Line #43 JustForFun/ManGettingHitByFootball


1	[[quoteright:249:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/man_getting_hit_by_football_8833.PNG]]
2	[[caption-width-right:249:Ouch!]]
3	->''"The ball! His groin! It works on so many levels!"''
4	-->'''[[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson Springfield Film Festival judge's]] review'''
5
6	''Man Getting Hit by Football'' is a classic short film made by and starring [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons Hans Moleman]], created for a film festival in his small town of Springfield ([[WhereTheHellIsSpringfield the creator never told us which one]]). The premise is simple, [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin it's about a man getting hit by a football]]. The film was not well-received when it was released.[[note]]Well, except by [[Characters/TheSimpsonsHomerSimpson one judge]], who ''loved'' it.[[/note]] However, it went on to be VindicatedByHistory, getting itself a successful remake which earned Creator/GeorgeCScott an [[UsefulNotes/AcademyAward Oscar]].
7
8	The original can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUTVmuqviqE here.]] The George C. Scott remake can be viewed [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=by2JRnU8Wxc here.]]
9	----
10	!!Tropes:
11	* ActingForTwo: Possible in the original version, depending on if the narrator is the titular man or not.
12	* AlternateCharacterInterpretation: Is the man the unfortunate victim of football throwing? Or [[{{Jerkass}} someone]] who was [[AssholeVictim fully deserving]] of the football to the groin? The film seems to lean towards the former.
13	** For that matter, the person who threw the football, [[{{Jerkass}} did they intend to hit the man?]] Or was it an accident and they were too far away to warn the poor man, or too close to do so in time?
14	* AmbiguousEnding: Did the thrower run away? Come to the man's aid? Laugh at him? The film ends before we get an answer, leading to multiple interpretations.
15	* UsefulNotes/AmericanFootball: The specific kind of football that the man gets hit by.
16	* AmusingInjuries: While a majority of the film festival audience didn't find it amusing, the football hitting the man is accompanied by a cartoonish sound effect that lessens the tragedy of the situation.
17	* AuthorAppeal: Averted. It's doubtful Hans Moleman found any appeal in this.
18	* AwardSnub: Sadly, it lost out the short film ''Pukahontas.''
19	* BeamMeUpScotty: The title itself is sometimes mistakenly remembered as "Football in the Groin", which only further spoils the ending.
20	* ButtMonkey: The man.
21	* CultClassic: Despite its lack of popularity with the critics, it earned a riotous review and following from one judge.
22	* DarkHorseVictory: The remake, rumors persist Charles Montgomery Burns [[BribingYourWayToVictory had bribed the judge's panel to get his own entry to win.]] Ironically, he had also submitted an entry to the same festival that premiered the original. While he came in second place during the festival, his film wasn't as lucky at the Oscars. Ironically, the director of ''Football'' cheered Burns' film with a hearty "Boo-urns!"
23	* DirectedByCastMember: Hans Moleman is both the creator and sole on-screen cast member of the original version.
24	* DownerEnding: The man gets hit by a football and is left while cringing in pain.
25	* ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin: It's about a man. Who gets hit by a football.
26	* FirstInstallmentWins: A lot of people prefer the original.
27	* FoundFootage: Rumored to be one, instead of a regular narrative film.
28	* SugarWiki/FunnyMoments: When the man got hit by the football.
29	-->'''Homer:''' This contest is over! Give that man the $10,000!
30	-->'''[[WesternAnimation/TheCritic Jay]]:''' This isn't ''Series/AmericasFunniestHomeVideos''.
31	-->'''Homer:''' But... the ball! His groin! Ha ha! It works on so many levels! ''({{beat}})'' Roll it again.
32	* TheGhost: The thrower of the football doesn't appear on-screen in either version.
33	* GroinAttack: It happens to the eponymous man.
34	* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: The person who threw the football.
35	* HilariousInHindsight: ''A Burns For All Seasons'' lost ''twice'' to this film.
36	* InTheStyleOf: The credits and framing of the film seems to {{Homage}} SilentFilm, though it's in color and has sound.
37	* ItWasHisSled: ''Man Getting Hit By Football'' has the ending right there in the title, but the man getting hit in the groin specifically used to be a surprise. Now the film and this twist are so well-known.
38	* KarmaHoudini: The football-thrower is not known to have gotten any comeuppance for his action.
39	* LargeHam: Averted by TheStoic Hans Moleman. Played straight by the typically hammy George C. Scott.
40	* {{Minimalism}}: The entire film consists of a simple shot of actor Hans Moleman's house.
41	* NarratorAllAlong: The narrator, Hans Moleman ("Man getting hit by [=footbaaaAAAAaaaaall=]"), turns out in a shocking PlotTwist to be the man hit by the football.
42	* NoNameGiven: While the original film, created and acted by Hans Moleman, is presented with his name during the title sequence, the titular "man" isn't directly given a name (unless his name is itself "Man"), leaving it as an exercise to the viewer whether AsHimself is in play or not. The football thrower isn't named either.
43	* OneHitKO: Well, the man does get incapacitated by a single football hitting him in the groin.
44	* TheOner: The brilliant camera work allows the film to be a single shot for the ''entire'' running time.
45	* OwMyBodyPart: In the remake, George C. Scott says "Aaagh! My groin!" when he's hit.
46	* TheRemake: Featuring George C. Scott and the bonus line "Aaagh! My groin!"
47	* SadistShow: Certainly evident by some viewers, such as one unknown judge of the Springfield Film Festival who was reported to fall into hysterical laughter upon seeing it.
48	* ShortFilm: Short doesn't begin to describe this film. It may as well be ''JustForFun/TheUglyBarnacle'' of films.
49	* SpoilerTitle: We all know what the ending is...
50	* VindicatedByHistory: The first film.
51	* WriteWhatYouKnow: Hans Moleman was BornUnlucky, to the point that it's entirely possible, though unproven, that the events of the film [[ThrowItIn coincidentally played out]] as he was about to film himself doing something else.

Context JustForFun / ManGettingHitByFootball