For those who don’t know what the above video is and didn’t play it, this might not make much sense. In all honestly, most people look at cartoons as stuff for kids with no substance and total immaturity. Those aimed at adults are crude, potty humor with no intention other than to make laughs. Some don’t even have a plot or any sense of coherency. But enough about those because I’m going to talk about how some comedies can spin you around and give you a punch to the emotional breadbasket.
To be fair, it isn’t always cartoons. I remember there being some powerful ‘Fresh Prince of Bel Air’ episodes and more recently I saw an episode of ‘Mom’ that was rather gut-wrenching in its rawness. Still, I can’t even think about Futurama’s ‘Jurassic Bark’ episode without getting teary-eyed. Heck, I had to find the above video and make sure it carried the impact I wanted. Don’t want to know how many I went through to find the one I wanted. It may haunt my dreams. Anyway, this is a very strange and rare event in these days. At least to me because it feels like most comedies, especially cartoons, aren’t trying for emotional impacts.
Is this a good or bad thing? I know many who don’t want a comedy to be serious because they feel it’s preachy. Even if there isn’t any actual preaching, which makes me think the people saying it don’t know the term. Still, it makes sense when we haven’t seen the episode before. You sit down for laughs from beginning to end and leave yourself open to the humor. Unknown to you this leaves you vulnerable to other emotions. I mean, some people will cry if they laugh too hard or get too happy. So we may already be close by the time the finale happens and we’re left tearing up because it touched something. Maybe a sense of loss that can never be recovered or a decision was made that is revealed to have been the wrong one, but the character will never know. Imagine if Fry did clone Seymour instead of thinking his dog lived a happy life afterwards. You do it because I don’t think I have the strength.
Maybe we don’t like the crossover. Something about our source of laughter making us cry can come off as a betrayal. We’ll still come back for the next episode, but we now know that this place is one that can turn serious. Sure, you may go for 20 more episodes before another tear-jerker turns up. You may even have dropped your guard by then, but there’s still a change. The funny thing is that a comedy can probably leave a more lasting impact than shows that are predominantly serious topics. You become numb to the emotional body blows, character deaths, and horrible events in shows that try to only make you wince and cry. So it loses its effect. Yet a comedy will only do it occasionally and you’ll always remember when it happens because it stands out among the ‘laughs only’ episodes. You could even go back and catch a little seriousness in older episodes that you thought were only laughter.
Anyway, this is my opinion on this topic and I know it varies. I’ll leave you with another Futurama clip. I mean, I already showed ‘Jurassic Bark’, so I’m sure you’re safe:
Legends of Windemere 
Teary eyed? Teary eyed? Man that had me sobbing, hard!! Great post though.
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I think I avoided that only because I braced myself. Had to write the post after all. Definitely is worse when you don’t see it coming or watch the entire episode.
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I will be honest. Comedies are the spice of life. H and I have gotten hooked on some real doozies. Everybody Loves Raymond, Frazier, The Middle, The King Of Queens. Even Andy Griffith and I love Lucy reruns. It’s a nice change fro Breaking Bad and all those intense action movies on every night. I’d much rather go off to bed with a laugh. Wouldn’t you? I still find myself staring at a cartoon now and then even though it’s been a while since Andrew was in the cartoon mode. The adult cartoons have never been my cup of tea. Makes you think – this post. ~Elle
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Depends on the adult cartoon for me. I do watch ‘Archer’ and the occasional South Park. The really stupid stuff doesn’t appeal to me. Comes off as not having any heart or even effort at times. I make a big difference between this and anime though. Anime is a different creature than American cartoons.
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True! So glad you are finding time for some fun stuff Charles. Into every life a little laughter must fall…;)
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Thanks. 🙂
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Oh man! Both of those were tearjerkers! And that’s okay! The old saying, “There is a thin line between comedy and tragedy” is true. I love to see a mixture of both. Each shows the other in sharp relief. Having both in a story shows the high quality of the writing. So, it makes me sad when people criticize a comedy like Futurama when it has a poignant scene.
Perhaps some people feel emotionally manipulated by a scene that “is supposed to make them cry.” I put that in quotes, because some scenes are emotional cheats. I’ve written some of those myself. Nobody is ever fooled by those. My advisors used to call me out on those. But I’ve always loved Futurama. And I love Terry Pratchett’s Discworld books. They make me laugh and cry.
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I really think the criticism comes out of a sense of a betrayal. It’s weird too because people can handle the ‘shock death’ type of body blow from a show. Yet you pull a tearjerker in a comedy and they get upset. At least people today. I remember Fresh Prince being praised for the Will and his father thing.
The funny thing about the manipulation is that the same thing is going on with any well-written scene. You’re manipulated to laugh, get angry, cry, etc. Guess it’s only certain emotions that ‘cross a line’.
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I’m not shocked when a comedy includes a sad moment. But I feel manipulated when a scene feels too “staged”–with violin music and sappy dialogue. I call those “Nicholas Sparks moments.” They never move me. But the scene with Fry’s dog does, because I know how loyal dogs are. And sadly some friends of mine have lost beloved dogs recently.
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The violin music is always a warning sign. Definitely better when it happens without the heads up. Remembered another Futurama ending that got me pretty badly. It was the one where Bender and Hermes went looking for Inspector 5. The ending montage was sweet.
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A wonderful post. Stupid Fry!
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I’m really not sure if he’s stupid or not here. He didn’t know any better and to revive Seymour after such a long life could be selfish. As far as he knew, Seymour had a happy life afterwards.
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No matter. I’m still mad at him 😡
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Animal loyalty always gets me. I’m a little bit tender right now and this one got me..
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Really sorry about that.
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Not your fault.
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omg there has been lots of times when Futureama has made me cry and its a good thing because laughter releases endorphines but so does crying. I remember my aunt telling me “If you dont calm down there will be tears next.” Its a natural emotion which a lot of humans have forgotten I think.
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It is amazing how close crying and laughing are to each other. Aside from the side and, usually, the emotion, the physical reactions are similar. Tears, body shakes, inability to speak, etc.
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very true Charles
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A great comedy will have a heart, though. Look at Elf, which is about an inane but loving person connecting with his family who are uptight and disconnected.
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Elf is a great movie. Heard it got a Broadway show or something. Not many comedies have heart these days.
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