Movies

I happened to look at my Amazon.com account to track an order I recently placed. I also checked on one I'd placed months ago.


Hmmm... Well, quite obviously that's an error since FFVII - Advent Children is really due out in March. Still, seeing this certainly mirrored what the waiting has felt like.

Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette's comedy documentary "The Aristocrats" has been out on DVD for four days now. Even though, on the surface, it's pretty much all about a very dirty joke told between comedians, it is about much more than that.

Firstly it is about exercising the first amendment. While the language in Aristocrats is worse than a pirate's, it exists and is publicly available because it is protected by the first amendment. I'm sure that in this atmosphere of rampant political correctness, there will be many people that think this movie should not even be available for rental or purchase. Unfortunately, the first amendment allows our freedom of speech and that goes for speech we agree and speech we disagree with.

Secondly, it is about the nature of comedy; why comedy is funny. At it's core, comedy is a reflection of a society's morals and values. Every joke is based in reality and then taken that one step further to to making shocking, ridiculous, unbelievable and funny. The Aristocrats shows, in a behind the scenes manner, how comedians keep their "razor edge of funny" sharp. The Aristocrats joke itself is like a whetstone for a comedian.

Finally, the Aristocrats is about a ridiculous, funny, and downright disgusting, dirty joke. It is a piece of adult humor that has its roots in Vaudeville and carries with it a long history of tradition. It is toilet humor stretched to a feature length and it truly is a funny movie.

If you get a chance to watch the Aristocrats, make sure you do. When you're done watching, check out the Aristocrats Wikipedia page to learn even more about the Aristocrats. Paul Provenza and Penn Jillette have done such an honor to comedy in their homage to the comedian and the dirtiest joke in his (or her) arsenal. We honor them by watching (and enjoying).