I'm sick of pretending that I know what's going on when people make pop culture references to The Hangover. Even my eleven-year old brother had watched this film before I did.
No longer: I’ve finally watched this widely celebrated gem of our century’s comedic liturgy. It was a fantastic breakaway from my teary-eyed watching of Titanic on day 1 because as you know, The Hangover is very funny.
(By the way, I had nightmares about getting stuck on the Titanic with T-Pain and Andy Samberg before it went down painfully. I watched Samberg die and then I cried. I couldn’t get back to sleep.)
Anyway, because I was late to the party, it would be futile for me to just talk about how fantastically funny The Hangover was. Instead, I’m going to pedantically analyze its implications for society. Because that’s what film majors do.
A Pedantic Analysis of The Hangover as
- Genre: This addition to the new Millenial Bromance Genre humorously portrays a struggle between and among men in relation to a changing modern society. Films of this genre tackle issues of loss of masculinity in modern society, the changing institution of marriage, an exaggerated take on the societal implications of alcohol, and of course, the importance of getting laid.
- Other films of this genre: Superbad, American Pie, American Pie 2, 41 Year Old Virgin, Knocked Up (again, all films I haven't seen, but I know enough about them to know that they fit in this genre)
- Cinematography: There is an extreme use of montages, but appropriately so in the sense that the montages are not fantastical (as with most portrayals of Vegas) and actually build upon a mockery of montage. Of course, there are also plenty of fun panoramic shots that incorporate a time-lapse effect. This is appropriate for the passage of time depicted throughout the movie.
- Overarching Thematic Message: The lack of remembering is a metaphor for the rapid change in society with regard to the role of males - they no longer remember what they were supposed to be given that the 20th century's patriarchal society is rapidly dissolving to the past. This is accentuated in the film's focus on the humor of the aftermath of the partying rather than on the event of partying itself - after all, for the youth of society, this is a very relatable concept. In line with the thematic message, however, we as a society no longer have memory of an "intact" male-dominated and patriarchal society. The party is over, and now, we must pick up the pieces so that we may move forward and restore order.
- Analysis of the characters:
- Phil represents lack of humor and taking his modern roles too seriously. In fact he's a father who is so uncharacteristically dedicated to his children that even when he and his friends look over the photos from their crazy night, he holds his sleeping son on his chest, a humorous yet stark contrast to the asinine behavior under review. He is also a teacher, which is a stereotypically female profession, but like everything else, he takes it seriously, almost attempting to overcompensate for his lack of masculinity.
- Alan actually acts as a symbol of homosexuality and of course of humor. After all, he does carry that man purse, and his preoccupation with impressing the other three guys is what ultimately leads to their downfall. (The downfall of modern day masculinity? Mayhaps.) On a side note, I knew from other people's accounts that Zach Galafinakis (the bloke who played Alan) was my boyfriend's doppleganger of sorts. I can confirm now this and it freaks me ou
- Stu represents that castrated, whipped male dating an overbearing and controlling girlfriend Melissa, an abusive female figure only familiar to society within the past thirty years. Melissa's aggression stems from her forthright attempts to assert herself in the same rapidly developing modern society that is degrading manhood. Unfortunately, this approach is not only unbalanced, but dangerous for females as well. Men and women must coexist in a balanced world.
- Doug represents the struggle to maintain modern day masculinity and seek balance with the female counterpart.
- All four men must come together, remember their night, and restore equilibrium in each of their lives for the masculine, balanced, heterosexual man (Doug) to emerge in marriage, that sacred bond between a man and a woman that so many fundamentalists value. By the end of the film, they do restore this, and upon finding their camera, they're able to remember their amazing and funny night of partying that we as the viewers get to revel in as well.
I hope you learned something new in the realm of absolute critical thinking and accurate analysis of films. You'll never watch The Hangover the same way again. Now, isn't that annoying?
By the way, have you laughed today? If you haven't, here's a clip of Zach Galafinakis killin' it in his opening monologue as host of Saturday Night Live.
No comments:
Post a Comment