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The Comedies of Nihilism

The Comedies of Nihilism

The Representation of Tragedy on Screen

by Amir Khan
Hardback
Publication Date: 15/12/2017

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This book presents close-readings of seven post-millennial comedic films: Up in the Air, Tropic Thunder, JCVD, Winnebago Man, The Trotsky, Be Kind Rewind, and Hamlet 2. It is a sequel to Stanley Cavell's 1981 landmark study of the comedic genre, Pursuits of Happiness, where he examines seven comedies of Hollywood's "Golden Age." Khan puts forward the idea that comedies, once centred on the conventional "happy ending," are no longer interested in detailing the steps to any ending we might call happy. Instead, the agenda of most culturally serious comedies today is to "spoof," to make all that is fair foul. The seven films presented here risk a type of cultural nihilism-spoofing for the sake of spoofing and nothing else, indicative not of film's promise but its failure.

By equating the failure of film with the failed national politics of Canada (or the failed politics of nationalism and community more generally), this study shows that comedy has less to do with happiness and more to do with the grotesque. The films analysed represent hyper-realized forms of comic irony and move towards what theatre knows as tragedy, or a tragic vision.

ISBN:
9783319598932
9783319598932
Category:
Film: styles & genres
Format:
Hardback
Publication Date:
15-12-2017
Language:
English
Publisher:
Springer International Publishing AG
Country of origin:
Switzerland
Dimensions (mm):
210x148mm
Weight:
3.59kg
Amir Khan

Dr Amir Khan is a full-time GP and bestselling author working in inner-city Bradford.

Amir is a resident doctor for ITV’s Lorraine and Good Morning Britain and has recently been seen hosting Dr Amir’s Sugar Crash (Channel 5) and You Are What You Eat (Channel 5) with Trish Goddard.

Amir is an ambassador for The National Wildlife Trusts and The Butterfly Conservation Society, working closely with them to ensure access to green spaces for inner-city children and spreading the word on how being outside with nature is good for health. When he is not in surgery or on TV, Amir spends his time gardening, baking, running and supporting wildlife conservation.

He is the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Doctor Will See You Now. How (Not) to Have an Arranged Marriage is his first novel.

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