# What are the best black comedies ever made? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2006, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677 "2006-03-24T03:56:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**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:** [March 24, 2006, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/41 "2006-03-24T14:26:51Z")
I wouldn’t say these are the best, but they are worth a look… HAMMERSMITH IS OUT - Richard Burton is a Mephistophlean mental patient to Beau Bridges’ Faustian attendant & the grill-waitress/Helen played by Liz Taylor the original BEDAZZLED - Grill-cook Dudley Moore makes the Faustian bargain with the Satanic Peter Cook Kubrick’s LOLITA almost qualifies as comedy- definitely black; better than the more literalist recent version IMO One that’s definitely among the best- A BOY AND HIS DOG ---
**Author:** ![JohnGalt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johngalt/32/184_2.png) [@JohnGalt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnGalt)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/42 "2006-03-24T14:51:57Z")
I was going to say “Fargo” (see Roger Ebert’s review), but someone already did. How about Hitchcock’s early comedy “The Lady Vanishes”. Lots of little jokes around a silly story. Then again, “North by Northwest”, “Rear Window”, “Rope”, and “The Trouble with Harry” (and others) all have comedic elements. ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/43 "2006-03-24T15:10:47Z")
When I saw the thread title, I was all ready to answer with “I’m Gonna Git You Sucka” I just wanted to mention _The Ruling Class, Serial Mom,_ and _True Romance._ Especially _True Romance_: very black, very comedic. I think _Dr. Strangelove_ is definitely the best of the genre, and _Harold and Maude_ is a contender for second best. _The Wars of the Roses_ was long on black and short on comedy. And it ended withat the end they killed each other DEAD accidentally because they couldn’t quit fighting.Some “comedy”! Has that ever been tried elsewhere? ---
**Author:** ![HeadNinja](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b4bc9f/32.png) [@HeadNinja](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HeadNinja)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/44 "2006-03-24T15:17:06Z")
Better off Dead - Gee, I’m real sorry your mom blew up, Ricky. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/45 "2006-03-24T15:24:50Z")
Dr. Strangelove is a given, however, another film that satisfies _both_ meanings and is pretty durn good if you watch it as a comedy is Eddie Murphy’s **Vampire in Brooklyn** , the anguish that Angela Basset’s character goes through near the end of the movie when she realizes that she’s slowly being turned into a vampire is well done, part of her hates and despises what’s happening to her, the other half wants to let it happen and revel in the power… besides, Eddie Murphy’s always funny… ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/46 "2006-03-24T15:38:33Z")
If we’re going to mention Bedazzled, you have to mention The Bed Sitting Room, which is beyond black to ultraviolet. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/47 "2006-03-24T15:38:46Z")
Election is my favorite, but in second place, I nominate an unappreciated classic, _Clue_. ---
**Author:** ![shamrock227](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@shamrock227](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shamrock227)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/48 "2006-03-24T15:55:43Z")
[Neighbors](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082801/) Belushi and Aykroyd - what could be better? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/49 "2006-03-24T16:46:02Z")
Important Coen Brothers omission: _Blood Simple_. I don’t recall what the last line was, but I do recall busting out laughing even while I wanted to curl up in a fetal position. Another good example: _The Office_. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/50 "2006-03-24T17:06:51Z")
> [@Left Hand of Dorkness](#): > > Another good example: _The Office_. > > Daniel Are you talking about the TV show or the film _Office Space_, which is a good black comedy. ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/51 "2006-03-24T17:12:36Z")
This thread got me thinking: is there such a thing as an African-American black comedy? There’s a few that come close – but none with the persistant nihilistic tone and irreverance necessary to keep it a satire. ---
**Author:** ![supervenusfreak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@supervenusfreak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/supervenusfreak)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/52 "2006-03-24T17:19:16Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > This thread got me thinking: is there such a thing as an African-American black comedy? > > There’s a few that come close – but none with the persistant nihilistic tone and irreverance necessary to keep it a satire. [Bamboozled](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215545/) may just qualify for that title. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/53 "2006-03-24T17:28:47Z")
Man, I forgot one of my alltime favorite black comedies, **Citizen Ruth**. Add that to my top three. A comedy about abortion and fundies, starring Laura Dern as a glue sniffing single mother orderd by a judge to get an abortion, Mary Kay Place as a fundie housewife eager to use Dern as a posterchild for her prolife activities, Kurtwood Smith as Place’s hardware-store-employee husband, Burth Reynolds as the pedophile preacher who heads up the prolife movement, and Tippi Fucking Hedren as the prochoice figurehead, also eager to exploit Dern’s situation, how can you go wrong? Plus of course a scene with herbal tea drinking lesbians Swoosie Kurtz and Kelly Preston recite a poem to the moon mother. People, if you haven’t seen this movie, see this movie. Dern, as Ruth: > [@](#): > > **Ruth:** _I don’t wanna go back to jail again. Least not for more than a week or two._ > [@](#): > > **Rachel:** _It is always women like you who are most victimized by anti-choice: indigent women, third-world women, women of color._ > **Ruth:** \*I’m not a colored woman! \* > [@](#): > > Diane Ladd, over a bullhorn, as \*\*Ruth’s Mother: _Ruth, you listen to me! Don’t you do it! What if I’d aborted you? > **Ruth** , shouting back over a throng of reporters: Well at least I wouldn’t have had to suck your boyfriend’s cock! > **Ruth’s Mother:** Don’t you bring that up again! That’s ancient history! I’ve been saved!_ ---
**Author:** ![Askia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/96bed5/32.png) [@Askia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askia)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/54 "2006-03-24T17:42:24Z")
> [@supervenusfreak](#): > > [Bamboozled](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215545/) may just qualify for that title. That’s definitely one of the ones that “come close.” It’s a satire, it’s just not a nihilistic _dark_ satire. Pierre Delacroix’s murder wasn’t played for laughs, and Sloan Hopkins’ character is deadly serious from first to last. The Mau-Mau’s deaths are played for tragedy. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/55 "2006-03-24T17:43:33Z")
[Man Bites Dog](http://imdb.com/title/tt0103905/) is definitely the blackest comedy ever to come out of Belgium. ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/56 "2006-03-24T18:03:21Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > That’s definitely one of the ones that “come close.” [Hollywood Shuffle](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0093200/) and [The Brother from Another Planet](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087004/) might both qualify, although it’s been a long time since I’ve seen either of them, and they’re probably more satirical than bleak. Daniel ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/57 "2006-03-24T18:16:02Z")
1. _Anything_ by John Waters (at least until Cecil B. DeMented) 2. _Bob Roberts_ 3. _Repo Man_ ---
**Author:** ![want2know](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@want2know](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/want2know)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/58 "2006-03-24T18:17:30Z")
> [@Askia](#): > > This thread got me thinking: is there such a thing as an African-American black comedy? > > There’s a few that come close – but none with the persistant nihilistic tone and irreverance necessary to keep it a satire. How about **The Brother From Another Planet**? ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/59 "2006-03-24T18:49:18Z")
> [@want2know](#): > > How about **The Brother From Another Planet**? Nah, not a black comedy. A sentimental morality tale with feelgood liberal overtones. A great movie, don’t get me wrong, but nah. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 24, 2006, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677/60 "2006-03-24T18:50:21Z")
> [@Tapioca Dextrin](#): > > [Man Bites Dog](http://imdb.com/title/tt0103905/) is definitely the blackest comedy ever to come out of Belgium. Aw man, my list keeps getting longer. BRILLIANT flick. BRILLIANT. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-are-the-best-black-comedies-ever-made/349677.md?page=4)