The film is a slapstick comedy with a hero who is a nice guy. I thought that wasn’t allowed anymore. He’s a single dad, bringing up his daughter with the help of his mom. He takes his job seriously. He may be chubby, but he’s brave and optimistic.
I watched MacGruber over the weekend. It was okay – it wasn’t fantastic, and it wasn’t one of the best examples of anything, but if you wanted a shedload of juvenile humour, well… it was right up your street. However, watching the film did get me thinking about just how much of a jerk the title character was. How much of a horrible person can a comedy protagonist be? When did it become the norm for these sorts of characters to be presented with completely irredeemable traits?
Sometimes it's an up-hill struggle to empathise with a protagonist...
Filed under: Movies | Tagged: 40 Year Old Virgin, adam sandler, arts, audience connection, audience empathy, audience sympathy, Baldrick, Billy Madison, comedy, happy gilmore, jim carrey, Liar Liar, macgruber, Movie, roger ebert, Rowan Atkinson, Saturday Night Live, unsympathetic comedy protagonist, unsympathetic protagonist | 2 Comments »
