# Surprisingly dark moments in comedies **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 11, 2023, 11:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639 "2023-02-11T23:27:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 7
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 1:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639/121 "2023-03-04T01:01:30Z")
I juat cringed because that was an ancient urban legend that I had seen before ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639/122 "2023-03-04T02:17:17Z")
Not _just_ an urban legend, in that people have been found dead, stuck in chimneys. [Gift link](https://www.nytimes.com/1993/01/20/nyregion/cornell-student-found-dead-in-fraternity-house-chimney.html?unlocked_article_code=O8dkvpf9sjfcW32gJBOEpt6ORk6ns0T_vBMOKJ5I8ndMOmochfvJrhpaZJCO3yV7wtJkp3tHu7wiNglw3Dfi70IsTZMXDxbCZHvUpuDFEDw1i_62LbJ5RaVDsKeM8FY7Y4DxwxoaLw1KdjYN1gkjsGUUJM94V5yU_Z7ufhUDQZF2PjozZLlrfwL-VrTLoiyeAr3ft6vEOtq1uZ6OoAF4KUwR9hLywzjq-CKgwXCsqtG_QNwRFJGn1LJoUpQrqbr6iMB8c2Z57aUapuo64DRpDqiX_2tAAXH480DBE6-Hm4Zqacyud6YAV7UETrYi9JwiV24OX6tPBJmsIZo0XnFXIgXrfJ9-MopA_KS_Gy_vYjJoXlYltu8Zp5Yxcm6OTR8&smid=url-share) to a New York Times story about a thirty-year-old case at Cornell. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639/123 "2023-03-04T02:28:10Z")
Wow. Thanks ---
**Author:** ![Ponderoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponderoid/32/19221_2.png) [@Ponderoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponderoid)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639/124 "2023-03-04T20:16:39Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Also, _Stripes_ should have cut the whole thing with the armored Winnebago, and ended with them passing boot camp on their own. The first time I saw that movie was at a college watching party; half the group left the room after the graduation scene. ---
**Author:** ![Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/son_of_a_rich/32/5439_2.png) [@Son\_of\_a\_Rich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Son_of_a_Rich)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2023, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639/125 "2023-03-04T21:41:34Z")
Not a movie, but in the satirical novel [Superfolks](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Superfolks), there’s mention of the hero’s BIL having taken a dive into an empty pool and being crippled. I can’t remember a reason for the incident. ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 6, 2023, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639/126 "2023-03-06T00:13:12Z")
Well, there’s the rape scene in _Revenge of the Nerds_. It isn’t treated as a rape/any big deal in the story, and I was out of the country when the movie was released in the U.S. (1984) so I don’t know if there was any outcry at the time, but…yeah. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/surprisingly-dark-moments-in-comedies/979639.md?page=6)