to deviance from social norms. Thus, when roles are broken or reversed, the results prove laughter inducing. For instance, when the dentist launches into a sales pitch about gold-plated tooth necklaces and framed x-rays, it’s nearly impossible not to laugh at his flustered patient’s protest that, “The way our walls are set up in our house...this—this just won’t go with it.” But underlying this farcical situation is a human truth—the unfailing desire to adhere to normal social constructs. The dentist should be cleaning my teeth, our brains protest, not selling earrings bedazzled with them! Further on in the episode, during the dentist-turned-barber hoax, we encounter another universal crutch: white lies. “Please, don’t make me feel bad!” the patient pleads when the planted dentist becomes emotionally distraught after having slathered him in shaving cream, “You’re doing a good job, you are!” In this case, viewers can chuckle at the awkward situation while at the same time considering just how often they, too, voice such dishonesties in day-to-day
As the main character, Jimmy has spent his life “laughing to keep from crying,” and telling jokes to gain some illusion of control in bad situations. In a more subconscious, psychological way, Jimmy’s
For the duration of the story, there are several occurrences which exemplify insensitive as well as self-important mind-sets. Kenny, for instance, does not care about others around him; he is exceedingly self-absorbed. In one part, for instance, he jokingly yet dangerously runs Tub off the road with his vehicle. By doing so, Kenny is showing a careless side; a side that is neither concerned about hurting others nor himself. In his view, his entertainment comes before anything else; hence, injuring Tub was never a consideration. In addition, he also mercilessly taunts Tub about his weight when Kenny knows that it is both a touchy and upsetting subject matter for Tub. Frank, too, is also very self-centered since he is willing to leave his wife for their fifteen year old babysitter, who is barely half-way done with high school. The third main character, Tub, is also quite narcissistic because he becomes immensely defensive when it comes to his weight since he allows Kenny’s mock to offend him; therefore, Tub is egotistical given that he is fixated with his image.
...gue, the love song, written by Tears for Fears in the background accurately portrays the hidden theme of love, whereas some of the characters actions in the scene signify hatred and rebelliousness, much like Donnie’s relationship with his family and the people in his life. In terms of cinematography and Donnie’s back door exit from the bus, one could interpret this canted angle shot as Donnie exiting a casket, a visual representation of him cheating death, much like he did the night when the jet engine crashed into his unoccupied room. Overall, the sequence gives the audience a more straightforward look at the life of Donnie, the people in the community, and people influence one another, much like a domino effect. The cinematography, editing, and sound all play one major role in the film; signifying a representation of human interaction without the use of dialogue.
Kenny is the bully of the group. He is constantly making fun of Frank and Tub, playing on their insecurities. Kenny is the stereotypical alpha male. He has to be in control. Even the smallest factor, such as driving, has to be done by Kenny. He has to be the one driving. Kenny doesn't care when he's an hour late picking up Tub. He has the audacity to pretend that he is going to hit Tub with his truck. He refuses to listen to Tub's complaints when he gets in the truck and continues on his way. His pompous statements annoy Frank and Tub. "`You ask me how I want to die today,' Kenny said `I'll tell you burn me at the stake'" (Wolff 77). When Kenny threatens to tell Tub Frank's secret, Frank tells him that he is asking for it. Even early on in the trip Kenny is annoying the two men. He snaps when Tub and Frank challenge him. Frank tries to tell him it's not their fault they didn't kill a deer and Kenny is outraged. "`You go with them,' Kenny said. `I came out here to get me a deer, not to listen to a bunch of hippie bullshit. And if it hadn't been for dimples here I would have too... And you, you're too busy thinking about that little jailbait of yours yo...
Humor is the first thing you begin to notice take place throughout his story, which makes the reader feel unquestionably embarrassed for him. From the first sentence, he says when he is
; After Willy was fired, for being too old, too inept or both supposedly, Willy pretends he's still working and doesn't let his wife in. on the bad news. Too stubborn to accept a job from his next-door neighbour. Willy is forced to lie to his family.
...audience laugh and pay better attention to his primary message. O’Brien is basically conveying to the viewers, that he has been through the same struggles they face everyday.
Comedy differs in the mood it approaches and addresses life. It presents situations which deal with common ground of man’s social experience rather than limits of his behaviour – it is not life in the tragic mode, lived at the difficult and perilous limits of the human condition.
INTRODUCTION “Our brains take a shortcut to make us feel better, and we oversimplify things into general categories, resulting in binary thinking.” This quote by Wendy Conrad made on 1/11/23 describes the binary thinking of Romeo and Juliet. Binary thinking refers to a mode of thinking that categorizes ideas, concepts, or situations into two opposing categories. On the other hand, directional thinking is a pattern of thought that works on moving the discussion forward, moving a step closer to a solution. The tools of directional thinking are an opportunity arbitrarily given to you or intentionally created, and a direction setting decisionThe play Romeo and Juliet written by William Shakespeare in the late 1500s.
Forrest Gump is one of those great films that brings out all kinds of emotions. The opening scene is the most symbolic of the entire movie. The white feather floating and eventually falling next to Forrest Gump’s feet, sets the stage for a story to be told by Forrest. The lighting is natural, as Forrest sits on a bench at a bus stop. The music starts and the lighting gets brighter, as to draw in the audience’s attention to something that is about to happen (Boggs & Petrie, 2008). The setting is just an ordinary city in Savannah, Georgia (Zemeckis & Roth, 1994). Forrest picks up the feather and places it in his Curious George book. The white feather represents the innocence and purity of Forrest Gump. The bus stop is where Forrest initiates the storytelling and continues to tell his life story to each and every person he comes in contact with at the bus stop. Forrest Gump (Tom Hanks) is a mentally challenged man (Zemeckis & Roth, 1994). Tom Hank’s performance is so believable and outstanding. He’s dressed in a suit in the sultry heat of Georgia, but the setting on the bench is shaded as the sun is shining in the background. The camera stays on Forrest and moves over to each individual he’s talking to for their reaction. Forrest is so intrigued with his own life that he doesn’t really care what the other people think as he continues on with his story telling. Forrest knows a lot about the world from his perspective but not necessarily from reality. The theme of Forrest Gump is how life’s obstacles can be overcome by how one perceives them.
The nature of comedy has always left it somewhat resistant to critical analysis, and to some extent the same can be said for comedic actors. The class-clowns of Hollywood like Will Ferrell are often times constructed as being nothing more than amusing, so they seem like a simple case study.... ... middle of paper ... ...