Comedy Shift - Judd Apatow

            Judd Apatow is Hollywood’s new “lord of LOL hits,” (Entertainment Weekly). Creating recent blockbuster comedies like “The 40-Year Old Virgin,” “Knocked Up,” and “Superbad,” he has built a shelf for a new genre of comedy to sit on and with his success has proved “there's a certain style and tone of comedy movies that people like,” (Hollywood Reporter). This style is the R-rated comedy, where funny exaggerated stereotypical characters are replaced with more believable and reminiscent actors and plots. But what caused this shift in comedy? Could it have just been the right time for a shift? Has the era of Ben Stiller and Adam Sandler comedies become boring as they venture into more dramatic roles? Or possibly our staple comedic actors are reacting to this industry shift, set upon by demands of the audience for more raunchy, realistic humor? Within this paper I will discuss how the film audience has driven an industry shift for a new kind of comedy.    

            On the heels of some financial bombs like “Freaks and Geeks,” Apatow’s reputation of writing and producing did not yield successful grosses to consider him the next big thing. Recently dramatic films have been tanking at the box office, where historically they have guaranteed big openings and lots of marketing success in sponsorships, book sales and cross product promotions. This dip in profits from dramatic films has left a void that has been filled with comedy, and according to box office revenue and audience buzz we can see that “Apatow is defining humor for this generation. His frank sex comedies have an innocent center: All that horniness aside, love, friendship, and commitment do matter,” (Entertainment Weekly). His double hit, “Knocked Up” and “Superbad” did a combined $270 million, and that doesn’t include DVD sales for the newly released “Superbad.”

The audience wants to see something they can relate to. Over is the era of laughing at yet another exaggerated character from Eddie Murphy or Adam Sandler; that template has been overplayed and thus might have affected the shift to R-rated comedies. Comedy is now funny because it’s producers illicit a reaction from the crowd by showcasing scenes like pregnancy, underage drinking and sex, and tends to stay away from the stereotypical leading man or woman who exerts all that is found in a popular high school athlete or cheerleader. We, as the audience find ourselves in these same situations, and that is funny. A Rolling Stone review cited this movie as “powered by a comedy dream team, this shitfaced American Graffiti dares to show it has a heart.”

            Not only are “raunchy-yet-resonant laughfests” (Entertainment Weekly) making us double over in hysterics, they are also very commercially viable, a trait of some contrast in the past regarding R-rated comedies. In an interview with the Hollywood Reporter, Sony (the distributor of “Superbad”) reflects on the sell-ability of these comedies: “Before then, people were afraid of these hard, R-rated comedies with really out-there subject matter, but suddenly that is a positive.” Sony also backs up their statement with hard evidence in the form of sales numbers. They reported a loss of $134.8 million loss last year, but a positive income of $23 million post-“Superbad,” confirming that the film helped move them out of the red. Apatow is also being commended for being a brand builder by further launching the careers of actors like Seth Rogen and Steve Carell, which help cement the sturdiness of the R-rated comedy.

            Positive revenues are one way to test audience reaction, or to confirm what you already knew was a winner. In a Rolling Stone interview with Brian Hiatt, Judd Apatow reflects on his past television flops, “'Maybe there's not many people who get this' - that this is a niche, like a college band." Pressure from television producers, who are determined that they know their audience, seemed worth it as Apatow moved to film to produce this niche comedy “40-Year Old Virgin,” which helped “usher in a new wave of foulmouthed R-rated comedies and - perhaps unfortunately - making "Do you know how I know you're gay?" every frat boy's favorite barroom query,” (Rolling Stone).

            Apatow sees himself in his characters and their experiences. It was questioned in “Knocked Up” that a man like Seth Rogen would never get a woman like Katherine Heigl, but this experience is right out of his own life since he is married to lovely actress xx. As a professional he seems to see himself similarity within the production arena of his films and as an audience member, thus keeping the perception of his audience close to reality, instead of incorrect audience assumptions like “Brokeback Mountain.” He has been quoted in Rolling Stone saying that he is writing movies the way him and his friends would/do talk.

            In the above paragraphs we can see that the film audience has driven an industry shift for a new kind of comedy, that being the R-rated comedy. Apatow puts himself in a interesting position as the cultureal product producer and as the audience member himself. Whether he corners the market on this niche genre is yet to be determined, but I predict that comedy has shifted permanently and producers will begin to focus more on the possibilities of a raunchier comedy. This industry shift is reflective of the positive revenue, adoption of catch phrases, set upon by demands of the audience for raunchier, realistic humor.

 

Works Cited:

Brian Hiatt (2007, June). Comedy Is Not Pretty. Rolling Stone,(1028), 89-90,92,94.  Retrieved December 5, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1304398021).

 

Julian Ryall (2007, October). Film, electronics boost Sony Q2. Hollywood Reporter, 401, 2,68.  Retrieved December 5, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1386995781).

 

Stacey Brook (2007, November). HONOR ROLE. Hollywood Reporter, 402, 66-67.  Retrieved December 5, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1389010421).

 

Features; The smart list. (2007, December 7). The 50 Smartest People in Hollywood. Entertainment Weekly , Issue 968.

 

Peter Travers (2007, August). Vote McLovin. Review of Superbad. Rolling Stone,(1033), 76.  Retrieved December 5, 2007, from Research Library database. (Document ID: 1331800621).