What's Funny

Last night I showed "Year One" to our Monday evening Bible study. It seemed fitting. I thought it would be fun to take a break and laugh together. Besides, we had just spent five months working through Genesis and had not yet decided on what we would study next.

I had been dragging my feet on watching the film. I had seen the previews so many times that when it actually released, I didn't even want to see it. The over-promotion just killed my interest. The bits they showed over and over in the previews just made the story seem slapstick (which of course it was). I wondered if I would even laugh. My second son, Jackson felt the same way. He avoided it in the theaters and still has not sat down to watch it. My elder son, Will, did see it. And he had told us both that it was "pretty good." The problem, he said, was that the film came out at the exact same time as "The Hangover." So what ended up happening was the critics went in for the raunchy Vegas film to the expense of what probably appeared to them as a tired story about cavemen. Oh, and "The Hangover" was rated R which is always a bit of an advantage. In comedy, pitching to the absolute lowest point is generally a sure win, although I did recently see an exception. "Miss March" is perhaps the most low-ball sexploitative comedy ever made and it is really not funny.

When I finally picked up the DVD for "Year One" last Friday at Blockbuster, I saw that Harold Ramis directed the film. That's all it took, really. I wonder why they wasted all that advertising money on redundant previews when all they really needed to do was leak a story stating that this film was directed by the same guy who gave us Caddyshack, Stripes and Groundhog Day. He also wrote Ghostbusters and was one of three writers responsible for Animal House. Here's a rule: If the guy who wrote Caddyshack is Jewish and he makes a film that essentially retells some of the more curious parts of the book of Genesis, go see it. "Year One" is not the best movie ever made but if you know anything about the book of Genesis, it will make you laugh... and probably think a little as well. Which brings me back to my initial statement and/or confession.

I showed this film to my Bible study... in my office... which is in the church. It was rated PG-13 so it certainly could have been worse but there were a few words and plenty of suggestive humor. I struggled with whether or not I should show it but I wanted us to see it together... especially because we had just finished reading the very stories that Ramis was having fun with. Being able to laugh about your own story is a pretty healthy thing to do. Being able to laugh at your own religion without cheapening it is a very healthy thing to do.

The fact is we are funny creatures. Life is a funny thing. Of course, it's not all funny. I actually had to close my eyes during the scene in which Cain kills his brother Able. But the fact that Ramis did not ignore this and was able to carry Cain's character forward and allow us to laugh a bit at him, to see that the line between the monsters and the people runs right down the middle of most of us... that seems like a pretty interesting thing.

Of course, in making the film, Ramis told a story that was not exactly accurate (Sodom somehow avoids the hellfire pelting that it receives in the older version) but I sense that those who know the story understand this. They understand that a film like this is going to show things in a different light. The point is not to re-educate us. It is to entertain us--to allow us to look at ourselves and our beliefs with a little merriment.