Barbie Romance
Lauren began this week's lead blog with a funny YouTube clip about stereotypes of what men and women want or view as romance in a relationship. The scene is portrayed by Barbie dolls, which adds a comedic element. The woman is frustrated with what she views as a lack of romance or care in her boyfriend, whereas the man is frustrated with what he views as a lack of understanding or reason in his girlfriend.
I agree with Lauren's point that the video would not be as funny without the use of the dolls and pitched voices. If we were watching a real couple have this spat we would probably feel a little too uncomfortable to laugh at it. Exaggeration does play into the comedy of the clip. This especially occurs when she hold up the "you're right" sign, which exaggerates the idea that women would not admit to their significant other that she was wrong about something. I also agree with Lauren that the video does exaggerate the woman's neediness more than the man's laziness.
Relief theory, as Lauren pointed out, is used well in this clip. People can relate to a small relationship argument that ultimately goes nowhere. In the end, she is still frustrated with the cheesy line and he doesn't change his line to something more romantic. The use of dolls and pitched voices helps here too because it indicates to the audience this is not meant to be taken seriously, and it is okay to sit back and laugh at how both dolls are acting.
The clip could also be an example of benign-violation because ideally, you would want to see a couple getting along, but the situation becomes benign with the use of dolls and pitched voices.
I agree with Lauren's point that the video would not be as funny without the use of the dolls and pitched voices. If we were watching a real couple have this spat we would probably feel a little too uncomfortable to laugh at it. Exaggeration does play into the comedy of the clip. This especially occurs when she hold up the "you're right" sign, which exaggerates the idea that women would not admit to their significant other that she was wrong about something. I also agree with Lauren that the video does exaggerate the woman's neediness more than the man's laziness.
Relief theory, as Lauren pointed out, is used well in this clip. People can relate to a small relationship argument that ultimately goes nowhere. In the end, she is still frustrated with the cheesy line and he doesn't change his line to something more romantic. The use of dolls and pitched voices helps here too because it indicates to the audience this is not meant to be taken seriously, and it is okay to sit back and laugh at how both dolls are acting.
The clip could also be an example of benign-violation because ideally, you would want to see a couple getting along, but the situation becomes benign with the use of dolls and pitched voices.
I appreciate your point that a real couple would likely make the scenario too uncomfortable for us to find funny. I wrote my post on a similar concept to you, but I didn't delve into that point! Great job.
ReplyDeleteI like how you brought benign-violation into the argument. I was thinking the same thing when I was contemplating it earlier. I think that the exaggeration also made the clip more benign since it was not directly attacking flaws maliciously. Instead, it hyperbolized them.
ReplyDeleteI like your point about how it would have been uncomfortable to watch a real couple fight like this and how this follows benign-violation theory. Maybe this is why a lot of comedic animated shows like the Simpsons or Family Guy can sometimes push the limit on jokes, when those would not have worked in live-action tv.
ReplyDelete