This movie went from mildly amusing to annoying, due to the stunning lack of political awareness coming from just about every teller of this joke. The joke itself ultimately reveals the lines that society still refuses to cross, even as the seventy-five different tellers of “The Aristocrats” believe that they are being wild and profane beyond compare. Sarah Silverman, in one of the only inspired tellings, includes child rape and a family member with Down’s Syndrome in the set-up, and yet even she refuses to cross the line into notions of inter-racial sex or an entire Down’s Syndrome family fornicating (her one handicapped family member is never put into a sexual situation).
This joke is appealing because its uninspired premise and unfunny punchline creates bookends between which a safe little place is created for comedians who want to seem shocking, but aren’t. On the other hand, the structure of the joke allows a forum from which tellers can refuse to be held accountable for the content of their material. If any one of these comedians was called out on the larger ramifications of what they are saying, they could simply respond, “but it’s the Arisocrats. The point of the joke is to say whatever.” The most tell tale sign of how unshocking this joke truly is can be found in the cast list. I’ve never thought of Paul Reiser, Hank Azaria, or Jason Alexander as particularly boundary pushing in their brand of humor, and yet they shine while breaking down the complexities of their set-ups, then beam at the blushes they expect to induce from delivery.
In a moving moment, Gilbert Gottfried goes for broke at a Hugh Hefner roast, breaking into The Aristocrats after several failed jokes about trying to catch a connecting flight at the Empire State Building on September 11th. The roast was held in New York City just a few weeks after 9/11, so Gottfried’s initial material had clearly come too soon. Gottfried’s solution was to tell an extended version of The Aristocrats, and to have the comedians who were there describe the catharsis of Gottfried taking the joke to more and more ridiculous places, just to keep the release going, indicates how transcendent the moment was, even if the joke which caused the moment remains a dud.
by Jason Woloski | Source: THINKFilm 35mm print
28 Aug 2005 2:28 PM | Submit Comment
