# REALLY black comedy **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [August 19, 2012, 7:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948 "2012-08-19T07:08:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Kasper1014](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/c89c15/32.png) [@Kasper1014](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kasper1014)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/41 "2012-08-20T02:38:08Z")
How about War of The Roses? ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/42 "2012-08-20T02:41:53Z")
[_Eating Raoul._](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eating_Raoul) Except that it does have a happy ending for certain values of that . . . ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/43 "2012-08-20T02:54:20Z")
> [@Beware\_of\_Doug](#): > > The Marx Brothers weren’t black comedy. They were too verbal (well Groucho and Chico were), too zany, and they didn’t transgress anything their audiences really cared about - only caricatures of the bluenoses and stuffed shirts of the real world. And nobody thought Harpo was a threat to those girls he chased. You’re looking at them in the context of their whole career, I’m just looking at them through the lens of the one movie. Groucho wilttily and zanily sent young men to their deaths as a punchline. Harpo chased that girl around as an armed soldier, not as a madcap romantic. The closing scene was of a war-weary public telling their leader to go fuck himself. If _Duck Soup_ had been their only release, it would be remembered as pretty dark. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 3:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/44 "2012-08-20T03:02:59Z")
When you think of it, a lot of both _The Simpsons_ and _Futurama_ is dark comedy. And let’s not forget _South Park_. All of them make light of total idiots making huge errors and creating complete chaos, it’s just that they don’t show the uglier elements on screen. _South Park_ shows more, so in that sense you can say it’s darker. Remember when Homer was in charge of getting computers Y2K compliant, and every commercial jet fell out of the sky like a brick at 12:00:01? No corpses shown, of course. And funny as hell. Don’t Get me started on Zapp Brannigan. Oh yeah, and then there’s Kenny. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/45 "2012-08-20T03:22:45Z")
_The Player_ _Bob Roberts_ Has anyone here seen _The Chumscrubber_? ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/46 "2012-08-20T03:25:05Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Has anyone here seen _The Chumscrubber_? Yes. Great movie. ---
**Author:** ![eschereal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eschereal/32/18939_2.png) [@eschereal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eschereal)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/47 "2012-08-20T03:36:10Z")
> [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](#): > > Yes. Great movie. Ok, good, thanks. I was unsure whether my thing for Allison Janney might have been coloring my judgement. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/48 "2012-08-20T03:42:27Z")
> [@For You](#): > > _The Player_ > > _Bob Roberts_ > > Has anyone here seen _The Chumscrubber_? . **The Player** and **Bob Roberts** are both good. I have them on VHS somewhere. I saw **The Chumscrubber** when the DVD came out a few years ago. It didn’t really make a big impression on me but I understand it has gained somewhat of a cult following. ---
**Author:** ![Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@Curiosity\_Kills\_Her](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Curiosity_Kills_Her)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/49 "2012-08-20T03:46:11Z")
> [@For You](#): > > Ok, good, thanks. I was unsure whether my thing for Allison Janney might have been coloring my judgement. No, it was good. I see you also mentioned Brazil. That’s on my must watch list. Still. It’s one of that those I am certain I will love. 'Tis a very long list. I don’t get around to watching movies all that often, and I have a terrible memory when it comes to those I _have_ watched. ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/50 "2012-08-20T04:03:32Z")
> [@Accidental\_Martyr](#): > > I don’t know if it’s dark enough for the OP, but **Heathers** is one of my favorite movies. It’s a big favorite of mine (Mean Girls was nearly a scene-by-scene remake), but it has a happy ending that upholds traditional values, so… Yeah, not quite dark enough. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/51 "2012-08-20T04:13:30Z")
_Dr. Caligari._ No, not [that one](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Caligari); [this one.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Caligari_(film)) Very dark, very surreal, very, very '80s. ---
**Author:** ![Accidental\_Martyr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ce7236/32.png) [@Accidental\_Martyr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Accidental_Martyr)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/52 "2012-08-20T04:24:20Z")
> [@Krokodil](#): > > It’s a big favorite of mine (Mean Girls was nearly a scene-by-scene remake), but it has a happy ending that upholds traditional values, so… Yeah, not quite dark enough. The original ending, which wasn’t filmed, would have been a bit darker but still basically a happy ending. In case you don’t know about the original ending: J.D. blows up the school and everyone dies, but all the different social groups (jocks, geeks, stoners etc.) come together and have a prom in heaven. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/53 "2012-08-20T06:47:52Z")
[Delicatessen](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0101700/) is pretty dark - a comedy about cannibalism. ---
**Author:** ![NDP](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ndp/32/55_2.png) [@NDP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NDP)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/54 "2012-08-20T07:12:56Z")
Kubrick’s **A Clockwork Orange** is arguably an even darker comedy than his\*\* Dr. Strangelove\*\*. ---
**Author:** ![Bakhesh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3da27b/32.png) [@Bakhesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bakhesh)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/55 "2012-08-20T08:22:24Z")
> [@Slade](#): > > Chris Morris’s Jam is the only TV comedy series I’ve ever seen which was genuinely disturbing. Some great films listed here, but in terms of blackness, Chris Morris’s Jam makes everything else look like an episode of the Golden Girls. Humour that is genuinely painful ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 10:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/56 "2012-08-20T10:22:42Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#): > > I saw Killer Joe this weekend. I would class it as dark comedy rather than Southern Gothic. Me and the rest of the audience laughed a lot. If you see it with a date, don’t suggest getting take out friend chicken on the way home unless they have an equally morbid sense of humor. One does also not eat chicken before, during, or after David Lynch’s Eraserhead. ---
**Author:** ![Rollo\_Tomasi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/58956e/32.png) [@Rollo\_Tomasi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rollo_Tomasi)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/57 "2012-08-20T13:47:16Z")
> [@Kasper1014](#): > > How about War of The Roses? That was my first thought. Even if you think the moral of the story is “don’t get divorced” (which I don’t), it’s not “don’t get divorced, because divorce is wrong.” It’s “don’t get divorced, or else you’ll end up dead.” Love that movie. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2012, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948/58 "2012-08-20T14:04:05Z")
Andrew Vachss’s Burke mysteries are very dark and very funny, in a perverse sort of way. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-black-comedy/631948.md?page=2)