17 Alec Dupont

Comedies quote often end up on a scale, carefully balanced on a knife edge. They will either rise to hilarity or fall flat on their face. To examine this we will examine the difference between the comedy classic "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" and the pathetic misstep "Zoolander". Now, as you all should know, Monty Python is one of the classics of comedy cinema, with such incredibly quotable lines like "Its just a flesh wound" from the dismembered black knight and "Your Mother was a hamster, and your father smelt of elderberries" from the angry french. Zoolander on the other hand, has none of the memorability of Monty Python, and it has the intelligence of caterpillar. Zoolander appeals to the least desirable aspects of american society, the stupid and the boring. It is everything wrong with Hollywood cinema, with lazy writing and ridiculous acting. It falls flat on its face because it is unoriginal and gaudy, with no redeeming qualities. Monty python is the exact opposite, with out any renown actors, it relies on wit and satire to entertain, and that is what makes it so great. And so it is with all comedies, the one that put the time in to actually make their script witty will succeed, and the ones that appeal to the lowest  common denominator will fall face first into the concrete.