Image by Radoan Tanvir from Pixabay
We don’t laugh because we’re happy; we are happy because we laugh.
I don’t have a philosophy about it. I just know that it’s much more fun to laugh than not to laugh.
— Carl Reiner, The Last Laugh (2016)
Remember being between seven and ten years old, when life was simple and so many things were fun, and new, and funny? The experience of watching a good comedic movie (including stand-up comedy) is similar to that. It’s like going back to the best part of your childhood, and finding a buddy to goof around with. What’s better than laughing out loud freely without inhibition?
Here are some movies that can help you get there because, as Tony Robbins says, “you make your own happiness”:
High Anxiety (1977) is a comedy co-written and directed by Mel Brooks about Dr. Richard H. Throndyke (Mel Brooks), a successful psychiatrist who also suffers from a debilitating fear of heights, which is made worse when he starts to work at the Psycho-Neurotic Institute for the Very VERY Nervous alongside Dr. Charles Montague (Harvey Korman) and Nurse Diesel (Cloris Leachman).
Life Lesson:
Figure out what you really are afraid of.
Dr. Thorndyke: I understand now. I understand now! It’s not heights I’m afraid of… it’s parents!
Monty Python’s Life of Brian (1979) is a satiric comedy directed by Terry Jones about Brian (Graham Chapman), a man whose life parallels the life of Jesus.
Life Lesson:
Do not follow others blindly and accidentally join a cult.
Brian: Look you’ve got it all wrong. You don’t need to follow me. You don’t need to follow anybody. You’ve got to think for yourselves. You’re all individuals.
Crowd: Yes, we’re all individuals!
Brian: You’re all different.
Crowd: Yes, we’re all different.
Person in the Crowd: I’m not.
Crowd: Shhh.
Brian: You’ve all got to work it out for yourselves … Don’t let anyone tell you what to do! Otherwise —
A Christmas Story (1983) is a comedy directed by Bob Clark, based on the semi-autobiographical book by Jean Shepherd, about nine-year-old Ralphie Parker’s (Peter Billingsley) wish to get the greatest Christmas gift ever.
Life Lesson:
Life delivers both disappointments and unexpected joys.
Mother (Melinda Dillon): Did you have a nice Christmas?
Ralphie: Yeah, pretty nice.
Father (Darren McGavin): Yeah? Did you get everything you wanted?
Ralphie: Well, almost.
Father: Almost, huh? Well, that’s–that’s life. Well, there’s always next Christmas.
Ralphie: Yup.
Father: Hey, that’s funny. What’s that over there behind the desk?
Ralphie: Where?
Father: Behind the desk, against the wall over there. You should go check it out. Go on.
Wayne’s World (1992) is a comedy directed by Penelope Spheeris about Wayne Campbell (Mike Myers) and Garth Algar (Dana Carvey), two underachieving friends who host a public-access cable show that is bought by a sleazy tv executive, Benjamin Kane (Rob Lowe).
Life Lesson:
Be optimistic: You’ll find better solutions.
Wayne: Oh, man. What the hell’s going on? I lost my show, I lost my best friend, I lost my girl. I’m being shit on, that’s all, shit on. And do you know what really pisses me off?
[Camera pans away]
Wayne: Where are you going? Where are you going? Ok. Ok. Come on back. Come on back. Things aren’t as bad as they seem. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to dump on you. I’ll figure something out. Ok?
Aladdin (1992) is a fantasy co-written and co-directed by Ron Clements and John Musker about Aladdin, a petty thief (Scott Weinger) who finds a magic lamp and befriends the genie (Robin Williams) inside.
Life Lesson:
Don’t judge a book by its cover.
Street Peddler: Wait. Don’t go. I can see that you’re only interested in the exceptionally rare. I think, then, you would be most rewarded to consider this. [Shows an oil lamp.] Do not be fooled by its commonplace appearance. Like so many things, it is not what is outside, but what is inside that counts.
The Wedding Singer (1998) is a comedy directed by Frank Coraci about Robbie Hart (Adam Sandler), a struggling musician who finds out what true love is when he meets Julia Sullivan (Drew Barrymore), a waitress.
Life Lesson:
Find someone to love who wants to grow old with you.
Robbie: From now on, I’m just, I’m gonna be like you man. I’m just gonna be with a different chick every night and then I’ll send them packin’.
Sammy (Allen Covert): Sounds like you got it all figured out.
Robbie: […] That’s it man, starting right now. Me and you are gonna be free and happy the rest of our lives.
Sammy: I’m not happy. I’m miserable.
Robbie: What?
