I have no desire to watch the new Anna Faris movie, “What’s Your Number?” and my head would probably explode if I tried. The preview alone made me want to stab out my eyes. But a preview of the latest Seth Rogen Bromance immediately followed. The contrast was so startling I dropped my ice pick mid-stab.
Previews, of course, occur in flashes. Usually these flashes are the most memorable moments in the film.
In the preview for the Anna Faris movie, the first flash is of her strolling through Central Park with what looks like a Poor Man’s Ryan Gosling, eating ice cream cones and – apparently – having a conversation. The guy says, “Wow, I totally underestimated you. You lost your virginity to the puppeteer?!” -- FLASH! to image of puppeteer and back – “Hahaha.”
I mean, I ask you.
The next flash is cute, blonde Anna Faris in a hotel robe in a fancy hotel, talking on the phone. She yells, “You wouldn’t know true love if it walked up to you and tickled you on your b---“ She’s interrupted by a doorbell: Room Service! As she opens the door, she is caught almost saying “balls” in front of the help. Oh, the horror!
FLASH! Commercial’s over, and I'm left thinking, This is what’s being heralded as the Great Blonde Hope of American Comedy? You know whom this movie was written for? DUDES. You know who is heralding it as a breakthrough for female comedians? DUDES. And while we're on the subject, you know who likes Sarah Silverman's stand-up? DUDES!
I pick up the ice pick, then -- FLASH! -- a preview of “50/50” comes on the screen, starring Seth Rogen and a pretty boy who looks vaguely familiar. They are hanging out and being best friends when -- FLASH! -- the pretty one gets cancer. He is tearing up and clearly scared, and his BFF Seth Rogen says, "Come on, man, 50/50? Those are great odds! If you were a game at Vegas you'd be the best one!" Pretty Boy can't help cracking a smile, and neither could I. Then -- FLASH!-- pretty boy is gaunt, wearing a hat, but still hanging out with his best friend, Seth Rogen. They appear to be helping each other cope with a difficult situation when -- FLASH -- the commercial is over.
I've seen enough previews to recognize that "50/50" is one Giant Leap for Seth Rogen and the entire Bromance genre.
See, Seth Rogen is a regular-looking, even slightly goofy-looking, guy who has managed to surpass Ryan Gosling and his ilk as a Reliably Commercial Male Romantic Lead. Ten years ago, Seth Rogen would have been confined to the role of the fat, funny friend, but thanks to changing times, Judd Apatow, and Paul Rudd’s willingness to trade places, Seth has accomplished that Holy Grail of Marketing and Show Biz, the “Cross-Over.” Now he gets to star in a "Bromance" that is touching, funny, and true to life. The genre itself has evolved.
Meanwhile Anna Faris is apparently telling some guy that she lost her virginity to a puppeteer. I guess you have to start somewhere.
Maybe all comedic forms, including the Modern Funny Female, have to start in the toilet.
Don’t get me wrong. Toilet humor has its place. Politically incorrect, mean, awkward, gross, British – almost any kind of humor can be funny if done well.
My sole gauge for whether or not a comedy is “good” is whether it makes me laugh. Not roll my eyes. Laugh. And, let’s face it: farts are sometimes funny – in real life, anyway.
But very few comedic forms can stand alone, and toilet humor is no different – unless, of course, you’re a 13-year-old boy. Ninety minutes of gross-out works for the teenage male audience, which happens to be Hollywood’s largest and most lucrative demographic.
I’ve never been a fan of toilet humor, even as a teenager. I loved Scream and Seinfeld and the Simpsons and Office Space as much as the next kid, but I was always baffled by my peers’ affinity for being grossed-out. In “American Pie,” some guy sort of masturbates into an apple pie that his mother made. In one of the “Scary Movie” pics, somebody gets stabbed with a penis through a hole in the wall of a bathroom stall. To me, strange, but unfunny. (What was funny was hearing Roger Ebert talk about that Scary Movie. He gave it a thumb up, and when Siskel called him out, he goes, “I know, but I’m thinking, ‘Whoa, killed by a penis through a wall – I’ve not seen that.”)
I’m often out-of-sync with my peer group’s comedic tastes. For example, I was never a fan of “Borat” or “The Office.” I can feel myself dying inside when watching “The Office;” the awkwardness, for me, is painful, not funny. And Borat is just a big bully. I don’t know if you noticed, but when he goes into Inner City Atlanta and hangs out with black guys, he shuts the fuck up. It’s only in suburban America with white people that he calls people ugly and stuff, and that's like shooting fish in a barrel. I’d like to hear him tell one of the brothers his lady was homely. Now THAT would be funny.
My aversion is partly to bandwagons, but I usually show up late to the party. I discovered Season One of “Sex and the City” after the second movie came out and President Obama after he got elected. The same thing happened with the advent of the “Bromance." I don’t even remember why I finally watched “40-Year-Old-Virgin” – I must have been isolated somewhere with only that DVD for entertainment – but I was absolutely thrilled to find myself laughing! It was for guys about guys, but there was more to it than farts and masturbation and painfully awkward situations. I thought it was funny.
Then, one day, when I was (admittedly) hungover, I turned to OnDemand and noticed a movie called “The Hangover.” Overcoming my anti-bandwagon tendencies, I watched it, and let me tell you -- I haven’t laughed so hard at a movie in years. Sitting there, by myself, laughing out loud, even laughing so hard I cried -- THIS was a truly great comedy. I’ve since watched it again several times, and while the hilarity of the first viewing can never be fully recaptured, the movie consistently makes me laugh.
In this movie, the fat, funny friend, Zach Galifinakis’s character, was revolutionary, too. After years of co-dependence, comedy had broken free from curse words. In “The Hangover,” the joke was that the guy didn’t curse. Turns out it’s funny to hear a grown man say, ”I fudged up guys!” It's also, to me, a more challenging kind of humor. (Like making fun of middle-class white people, cursing is, in my opinion, often a comedic cop-out.)
Through what was clearly an evolutionary process, the Bromance has become a gender-neutral comedic genre that could be slapstick or sophisticated. The evolution continues with “50/50.”
So maybe "What's Your Number?" is a small step in the evolution of female-centered comedic film. But it may very well be a Giant Leap from “Bridesmaids,” which I also read about and opted not to see.
Apparently something involving masturbation happens in a bridal store.
I really didn't want to know.
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