Drawing Travis Bickle from Taxi Driver for today’s comic kind of gave me a queasy feeling. The character has become synonymous with a deranged world view. Its like drawing Charles Manson.
That said, I think you guys will be impressed by the incentive image I cooked up for Top Web Comics. It’s my rendition of a classic Bickle pose. You’ll recognize it when you see it.
I tried something different with this sketch and made a conscious effort to loosen up my inking style. I think it fits really well with Bickle’s unhinged nature. Vote for Theater Hopper at Top Web Comics to see it.
I’ll take this opportunity to mention that Theater Hopper has been hovering around the number 15 spot on the list since we reinstated our relationship with Top Web Comics at the beginning of the month. Thanks so much for voting. Let’s see if we can crack the Top 10!
Back to the topic at hand, Observe and Report comes out this weekend and it sounds like people are on guard for this one. Paul Blart 2 this is not.
While star Seth Rogen was making the promotional rounds on all of the talk shows last week, he kept mentioning over and over how he couldn’t believe how a major studio let them get away with making a comedy this dark and disturbing. It was Rogen himself who I heard spit the comedic Taxi Driver reference (although didn’t DeNiro already cover that territory with The King of Comedy back in 1982?)
But I digress.
Some people might accuse Rogen and the producers of trying to distance themselves from the surprising success of Paul Blart: Mall Cop and it’s family-friendly tones by focusing on the subversiveness of Observe and Report and I think that’s a smart strategy.
I think it was an unfortunate coincidence that two comedies that focus on mall security guards happened to come out within months of each other and certainly no one wants their picture to be viewed as sloppy seconds.
But what’s possibly most unsettling is that Observe and Report was going for the jugular from the get-go. Writer/director Jody Hill knew he wanted to film something disturbing and – from the sound of it – Rogen’s character was a fully-formed sociopath from the word “go.”
Does the film go to far? Some people are already complaining that it does. Read this article from New York Magazine that asks the question Does Seth Rogen Rape Anna Faris in Observe and Report?
Yeah, duck and cover, kids.
With this kind of buzz swirling around the movie, it’ll be interesting to see how it stacks up against the competition. I don’t think anyone has a chance standing up to the juggernaut that was Fast & Furious last weekend. Even if it loses half of its audience in the second week, it’ll still land with $36 million in box office.
But because of it’s reputation, I wonder how strong of a showing Observe and Report can make.
Cami has told me she has no interest in seeing the film and steeled her resolve when I told her how dark the film was supposed to be. Dark comedies have a hard time finding audiences. Look at The Cable Guy or even Donnie Darko (to a degree). I think the people who love those films love them.
While most people who are on the fence about those films can appreciate what makes them entertaining, I think most of the audience would not prefer to see them ever again. Will Observe and Report suffer a similar fate once the curious onlooker quotient moves on? Once the shock has worn off, will the movie become a simple cult film? Time will tell.
Personally, I think the climate might be right for a subversive comedy like this. After a string of non-offensive comedies capped by the much-loved (be pretty much toothless) I Love You, Man, Observe and Report might find a niche.
What’s your take? Will you see Observe and Report this weekend. How do you feel about a film that plays date rape for laughs? Are there some subjects that just aren’t funny? Where do you draw the line?
Leave your comments below!
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I saw the Red Band Trailer for this flick over on JLCM and was immediately turned off by the excessive use of profanity in it. I am far from being a prude but every other word in the 2 minute or so clip was a four letter one. If that is what they are trying to do to get laughs, then I ain’t going to see it.
(Aside from the fact that it isn’t opening within 2000 miles of me sort of make that easy to say.)
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@chuckers First of all, with a red band trailer, THAT’S WHY IT’S RED BAND. It’s an R Rated Comedy.
I actually went to the premiere for this and seriously, the movie is really, really good. Dark, funny, a little heartbreaking, uncompromising, uncomfortable. Jody Hill is a talented writer/director (I’m also a huge fan of Eastbound and Down) and I can’t wait to see more from him. Thank god Eastbound and Down was picked up for another season.
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I would really like to see observe and Report, not just because I love Seth Rogen (I know he’s not the most amazing actor but he is funny and attractive). I like the dark comedy edge that it has. These kinds of movies don’t recieve the success they should. I know it’s going to be better then Mall Cop (which I was forced to see against my will) but I doubt it’ll rake in as many people (especially with stupid Hanna Montana coming out). AND to make matters worse I won’t get to see the movie this weekend because everyone else condems the movie as crap. WHY IS LIFE SO CRUEL!!!!
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I’m still on the fence about this one. It’s good to see Seth Rogen playing a character that doesn’t appear to be himself, but I feel like from the trailers this doesn’t aim for comedy as much as it does shock value. Maybe if my college brings it to campus in a few months I’ll bite, but for now I’ll sit on my hands.
…how do you consider Donnie Darko a comedy? The only truly funny part of that film is the “suck a f**k” sequence.
==TJ==
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And regarding the box office numbers, you’re forgetting something. The accursed Hannah Montana movie comes out today. If that movie doesn’t go to number one, the Disney execs are probably going to mobilize their evil robot army and force people into movie theaters to watch it on 24-hour loops, or something equally terrifying.
Suffice it to say, the world will bow before Miley Cyrus before this weekend ends. Make peace with your God now while there’s still time.
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umm.. tom, u put I looks like paul blart 2. isn’t supposed to be It looks like paul blart 2?
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Argh! Late night lettering session! The typo’s best friend!
I’ll fix tonight, Inho. Thanks for the head’s up.