Sammy: See, I grew up idolizing guys like Fonzie and Vinnie Barbarino ’cause they got a lot of chicks. You know what happened to Fonzie and Vinnie Barbarino? […] Their shows got canceled ’cause no one wants to see a 50-year-old guy hitting on chicks.
Robbie: What are you saying?
Sammy: What I’m saying is, all I really want is someone to hold me and tell me that everything is gonna be all right. […] If you found someone you can love, you can’t let it get away.
The Emperor’s New Groove (2000) is a comedic animated fantasy co-written and directed by Mark Dindal about Emperor Kuzco (David Spade), a selfish despotic ruler who gets turned into a llama by an aggrieved advisor, Yzma (Eartha Kitt), and learns how to be kind with the help of a peasant, Pacha (John Goodman).
Life Lesson:
Everyone has kindness in them, but some need help showing it to others.
Pacha: I think we got off on the wrong foot here.
Kuzco: Mm-hmm.
Pacha: I just think, if you really thought about it, you’d decide to build your home on a different hilltop.
Kuzco: And why would I do that?
Pacha: Because deep down, I think you realize that you’re forcing an entire village out of their homes just for you.
Kuzco: And that’s… bad?
Pacha: Well, yeah. Nobody’s that heartless.
Spongebob SquarePants: The movie (2004) is a fantasy co-written and co-directed by Stephen Hillenburg about a pair of friends, SpongeBob (Tom Kenny) and Patrick Star (Bill Fagerbakke), who go on a journey to vindicate Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), a restaurant owner falsely accused by his rival Plankton (Doug Lawrence) of stealing King Neptune’s crown.
Life Lesson:
Rise above the low expectations of others.
Plankton: You never had a chance to defeat me, fool. And you know why?
SpongeBob: Because you cheated?
Plankton: No, not because I cheated, because I’m an evil genius. And you’re just a– a kid, a stupid kid.
SpongeBob: I guess you’re right, Plankton. I am just a kid. And you know, I’ve been through a lot in the past six days, five minutes, twenty-seven-and-a-half seconds. And if I’ve learned anything during that time, it’s that you are who you are. And no amount of mermaid magic, or managerial promotion, or some other third thing, can make me anything more than what I really am inside: a kid. But that’s ok, because I did what everyone said a kid couldn’t do. I made it to Shell City, and I beat the Cyclops, and I rode the Hasselhoff!
Kung Fu Panda (2008) is a humorous animated fantasy directed by Mark Osborne and John Stevenson about an unlikely hero, Po, a warrior panda voiced by Jack Black, who trains to become the legendary Dragon Warrior.
Life Lesson:
Physical appearance does not determine ability.
Master Shifu (In the Sacred Hall of Warriors): You are not the Dragon Warrior. You will never be the Dragon Warrior until you have learned the secret of the Dragon Scroll … One must first master the highest level of Kung Fu, and that is clearly impossible if that one is someone like you … Look at you, this fat butt, flabby arms … and this ridiculous belly.
Po: Those are sensitive in the flabby parts.
Laughter is the shortest distance between two people.
Sometimes life can feel like you are on a J. R. R. Tolkien Lord of the Rings adventure. Somewhere along the path you may very well be met by mean-spirited, nasty, underhanded obstacles that get in your way for no reason, but all you have to do is remember that you are stronger than any problem that rises up, and you can get through anything if you just keep going.
And the core of that strength that pushes you forward is your disposition or mentality, which can be improved tremendously by having a good sense of humor. It’s a secret weapon; it’s a superpower. If you learn how to wield it, by exposing yourself to comedy, for example—and learning to laugh at anything—then you can walk through life with the outlook of a child clowning around with a funny friend.
It’s a good place to be.
The young man, who does not know the future, sees life as a kind of epic adventure, an Odyssey through strange seas and unknown islands, where he will test and prove his powers, and thereby discover his immortality.
The man of middle years, who has lived the future that he onced dreamed, sees life as a tragedy; for he has learned that his power, however great, will not prevail against those forces of accident and nature to which he gives the names of gods, and has learned that he is mortal.
But the man of age, if he plays his assigned role properly, must see life as a comedy. For his triumphs and his failures merge, and one is no more the occasion for pride or shame than the other; and he is neither the hero who proves himself against those forces, nor the protagonist who is destroyed by them.
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Great post. I like the variety of the movies you chose here. I'm a huge fan of film as well. Just watched Michael Clayton last night, having previously watched There Will Be Blood. It's astonishing that 2007 had so many superb movies, some of my favorites for the whole decade.