Nora Ephron and Romantic Comedies

Nora Ephron and Romantic Comedies

Ephron was among those pioneer film makers who revolutionized the industry by introducing the concept of romance in comedy in the era when feminism was prevalent. The best thing acknowledged in the great work of Ephron is the way she introduced this concept without stimulating any negatives vibes and assumptions about the desires of men and women. She tactfully handled the subject by carefully brining the facts to light about human nature. It undoubtedly both revealed and affected the Zeitgeist of turn-of-the-century America. Perhaps she was one of the best writers of her time whose well-directed scenes and dialogues were way better than the subsequent romantic comedy movies of that era. The rhythm and tempo in her work was perfect which has come in her work with experience and her inborn capabilities as her parents were Hollywood script writers. Her work seems to be inspired by Shakespeare and Jane Austen. Her characters are usually witty fast-talking city inhabitants who debated formerly barred topics like politics, religion and above all sex. In fact, it would be right to say that Ephron was among those pioneers who challenged and confronted the ingrained male dominated setup of the industry by making successful movies and by revolutionizing the industry and introducing then unique concept of comedy in romance. Current industry of Hollywood has become a huge market of entertainment which comprises of adult-oriented comedies that Nora Ephron valued and fashioned have once again been propelled to the margins.

Review of Nora Ephron You Have Got Mail (2001)

The story revolves around two characters named Kathleen Kelly and Joe Fox who meet in a chat room and soon start exchanging e-mails. In these detailed e-mails they share their deep secrets and start falling in love with each. The movie is directed by Nora Ephron and is the remake of "The shop around the corner." She brought the concept of love in the electronic age of internet where the two leading characters fall in love through e-mails and chat room. Despite of the fact that two people's lives are entangled via multiple things like they shop at the same place, visit a common coffee shop and even own bookstores in the same area and are in fact competitors but as they keep their identities hidden on internet, thus they are unaware of each other's presence in real life. The movie is tactfully handled and there is rhythm and tempo in the movie that keeps the audience entertained till the last scene.

Review of the Shop around the Corner (1940)

The shop around the corner is one of the famous American romantic comedy movie released in 1940. The story revolves around two characters who work in the same gift shop. The two characters hate each other but are unaware of the fact that they are actually falling in love with each other as anonymous communicators through letters. The movie has been listed among top 100 movies by Time's All Time 100 famous movies. The movie is a well-directed piece of art where comedy and romance are smoothly handled while keeping the audience entertained till the last scene. One of the famous movie critique named Lubitsch commented "As for human comedy, I think I never was as good as in the SHOP AROUND the CORNER. Never did I make a picture in which the atmosphere and the characters were truer than in this picture." (Bowman )

Comparison and Contrast of both the Movies

Comparison can be made from the very first scene of the movie. Although it might seem a simple observation that would be missed my many people, but the way feminism has evolved over time, it is evident from the very first scene of both the movies. In the 1940 film, the first leading character audience would encounter is a man. On the contrary, first chief character encountered is the woman. Additionally, the position of both the leading heroines is quite different according to the eras when movies were released. Klara, a girl of 1940's is shown as a simple being that is a shop assistant living in a simple room with her aunts. On the contrary, Kathleen, a girl of today's modern world is a businesswoman. She is a care free modern girl who seems to enjoy life. She is charming and enjoys her time by flirting with anonymous people on internet without any desire of meeting them. She is less focused and determined to improve things in life and is involved romantically with a journalist. She has no serious plans for future. The submissiveness and modernity of the two leading characters of both the eras is one of the basic points of comparison. Even people and culture seems to evolve with time. Klara is shown as a determined woman who is working to fulfill her goals, whereas Kathleen lacks this trait. Another personality trait of women of the past and of today's modern women highlighted is that Klara is single and is only emotionally attached with her anonymous friend with whom she exchanges letters. On the contrary, Kathleen is involved with two people at a time, without any feeling of guilt about her character. As the plot revolves, the plans of both the women are according to the social circumstances of the respective era they are residing in. One of the points made in the movie is that as time evolved, women have become more independent, they occupy positions that men used to had in the past. As a consequence of this attitude, relationships between opposite sex have undergone tremendous changes (Smith).

Another major difference between women of today's world and that of the past is that today's women are not worried about marriage and children. Kathleen is just pondering aimlessly to find what she wants from life. On the other hand, Klara, the women of the past believes in leading a simple and less complex life. Her story has two aims, a reasonable job and a husband. The ending of "Shop around the corner" and "you have got mail" clearly signifies the importance of relationships and the way they are handled by both the generations. The ending of the first movie suggest that marriage proposal becomes a priority within few hours after the first kiss. On the other hand, the end of the later movie shows that kiss only marks the beginning of a new relationship, nothing else.

Ephron was among those pioneers who challenged and confronted the ingrained male dominated setup and the differences mentioned above about Klara and Kathleen clearly shows the change of approach introduced by Ephron (Ciecko).

