Hi Kurt, thanks for your reply.  I sent this out in a few other places and I certainly did receive a lot of the ‘lighten up’ type responses (though I am surprised to see them show up on this forum in the response following yours)  I should have emphasized more how these kinds of dubious and harmful philosophical ideas can get dribbled into our media under the guise of sarcastic comedies and satire.  The line is not really clear between a satirical comedy and the denigrating the value of human life and justice through mockery.

I saw the preview for Hoot and had the same reaction, rolling my eyes and getting a serious scowl.  Kids I did see and it was certainly a terrible depressing nihilistic movie.  I think I will pass on ever seeing any of Larry Clarks films.

Bob, It’s one thing for people to act irrationally in a comedy so we can laugh at them, but it is entirely another, in my opinion, for them to mock human life and justice.  As I said, would you have found it funny it had been psychopathic pedophiles singing about raping and murdering a young girl, why is it funny when it is women joking about murdering their husbands?  Sorry, I don’t think there is ever anything funny about murder.  If you make a work of art without any point, story, moral, or role model, then why are you making it at all?  To glorify human faults?  To laugh at the disgusting and terrible things people do?  What so we can laugh at them when we do them?  Obviously we just disagree on how harmful these things are. 

I don’t laugh at jokes whose punch line is pain and suffering of other people.  I did not find Seinfeld funny because they were lacking in ethics, I found their commentaries about aspects of life amusing, such as focusing on the weirdness of some inane and common things.  If anything, their lack of ethics was a turn off for that show. 

Michael

Michael,

I think you are quite right in condemning "Chicago." Humor is a terrible weapon because when it is used concerning ethics and events of such utter importance like murder, the judiciary system, and execution it can only eat at their significance. Toohey used humor to laugh at all things good, important, and sacred because he realized the nature of humor when applied to these subjects: laugh and its all ok. Humor leads directly to apathy. Also you were spot on with noticing the discrepancy between killing men and killing gays, women, etc. Either way it's killing. The writer may have been trying to accomplish a sort of criticism, but the nature of such humor sent it the other way.

But, there are some interesting aspects of the play/movie worth considering. One of the most famous songs is about "givin' them the old razz-m-tazzle" to get off the hook. Contemptible, but at the same time a worthy satire of American justice. Trial by the media often ends up this way. At the end the two murderesses have gotten off the hook themselves after giving "the old razz-m-tazzle" and they are seen dancing and frolicking on stage, pretending to murder and having the crowd, at least in the movie, laugh uproariously. It seemed to me that the movie was subtly tuning the criticism on the audience. As if to say "look, you are laughing and sympathizing with these two murderers. You think it is ok too, even though you thought it was terrible that the Hungarian girl was hung." And the statement "That's America" is proved to be true by the audience's reaction.

Once again, though, such a criticism is lost by the nature of the humor. Instead of an outcry against such occurrences in our society the movie/play turns into an excuse.