Satire In Comedy Films

While society views movies as a source of entertainment, comedy movies simultaneously provides laughter and addresses the human condition by using satire. By looking beyond the laughter and entertainment, the audience is able to understand the societal problems criticized. The movie Some Like It Hot (1959), directed by Billy Wilder, comments on gender issues and identity construction by having two men cross-dress as women and see what they experience from the hands of men. In contrast, director Stanley Kubrick addresses war as a comic nightmare and how miscommunication amongst men results in children’s game in Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (1964). Mel Brooks, director of Blazing Saddles (1974), illustrates
how comedy blurs the line between good and evil. Through satire and parody, these movies demonstrate how comedy exposes the human condition.
By satirizing gender issues, racism, and war, these movies demonstrate how comedy is a corrective and how it exposes the human condition.