History Main / ComedyGhetto

[[Films -- Animation]]

[[folder:Film]]

* Because Creator/{{Pixar}} has become famous for their deep, mature, and emotional storytelling, their lighter films tend to be hit hard by this status, even if they become successful films in their own right.
** ''WesternAnimation/{{Luca}}'' is a far smaller and more lighthearted affair than the rest of Pixar's output, as besides the cartoonier art style and greater emphasis on comedy, it has no grand adventure or the deep emotional and philosophical moments found in other Pixar films, and it has a more grounded and low-stakes conflict than other Pixar films, with even the main villain being more of a mean bully than a true legitimate threat ([[spoiler:until the third act]]). While the film is still popular and beloved overall, its breezy SliceOfLife tone and small stakes has caused some critics and Pixar fans to dismiss and scoff at the film, with some viewing it as inferior to Pixar's past work, if not one of the studio's weakest or even worst films, simply because it lacks the emotional depth and pathos that Pixar is known for.
** Despite the fact ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' still has Pixar's emotional storytelling, many people have been turned off from this movie due to having a bigger emphasis on comedy than the average film from the studio.

* ''Thespis'', the first Creator/GilbertAndSullivan operetta, ends with a TakeThat at the notion that tragedy is the higher art, suggesting that it is unwanted by the public. The angry [[Myth/ClassicalMythology Jupiter]] sends the Thespians away with this punishment:

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' was, in its day, often dismissed for its frequent comedic tone. However, since the series is a CerebusRollercoaster, it can be plenty serious when it wants to be.
** Its LighterAndSofter spinoff series ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGo'' has garnered high disdain by many fans of the original ''Teen Titans'', many of whom now view the original series through a NostalgiaFilter as being more "mature" and "serious" than it actually was. This is even referenced in ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitansGoVsTeenTitans'', where the respective teams insult each other over this before running into alternate selves that are more serious (the WesternAnimation/DCUniverseAnimatedOriginalMovies) and more childish (''ComicBook/TinyTitans'') than either will ever be.

There's an insidious school of thought circulating among the world's pop-culture enthusiasts and critics. It states that comedy is not and indeed ''cannot'' be TrueArt. Since TrueArtIsAngsty and offensive (if not downright [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible incomprehensible]]), it logically follows that something lighthearted, created to inspire joy and laughter amongst the public, must not be true art, right? Sadly, many people seem to think so. For instance, [[AwardSnub can you remember the last time a comedy film won the Academy Award for Best Picture]]? Exactly. And the numbers predict that it's pretty unlikely.[[note]]To be fair, if you include {{dramedy}} films, then the genre has averaged a win once every five years, though there have been longer gaps such as the nine years between 2002's ''{{Film/Chicago}}'' and 2011's ''Film/TheArtist''. Exclude them though, and one could argue that no comedy film has gotten the award since 1973's ''Film/TheSting''.[[/note]] Perhaps for this reason, the Golden Globe Awards have separate categories for comedies and dramas.

There's an insidious school of thought circulating among the world's pop-culture enthusiasts and critics. It states that comedy is not and indeed ''cannot'' be TrueArt. Since TrueArtIsAngsty and offensive (if not downright [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible incomprehensible]]), it logically follows that something lighthearted, created to inspire joy and laughter amongst the public, must not be true art, right? Sadly, many people seem to think so. For instance, [[AwardSnub can you remember the last time a comedy film won the Academy Award for Best Picture]]?[[note]]It was 2022's ''Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce'' followed by 2018's ''Film/GreenBook'', 2014's ''Film/BirdmanOrTheUnexpectedVirtueOfIgnorance'', 2011's ''Film/TheArtist'', 2002's ''{{Film/Chicago}}'', 1998's ''Film/ShakespeareInLove'', 1994's ''Film/ForrestGump'', 1989's ''Film/DrivingMissDaisy'', 1988's ''Film/RainMan'', 1983's ''Film/TermsOfEndearment'' and 1977's ''Film/AnnieHall''. About one every five years.[[/note]] Exactly, and the numbers predict that it's pretty unlikely. Perhaps for this reason, the Golden Globe Awards have separate categories for comedies and dramas.

* When the Academy averted this and awarded the Best Supporting Actress award to Creator/MarisaTomei for her performance as Mona Lisa Vito, it was considered such an upset that there were persistent (and false) rumors that the wrong name was read out and the Academy just went with it.

* Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling is a permanent resident to some fans[[note]]Just [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M6C0m9i77W8&t=493s take a look]] at the [[FranchiseOriginalSin very first match]] they ever aired if you want to know ''why'' some fans think this[[/note]], often being described as "PWG with a TV deal", and considering that a lot of the same people hold high ranking positions in both companies it's not an unfair comparison. Subverted somewhat in that AEW CEO/booker Tony Khan really likes the comedic sort of wrestling (case in point, he's called Wrestling/OrangeCassidy his favorite wrestler, and it shows by the way Cassidy is booked) and much of this is by design, and he doesn't consider this trope a bad thing.

* Wrestling/AllEliteWrestling is a permanent resident to some fans, often being described as "PWG with a TV deal", and considering that a lot of the same people hold high ranking positions in both companies it's not an unfair comparison. Subverted somewhat in that AEW CEO/booker Tony Khan really likes the comedic sort of wrestling (case in point, he's called Wrestling/OrangeCassidy his favorite wrestler, and it shows by the way Cassidy is booked) and much of this is by design, and he doesn't consider this trope a bad thing.

** Averted when both ''Film/Aquaman2018'' and ''Film/Shazam2019'' took a lighthearted comedic approach and were acclaimed for it (especially because unlike ''Suicide Squad'', they were planned that way to begin with instead of [[ExecutiveMeddling having the tone changed during production]] - the same can be said for the films with characters from ''Suicide Squad'', ''Film/BirdsOfPrey'' and ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'', both of whom had dark and violent elements but still leaned heavily on the comedy).

* While some films of Creator/LouisDeFunes did good with most critics (his Gérard Oury efforts in particular, like ''Film/LaGrandeVadrouille'' and ''Film/TheSucker''), he generally wasn't a darling to them, due to him always playing slapstick comedy roles. Filmmakers and critics who became prominent with the UsefulNotes/FrenchNewWave generally despised him and his [[ItsPopularNowItSucks popular success]].

* Wrestling/{{Chikara}} and Wrestling/ProWrestlingGuerilla. Many older fans and especially those that still have a high degree of respect for Main/{{Kayfabe}} are absolutely horrified by what they see with these promotions and others like them. The wider wrestling fanbase mostly just ignores them.

* Wrestling/EddieGuerrero got away with it and is a notable aversion, possibly because his comedic cheating ways had become so endeared by fans.

* Invoked in a musical number by Creator/WillFerrell, Creator/JackBlack, and Creator/JohnCReilly at the 79th [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Academy Awards Ceremony]] titled "A Comedian At the Oscars."
-->''A comedian at the Oscars, is the saddest man of all\\
Your movies may make millions, but your name they'll never call\\
I guess you don't like laughter, and a smile brings you down\\
A comedian at the Oscars, is the saddest, bitterest, alcoholic clown''

* The song "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5JAPkvnyso A Comedian at the Oscars]]" performed by Creator/WillFerrell, Creator/JackBlack and Creator/JohnCReilly at the 79th Academy Awards is a biting satire of this idea. Ferrell and Black begin by pretending to challenge Oscar winners and nominees to a fight over the preferential treatment of dramatic actors before Reilly teaches them that they, too, can win awards if only they learn to accept absurdly tragic roles.

-> ''"Everybody knows that comedy is the lowest form of entertainment, next to [[AnimationAgeGhetto animation]]."''

-> ''"Everybody knows that comedy is the lowest form of entertainment, next to animation."''

There's an insidious school of thought circulating among the world's pop-culture enthusiasts and critics. It states that comedy is not and indeed ''cannot'' be TrueArt. Since TrueArtIsAngsty and offensive (if not down right [[TrueArtIsIncomprehensible incomprehensible]]), it logically follows that something lighthearted, created to inspire joy and laughter amongst the public, must not be true art, right? Sadly, many people seem to think so. For instance, [[AwardSnub can you remember the last time a comedy film won the Academy Award for Best Picture]]?[[note]]It was 2022's ''Film/EverythingEverywhereAllAtOnce'' followed by 2018's ''Film/GreenBook'', 2014's ''Film/BirdmanOrTheUnexpectedVirtueOfIgnorance'', 2011's ''Film/TheArtist'', 2002's ''{{Film/Chicago}}'', 1998's ''Film/ShakespeareInLove'', 1994's ''Film/ForrestGump'', 1989's ''Film/DrivingMissDaisy'', 1988's ''Film/RainMan'', 1983's ''Film/TermsOfEndearment'' and 1977's ''Film/AnnieHall''. About one every five years.[[/note]] Exactly, and the numbers predict that it's pretty unlikely. Perhaps for this reason, the Golden Globe Awards have separate categories for comedies and dramas.

