Comedy of remarriage

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

The comedy of remarriage is a subgenre of American

Production Code, also known as the Hays Code, banned any explicit references to or attempts to justify adultery and illicit sex. The comedy of remarriage with the same spouse enabled filmmakers to evade this provision of the Code. The protagonists divorced, flirted, or even had relationships, with strangers without risking the wrath of censorship
, and then got back together.

The genre was given its name by the philosopher Stanley Cavell[1] in a series of academic articles that later became a 1981 book, Pursuits of Happiness: The Hollywood Comedy of Remarriage. Cavell argues that the genre represented Hollywood's crowning achievement, and that beneath all the slapstick and innuendo is a serious effort to create a new basis for marriage centered on mutual love – religious and economic necessity no longer applying for much of the American middle class.

In response to Cavell's article, scholar David R. Shumway claims it is possible "to make too much of the remarriage 'genre'". He points out that "only two of Cavell's seven comedies deal with characters who we actually see interacting as husband and wife for any length of time" and points out that all seven films fit into the screwball comedy genre.[2]

More recently, film critics A. O. Scott and David Edelstein both argued that Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind was a 21st-century example of the genre.[3][4]

Notable comedies of remarriage

(Bold text denotes inclusion in Pursuits of Happiness)

References

Notes

  1. Wikidata Q119777123
    .
  2. OCLC 936762738
    .
  3. ^ Edelstein, David. "Forget Me Not: The genius of Charlie Kaufman's Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind". Slate (March 18, 2004)
  4. ^ Scott, A. O. "Charlie Kaufman's Critique of Pure Comedy". The New York Times (April 4, 2004)

Bibliography


Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Comedy_of_remarriage&oldid=1195044487"