That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore

Here in Cardiff the wonderful Chapter Cinema hosted the ‘Bad Movie Club’. It’s an idea I wished I’d thought of, show renowned “Bad movies” and people will flock to enjoy them, ironically or otherwise. As a brief digression I think a Movie can be both bad and good at the same time. It’s certainly possible to enjoy a film despite recognizing precisely why other people find it so awful (The classic ‘Commando’ is proof of that – the film is really quite bad but somehow it just works). It’s the very definition of a “guilty pleasure”, a concept I really don’t agree with, if you enjoy a film then you enjoy it. There shouldn’t be anything to feel guilty about. Anyway, the club itself isn’t a bad idea. If you build up an audience you can share your experiences of ‘Bad Movies’ and track them down, a real community experience. Except with this club they have 2 ‘Commentators’ who insist on talking over the film and making “jokes” at its expense. You will notice the quotations over the word “Jokes” there (See! I did it again). And for good reason.

Now in the interest of full disclosure I will say I’m a fan of ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’. The cult show, now sadly ended, featured a man on a spaceship with two Robot Pals, who would appear as silhouette at the bottom of the screen while the film was playing and make jokes. However, that show was genuinely funny. It was also vastly ahead of its time. Thanks to the YouTube age, anyone can put a clip of something together while they talk over it (Or make farting noises – a worrying trend). However, there’s a reason they were on the TV and everyone else is on YouTube – they’re funny.

The MST3K crew (As us fans call them) would get tapes of films that were in the public domain, which often meant they were the worst of the worst (Manos: The Hands of Fate). The writers would then watch the film, and then watch it again, and again, and again until they were utterly sick of it. All the while they’d write jokes, then delete them or work on them. Then write some more. These days some Jackass with a copy of ‘Cobra’ on DVD and a Microphone suddenly thinks they’re a stand up comedian. Plus, if you’re going to ‘Comment’ on a film, pick one that’s more deserving of your Ire, I mean nothing you say will be funnier to witness than the sight of Vernon Wells as the most Gay villain in Cinematic History.



See? Look at him! Replete with Chainmail vest and Freddie Mercury ‘tache, the mere sight of Wells is enough to provoke laughter. Why ruin that? It’s like being down the Pub while your friend tells a joke and a considerably more annoying friend decides to expand on the Punch line, prompting everyone else to stare down into their drinks and wish ill feelings on the poor sod.

So why do it? I was planning on doing an interview of some kind with the Bad Movie Club but they’re now (Sadly) defunct. Maybe they grew up and realised they weren’t funny. Or maybe they just realised that people don’t reserve the same dislike for these films that they themselves do, and find enjoyment just from watching without the need to throw bad jokes at it. Either way, if I'm watching Commando, the only bad jokes I want to hear are my own.