Old vs. New Comedy

Movies have always been a source of entertainment and a means to relax. Ever since the introduction of the concept of comedy in movies, the number of cinemagoers of all age groups has increased. Comedy movies can have multiple positive benefits like health benefits, entertainment and above all, these are the kinds of movies that can be seen by the entire family which in turn can increase the bond between the family members. Despite of all the advantages mentioned above, the style of comedy has changed tremendously over the past few decades. The concept have comedy has greatly evolved over time which in turn has created negativity in the society in some aspects. Old comedy style usually referred to enthusiastic public persons and the important affairs of that time. These comedy movies were usually composed of funny songs, dances, personal criticism and clowning. There was no concept of vulgarity in comedy movies. They were directed to entertain all age groups. The comedy style of that era was amalgamation of funny criticism and hilarious comments in context of philosophical subjects. But with the passage of time, comedy went through drastic changes. Its entire structure evolved in the flourishing industry of Hollywood. As the industry evolved so did the concept of comedy. It gave a new vision to comedy as compared to the kind of comedy that was being practiced in the past. The new comedy does not depend on public figures and philosophical work; rather it focuses on curing and saving the ills of the society. It mocks on the hostile world around us which is entrapped in matters of love, hatred, luck and money.

Few traits of old comedy are as follows:

It revolves around mockery and parody mainly

It focused on damaging the imposed bans and restrictions in the society

Mocked political and public figures

Few traits of new comedy are as follows:

It revolves more around a boy and a girl and their love story

It involves a lot of physical relationship between male and female

Related with love, desire and money

Sex is also involved in today's concept of comedy

The basic difference in the comedy style of both the movies was that "The Shop Around the Corner" was more of a traditional film that focused on romance as well as comedy in a way that it managed to take a place the age groups, even over 70-years-later. On the contrary, "You Have Got Mail" is a new style of comedy movie that involves romance in a much open manner that it could not attract all age groups.

Key Features of New Comedy

Few traits of new comedy are as follows:

It revolves more around a boy and a girl and their love story

It involves a lot of physical relationship between male and female ( Richmond )

Related with love, desire and money

The comedy involves many subjects that were not considered as appropriate to be discussed openly in the past like homosexuality (Duralde).

Sex related jokes have become an integral part of comedy

Sex is also involved in today's concept of comedy

Destructive Impacts of Comedy

Comedy has always been a source of entertainment for every individual of all fields of life. It is a means to relax and with its involvement in Hollywood movies, number of cinemagoers of all age groups increased drastically as it served as a means to cater all age groups at the same time. It managed to take a place the age groups, even over 70-years-later. Despite of the entertainment it has managed to provide over the past few decades, it has been a cause of destruction in a number of ways. The destructive impacts of comedy are as follows:

Firstly, the style of comedy is quiet bold these days. There are no censor boards, children are exposed to this world of cinema at a very early age and as a result, moral destruction is at its peak in today's world. Boldness in comedy is prevalent to the extent, that comics and cartoon characters are playing a role in spreading obscenity by cracking cheap jokes. These characters are usually a source of inspiration for children and the negatives vibes are being spread in the society because of the open and bold ideas generated through these sources of entertainment.

Comedy is being treated as a fight between the powerless youth and the societal set up that has been playing a key role in placing obstacles in their dreams and ambitions. Youth is believed to be deprived of social authority in today's world and as a result of which they are left with the option to use dramatic irony to aggravate laughter. This seems to show their frustration which in turn gives rise to negativity in the society.

Mockery is a type of comedy that is being practiced on a large scale not only in Hollywood but also at television level. This creates negativity about famous public figures and ruins their image.

Mockery and political irony use sarcastic comedy to describe individuals or social institutions as silly, corrupt or unethical, thus isolating their audience from the purpose of humor.

In the same way, scatological humor, sexual humor, and race humor generate comedy by disrespecting social conventions. It for sure causes destruction of values and morals in the society. With the increased freedom of media across the globe, these practices have become quite common and are a cause of moral destruction on a large scale (Ulea ).

Another common practice in comedy is the mockery of upper class. It has multiple disadvantages. It not only ruins the image of individuals belonging to the particular class but also increases the gap between the affluent and the poor.

Ephron contemporary attitudes

Ephron has been very real in her writing. She did not tend to write about imaginary characters, never showed women as an ideal character with no fantasies and desires. In turn, she wrote about true women, her sexual desires, her wishes that might seem inappropriate to people in general, the desires she hides from the surrounding world. In her movie, "You have got mail," the leading character is shown as a modern girl just pondering aimlessly to find what she wants from life. She is involved with two people at a time, without any feeling of guilt about her character. She showed women as complicated and difficult as men in her movies. She never showed women as a perfect marriage material who is worried about the family and children. In her movie, "You have got mail," the end of the movie shows that kiss only marks the beginning of a new relationship, nothing else. Kathleen is just pondering aimlessly to find what she wants from life. She has no desire of marriage and children. She is shown as women who are involved in her business like men. The character of Kathleen clearly explains Ephron's contemporary attitude. Her views about gender and especially about today's women are evident from the movies directed by her.

From Ephron's perspective, marriage is like handcuffs. It bounds women. In her movie, "You have got mail," the end of the movie shows that kiss only marks the beginning of a new relationship, nothing else. This shows her idea about marriage. The female characters of the movies directed by Ephron are shown as free independent women who work according to their will and are not in favor of bounding themselves with family and marriage. This shows that Ephron does not believe in the institution of marriage. From her point-of-view, union does not necessarily require marriage. Most of her movies portray the idea that any human being, whether it's a boy or a girl does not need to bound themselves in a loveless marriage. She negated the idea of bounding yourself in a relationship that has become a burden and a cause of hindrance in a person's aspirations, desires and hopes. She believes in freedom.