Response to "Lead Blog Post: Buddy the Elf"

What incredible timing... I watched Elf last night! This movie is a classic, and one of my very favorite Christmas movies. I agree with Jane that many humorous scenes in the film are examples of the superiority theory of humor as the audience is amused by Buddy's childishness and naïveté. However, I would assert that the majority of the movie is comprised of examples of the benign-violation theory of humor. Buddy is constantly violating universal societal rules because - as Jane pointed out - he was raised in the North Pole and is therefore unaware of how the real world functions. Here's a clip containing a few examples of his violations: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HSx4r8Gayb4. He violates sanitary rules when he eats gum that he finds on the street, social rules when he approaches random people in an effort to find Santa, rules of courtesy when he stays in the revolving door for too long, rules of consumption when he takes multiple flyers from the men handing them out... and this is all in a short, two-minute montage. He violates many other societal rules throughout the movie, but they are all rendered benign. Why? For starters, the audience understands that Buddy has no malicious intentions. We know that he has childlike curiosity, and that he simply and genuinely does not understand how the real world works; he's just trying to find his way in the Big Apple. But most importantly, it's a fictional movie. We all know Santa Claus isn't real (sorry if I just destroyed someone's childhood) and we are astutely aware of the impossibility of Buddy's situation. Therefore, we can guiltlessly enjoy our amusement and happiness that results from his misadventures because we know that he is not actually lost in New York City, that his dad is not actually an asshole on the naughty list, and that the New Yorkers who are apparently affected by his actions are paid actors, just like Will Ferrell. Therefore, all of Buddy's violations become benign, and we can feel free to sit back with a bowl of popcorn, a cup of hot chocolate, and a few close friends, and laugh at 2 hours of the benign-violation theory in action.

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