Why We Must Laugh

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There are Holocaust films that are unexpectedly much cheerier than most Holocaust films. There is a never ending comedic feel in Life Is Beautiful that the main character offers with his entertaining and spontaneous personality. His creativity helped keep the story light when it was in reality a grueling subject. The success of Benigni's Life Is Beautiful seemed to mark the beginning of a new trend: holocaust comedies. The comedic aspect of Life is Beautiful brought out a different perspective of the holocaust that could make interpreting the holocaust in a less biased form. It was followed by Jacob the Liar with Robin Williams, the remake of the old GDR Cinema classic about the owner of a small shop in the ghetto who pretends to have a hidden radio-receiver and regularly tells his terrified fellows uplifting news about approaching German defeat that he allegedly learned from the radio. Throughout segments of the film, humor is carefully interwoven into dialogue and scenes to lighten the dark backdrop that the Holocaust stages for the film viewers, similar to the film Life is Beautiful. By using an actor widely known for his talent for humor, it is success to portray a less somber view of Holocaust events than what are typically documented. In the context of a storyline that focuses upon imparting how a ray of hope in darkness can make all the difference in the lives of those for whom the ray shines on, the use of humor would certainly work. Significantly, both films are centralized on a lie that allows the vulnerable Jews to survive the ordeal. Holocaust comedies are able to create a sense of balance in emotions that help the viewing audience see how laughter in a grave matter can benefit their understanding of the subject.
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...ithout comic relief, the audience is forced to only feel horrified by what they are seeing when in reality such atrocious things never happened. The directors who dared to infuse comedy into their works all had the common goal to help the people watching the films understand the Holocaust more profoundly. Comedy can help display how the victims of the Holocaust truly were as innocent people, and further emphasize the level of repulsion that actually went on in these situations. In each Holocaust comedy there is a perfect combination between humor and grief that stays with us from the first to the last line.

Works Cited

Geldzahler, Justin. “We Laugh So We Don't Cry: The Humor in Holocaust Films.” Splitsider.
N.p., 31 May 2012. Web. 02 Mar. 2014.
Zizek, Slavoj. “Laugh Yourself to Death: The New Wave of Holocaust Comedies!” N.p., 15 Dec. 1999. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.

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