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I haven’t actually seen the red band trailer for Observe and Report, in fact all I’ve seen is the regular one. And that gave me the impression it was just some light, cash-the-paycheck comedy for Rogen, so all this talk of it being really dark is new to me. I was just going to write it off, but as a fan of black and dark humor, I may have to give this one a look.
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I’m a 23 year old male. This movie appeals to me.
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I realise that red band trailers are supposed to be a bit more risque than normal but you
would think they would still try to make the trailer balanced enough to show what the move
might be like. Since it was heavily towards the “this is why it is R-rated so suck it” variety,
it really put me off. Watching it while my 2 year old daughter in the room didn’t really endear
it to me either. That was mostly my fault.
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Loved the rendering of Bickle; you catch him very well. And when he gets goofy in the last pannel, with expressions DeNero used in AWAKENINGS: Spot on!
If this movie does nothing else (Lord willing), at least it can claim to have led to a great THEATER HOPPER piece!
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Nice lower left hand panel. He looks so nasty.
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“Are there some subjects that just aren’t funny? Where do you draw the line?”
Most people draw the line at their personal survival.
I have a theory about humor and this may be a bit long if you will indulge me.
Humor is drawn from mitigated fear. Humor is not biological it is intellectual.
A situation has to be perceived before it is understood and can become humorous. Biology only deals with action and reaction to physical consequence. If someone is assaulting you it is dangerous and the biological reaction is to save yourself. The intellect comes in and decides if you should run, cower or fight.
If someone else is being assaulted the biological self is safe. The intellect perceives the situation and has to chose to empathize or ridicule. This is a survival based behavior. All intellectual observation is information that either reinforces ideas that you already have or shows new ideas on how to deal with a situation. Ideas you agree with you empathize with ideas you do not agree with you ridicule ideas you were not expecting can go either way.
All stories are self solving puzzles. Dramatic stories are puzzles with standard but undesired solutions forced upon the protagonist. Humorous stories are puzzles with unconventional solutions forced upon the puzzle.
People relate at different levels to different characters but all characters are just an amalgam of ideas the viewer sees as similar or different to their own.
With two characters that are dissimilar to the viewers ideas about who they are as a person the characters become observational instead of personal. Such characters in this cartoon like state become the subject of situations that would be terrible if they happened to the viewer but are funny when they happen to the dissimilar characters.
Unwanted assault is never funny to a person. Even upon a fictional character it is a bit of work to get it to a humorous level. Almodovar attempted to make a “humorous rape” in Kika and that did not pan out as the director thought it might. Where Observe and Report believes it negates the drama and transitions to humor is in the inclusion of the character who was passed out having a line that can be interpreted as encouraging the current situation even if that could be argued at a later time to be misinterpreted.
This however is a conceit of the writing and not in the general social concept about women, physical behavior and verbal contracts. Individuals will decide for themselves if they can distance the characterizations far enough from their own egos to find the scenes of any movie humorous or unpleasant. Most women and a few men generally cannot distance themselves from sexual assault to find it funny. Unless it is a crotch shot to a man but that is another rant altogether.
I remember seeing Home Alone in the theater and being filled with dread that I was surrounded by 800 people who found the assault on the robbers not just funny but uproariously delightful. I personally found it to be meh funny because it relied to much on realistic sound effects and visible wounding.
as for humor beyond physical and into the realm of “Surrealist art is not my cup of fur.” (Diane, Cheers). There is still a survival based play in misinterpretation. It is a different level of humor but there is a very real threat to a person’s survival if they are in a group that does not understand them. They could be shunned and denied food, shelter, comfort, medicine, income…. any of the many things people in social groups depend on each other for. This humor is based on accumulated understanding of social concepts and behaviors and playing with those ideas with a misunderstanding through either ignorance or confusion.
There is more to this concept but I have probably rambled on long enough. If it is unclear I apologize. I am not very adept at making succinct statements out of massive ideas.
In general people who find this movie funny will be people who have familiarity with the situations and have not felt any long lasting negative affects so they can relieve a little tension about the situations by seeing them played out with unconventional results with little negative affect to the character. (negative affect either in the fictional reality or in the perception of the character about their situation.)
People who do not find this movie funny will be people who have been through these situations or worry about being in a similar situation and do not think that it would be a marginal inconvenience in their lives.
It is all about where you draw your disconnect.
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“…didn’t DeNiro already cover that territory with The King of Comedy back in 1982?” Yeah … DeNiro and Scorsese both; that was my first thought too.
Love your Travis Bickle!
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Huh… I saw Observe and Report this weekend and somehow it never occurred to me to think of that scene that way. After the movie, I was thinking something more along the lines of “Man, Anna Faris played such a ***** in this one!” Seriously, her character was just so completely unattractive and unappealing in her behavior… I don’t think I was really even thinking about what was going through Seth Rogen’s character’s mind other than to wonder how he could even be attracted to her in the first place.
Rape or not, it really just seems like that was a pretty typical night out for that character anyway. She had been out partying with some friends before the date so she was already a bit drunk anyway. Then she goes and orders all those drinks since she knew that he was going to pay for it all. And then she pounced on the opportunity to talk him into giving her those pills. Clearly she has a problem there. It just looked like she put herself in the whole situation. She wanted to get wasted. He didn’t think to stop it because he was just trying to please her and she obviously didn’t want to stop what she was doing.
Not to say that he couldn’t have crossed a line somewhere though. At some point through all the booze and pills she had to be running on autopilot, no longer thinking about her actions even the slightest bit. As much as she brought it on herself and as much of a ***** and a slut as she is, he really should have known better than to go through with it.
That’s just it though, isn’t it? He didn’t know any better. Just look at his mom’s drinking problems and the story she tells him about how she met his father. How was he to know that **** like this isn’t normal or healthy?