The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Erik, my comment was more aimed at Hoblit, who, it seemed, really didn't get the joke.

Also, note that the writer/director is in fact a white guy. He cast himself as the pompous intellectual who says everything twice. Hmm...

No, Hoblit was just quoting that line.

If your comment was "more aimed at Hoblit" does that mean it was partially aimed at 15-16?

Oh, I didn't take it as racist. Everybody takes it on the chin in that one. It just made me more curious about the reality especially since the funny wasn't working for me. Not because they were jokes about race, just because I thought it wasn't that funny. Rockets on a school bus and doctored Negro League photos. Hee Hee. It was like someone just found the Mr. T versus website and got inspired. It just didn't work for me.

I would like to see someone (perhaps it's been done) do a study on the relativity of humor, and it's evolution so to speak. For example, my step-dad LOVES the three stooges, as does Sam Raimi. not really my thing. And a good old fashioned pie in the face used to be great entertainment.

I wonder if it's changed at a much faster pace lately.
Like, was humor in the 30's more similar to humor now, or more similar to the days when jesters were around?

Anyone else find this interesting?

Niveous: I didn't find the photos themselves to be hilarious; I was amused by the whole package of a Ken Burns style documentary which was so silly. The whole, "It was a different world back then, in '57 or '58" thing was mostly what did it for me.

R&RB: I think that the humor we see on film or videos is much more diverse because the cost of production has come down so much. These various kinds of humor date all the way back to the ancient Greeks; it's just only recently that people can set up an entire production studio in their homes for a few thousand dollars. Same as with music production, really; do any of us spend $300+/hour for studio time to do our recordings?

Big-budget stuff has always been about what could be sold in order to justify the expense of production. Costs of production have gone down, amateur hobbyists put out more stuff, it opens budget-wielding peoples' eyes to what sorts of stuff people actually want to see, low-budget indie stuff like Greg the Bunny and Tripping the Rift get turned into major-budget TV shows which get cancelled after one season but still attract a cult following, etc.

But yeah, what I'm trying to say is that this particular brand of humor is <a href="http://www.archive.org/details-db.php?m ... 0">nothing new</a>.

Making fun of Ken Burns, though he deserves it, just didn't hit my funny bone. Just personal preference. I found myself zoning out during the "expert"'s doubletalk. Then again, I zone out during the real Ken Burns stuff too.

C'mon, Baseball has a vivid history full of characters and drama and he made it as interesting as a live reading of the Webster's dictionary.

I'm sure not all would agree, but an actual baseball game isn't that far off from a reading of Webster's Dictionary. Baseball history is as bad or worse!

I love baseball and I love that Ken Burns documentary. I've probably seen the entire thing seven or eight times. My house was pretty boring during the summer, I guess.

... but this short is hilarious. It deserves to be bumped.

I'd prefer a reading of Webster's Dictionary. But that just proves I'm an ass I suppose.