# Breaking The Fourth Wall **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 10, 2001, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273 "2001-06-10T07:04:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![HeyHomie](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/heyhomie/32/207_2.png) [@HeyHomie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeyHomie)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/1 "2001-06-10T07:04:53Z")
For those of you who don’t know what the term means, it’s a device used in TV, movies, and presumably theater, in which a character addresses the audience. For a really good example, watch any episode of _Malcolm in the Middle_. I can only recall three instances in movies where one of the characters directly addresses the audience. I’m sure it’s been done more than three times, hence this thread. But here are the three I remember: _Ferris Bueller’s Day Off_: Ferris speaks to the audience on several occasions. _Brewster’s Millions_ (The one with Richard Pryor): Some unsavor character says a few choice words to Richard Pryor and then exits the scene. Pryor looks at the audience and says “Now that guy is an asshole.” _Sixteen Candles_: Anthony Michael Hall’s character is driving an expensive convertible with the thoroughly drunk, and thoroughly horny, homecoming queen in the car with him. He turns to the camera and says, “Now this is getting good!” * * * Can you name any other examples? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/2 "2001-06-10T07:06:19Z")
“Alfie” for starters. ---
**Author:** ![Mercutio](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/51bf81/32.png) [@Mercutio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mercutio)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 7:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/3 "2001-06-10T07:14:52Z")
Get Real, before it got canned from FOX. It got canned, right? ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/4 "2001-06-10T07:17:09Z")
Do the non-verbal facial gestures Marty Feldman makes to the audience in _Young Frankenstein_ count? ---
**Author:** ![King\_Rat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/7bcc69/32.png) [@King\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/King_Rat)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/5 "2001-06-10T07:36:14Z")
_Blazing Saddles_ Harvey Korman looks into the camera and says “Why am I asking you?” _Trading Places_ After being instructed on the ingredients of a BLT by Ralph Bellamy, Eddie Murphy gives the camera a look that always kills me. ---
**Author:** ![Sir\_Rhosis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sir\_Rhosis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sir_Rhosis)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 7:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/6 "2001-06-10T07:41:37Z")
Bob Hope did it in practically every movie he was ever in. At the end of Casanova’s Big Night, he polled the audience for a show of hands for, IIRC, a decision on which ending to use. Sir ---
**Author:** ![evilbeth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/evilbeth/32/2268_2.png) [@evilbeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/evilbeth)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/7 "2001-06-10T07:44:10Z")
At the end of _Scrooged_, Bill Murray talks to the theater audience and invites them to sing with him. ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/8 "2001-06-10T08:00:00Z")
This was a regular thing on both _Moonlighting_ and George and Gracie’s TV show way back when. And, though I did not actually see the film version of _Inspector Gadget_ (thank God), I seem to recall a heavy 4th-wall gag in the trailer, involving Gadget, Dr. Klaw, and Andy Dick in some supporting role. Bringing Matthew Broderick to a tally of two in this thread alone, it would seem. - Dave ---
**Author:** ![BigGiantHead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b4bc9f/32.png) [@BigGiantHead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigGiantHead)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 8:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/9 "2001-06-10T08:07:59Z")
Oh, and of course, Wayne and Garth in the _Wayne’s World_ movies. Used to hysterical effect when Ed O’Neill, as the bitter and nutty diner owner, starts monologuing to the camera, and then Wayne jumps back in to steal the spotlight back and gently rebuke him. I’m sure I’ll think of more… ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 8:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/10 "2001-06-10T08:21:49Z")
I hope in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” you also include the bit in the closing credits - “Go home…etc” Mercutio - “If love be rough with you, be rough with love; Prick love for pricking, and you beat love down.” ---
**Author:** ![SPOOFE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c5a1d2/32.png) [@SPOOFE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SPOOFE)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 8:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/11 "2001-06-10T08:23:14Z")
I can’t believe nobody’s mentioned _Fight Club_ yet. Also, it was done in _Monty Python And The Holy Grail_, but the Famous Historian doing the breaking was slain by a knight. For the record, the Fourth Wall is considered far more important in Theatre than in movies or TV, simply because when you’re onstage, the audience is _right fucking there_. ---
**Author:** ![curwin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@curwin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curwin)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 8:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/12 "2001-06-10T08:26:12Z")
The Gary Shandling Show did it quite often. ---
**Author:** ![DRY](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a87d85/32.png) [@DRY](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DRY)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/13 "2001-06-10T09:36:34Z")
This is also done quite a bit in Shakespeare (soliloquies or asides to the audience). Often it has the effect of causing the audience to relate to the character in question: this is one reason why Shakespeare’s Richard III is so charasmatic to many audiences, despite his villiany. ---
**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/14 "2001-06-10T14:29:15Z")
From what I’ve read George Burns in “Burns and Allen” did it first. Freddy DeCordova said when Burns first broke the fourth wall on television, people were predicting all kinds of dire problems. None came about so it has been copied again and again. He said Burns wanted to create something of a sureal quality about the program, yet keep it a situation comedy. If you will remember, he also watched the program on TV while on the program (supposedly to keep track of what Gracie was doing). Also at times, he walked around sets to get to the next scene. When you think about it, it was brilliant stuff especially when you consider it was in the childhood of television. TV ---
**Author:** ![Jadis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/87869e/32.png) [@Jadis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jadis)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/15 "2001-06-10T14:49:43Z")
I barely remember anything about the movie **Kuffs** with Christian Slater (except that it was very, very lame), but I believe that CS also broke the 4th wall a few times in that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 3:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/16 "2001-06-10T15:14:05Z")
How about _Goodfellas_. At the end when Ray Liotta’s on the stand, and all of a sudden he gets up and strolls through the courtroom, addressing the camera about how much it sucks not being a gangster anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Ura-Maru](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/51bf81/32.png) [@Ura-Maru](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ura-Maru)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 3:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/17 "2001-06-10T15:27:11Z")
In [I}ReBoot,\* during a game that parodied first person shooters, (and the Evil Dead movies) Dot wonders “What kind of **sick creature** could get enjoyment from this kind of game?!” and then stared accuingly at the camera for a few seconds. Actually, it seems to be a fairly common gag in animation. Most of the Loony Toons cast did it at least a couple of times per cartoon. – “Groovy!” ---
**Author:** ![dantheman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dantheman/32/9421_2.png) [@dantheman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dantheman)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/18 "2001-06-10T15:31:14Z")
I seem to remember that the horrendous piece of phlegm named **The Opposite of Sex** (starring Arye Gross, Courtney Cox, Julie Brown, Kevin Pollak) did it frequently. And badly. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/19 "2001-06-10T15:53:52Z")
“Breaking the wall” is hardly new. It’s an ancient device. In the comic plays of the ancient Greek Aristophanes, characters regularly make joking asides to the audience. ---
**Author:** ![lolagranola](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ea5d25/32.png) [@lolagranola](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lolagranola)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2001, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273/20 "2001-06-10T16:07:25Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by dantheman \* > \*\*I seem to remember that the horrendous piece of phlegm named **The Opposite of Sex** (starring Arye Gross, Courtney Cox, Julie Brown, Kevin Pollak) did it frequently. And badly. \*\* **The Opposite of Sex** was a good movie, IMHO, starring, Christina Ricci, Lyle Lovett and Lisa Kudrow. I checked the IMDB, and I believe you are thinking of **The Opposite Sex and How to Live With Them**. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/breaking-the-fourth-wall/68273.md?page=2)