* Although speaking of superhero cinematic franchises, the Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse tends to invert this; one of the most frequent criticisms for several of the movies so far released in it have received is that they're too dark, humorless and introspective, and could probably stand to lighten up and take themselves a bit less seriously like the MCU does.

** Averted when both ''Film/Aquaman2018'' and ''Film/Shazam2019'' took a lighthearted comedic approach and were acclaimed for it (especially because unlike ''Suicide Squad'', they were planned that way to begin with instead of [[ExecutiveMeddling having the tone changed during production]] - and the same can be said for the films actually with characters from ''Suicide Squad'', ''Film/BirdsOfPrey'' and ''Film/TheSuicideSquad'', both of whom had dark and violent elements but still leaned heavily on the comedy).

* This digs a chasm of mutual misunderstanding between the critical élite, and everybody else, in Great Britain. There is a tradition of the critics expressing a shuddering distaste, at best, and outright contempt, at worst, for popular sitcoms and comedy productions. [[note]]also applies to Literature; there appears to be an attitude among the cultural critics that if a work is popular, then by extention it is of no literary worth or value. Authors like Creator/TerryPratchett have been on the receiving end of this prejudice.[[/note]] At the same time, works despised by the critics also tend to be beloved by fans. This only serves to make the critics crankier. A TV sitcom that suffered from this in TheSeventies was ''Series/LoveThyNeighbour''; even in the 2010's, it is still sought out by fans. A more recent example of a comedy hated by critics but which draws in millions of viewers is ''Series/MrsBrownsBoys''.

* Music/TheBonzoDogBand were mostly seen as a novelty act throughout their career because of their silly antics and StylisticSuck playing. They are often overlooked when discussing the great bands of TheSixties. Nevertheless both Music/TheBeatles and Creator/MontyPython have named them as a huge inspiration.

* While nothing to do with films per se, this trope does come up with regards to wrestlers that have comedy gimmicks. A lot of wrestling purists absolutely despise wrestlers that have [[TheGimmick gimmicks]] designed to entertain the fans and make them laugh, [[KidAppealCharacter especially if their fans are primarily children]]. Some fans that value only the athleticism in wrestling seem to assume that more gimmick-centred wrestlers are somehow "cheating" and aren't real wrestlers when most successful wrestlers are successful because they can wrestle, with a gimmick just helping people identify and remember them more easily.

* Wrestling/{{CMLL}} exotico Maximo is an exception that proves the rule. Foreign viewers came under the assumption the promotion was more comedy based when they saw him as World Heavyweight Champion. It's not, the world heavyweight title simply isn't the end all be all of CMLL, where all weight classes are respected and of all the other world titles, none of them had contemporary titleholders to Maximo who were also comedy luchadors. In fact the only other champion you could call such was National Welterweight Champion Bárbaro Cavernario. Not to take away from their success, World anything is good and the Welterweight is the most prestigious of any level but it is more so the fact Mexican majors are just more open to giving pushes in general. Similarly, Los Psycho Circus were Wrestling/{{AAA}}'s most popular trio but [[CircusOfFear if they could be called a comedy group]] they still operated in what was otherwise one of AAA's most DarkerAndEdgier periods where they were the only 'comedy' champions.

* There has been much discontent from fans of VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog (well, [[BrokenBase more so than usual]]) when Ken Pontac and Warren Graff started writing the cutscenes and dialogue for the games, as they yanked the narrative style from the rather bleak and serious tone of games like ''VideoGame/SonicAdventure2'' and ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog2006'' to the heavily comedic ''VideoGame/SonicColors'' and ''VideoGame/SonicLostWorld''. And that's not even mentioning the actual ''quality'' of their writing, which according to most of the fanbase ranges from decent to pretty awful.

-> ''"Everyone knows comedy is the lowest form of entertainment, next to animation."''