Most of my favorite stories take themselves seriously. There’s not a lot of room for joking, and the tone of the stories is dark. But a couple of stories have risen to my list of favorites that are the opposite. They’re funny, don’t take themselves seriously, and have a very light, joking tone. These stories are “Guardians of The Galaxy” and “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy.” These two stories prove that you don’t need a dark, moody story to get the point across. You must make your idea clear in whatever way is right for you.
These two stories work so well because they have a purpose. They are there to make a point and talk about specific subjects. “Guardians of The Galaxy” is there to talk about finding family and friendship. “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to The Galaxy” is there to talk about existence and the purpose of life. Of course, Adams has a very pessimistic, depressing view of life, believing it has no purpose. But the way he communicates it through storytelling is so comedic and entertaining that I cannot help but enjoy it, despite my stance on what the story is trying to say.
The point I’m trying to make here isn’t what these stories say. It’s that they’re saying anything at all. If you’re going to write a story, it needs to mean something. Especially in the comedy genre, because most comedy stories are only for laughs. There isn’t any point to them, and the stories aren’t focused or about anything. They’re simply one funny event after another.
Look at “Napolean Dynamite.” I love this movie, but not a good story. I love it because it’s funny. It was never the movie’s goal to be a good story. It simply wanted to be a silly film to make people laugh. That’s perfectly fine. As I said, I love the movie. But this is not the way to go if your goal is to tell a story through comedy. The movie is just a bunch of funny things happening. It isn’t about anything. No message, no theme, no nothing. It’s a bunch of people having fun. That’s all. It’s entertaining, which was what it was trying to do. But if you’re trying to communicate an idea, don’t follow “Napolean Dynamite” as an example.
Another reason stories like “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” work is because the story doesn’t serve the humor. The humor serves the story. The jokes and gags that Adams came up with work to tell a more exciting story and communicate ideas about existence. Take, for instance, the most memorable joke in the whole series, which comes from the first book. We are told that there was an ancient civilization that built a supercomputer to calculate the ultimate Answer. The answer to life, the universe, and everything. The computer takes seven and a half million years to figure out the answer, but it finally does, and the people are ready to hear what it is. However, the people are disappointed.
42. That’s all the computer says. The ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. It doesn’t make any sense. The people are furious. Then the supercomputer says that the answer doesn’t make sense because the people don’t know the ultimate question. The computer reveals its designs for another, even more powerful computer, which will take millions more years to calculate the question. The computer is called Earth.
Unfortunately, Earth was demolished in favor of creating a hyperspace bypass a mere five minutes before the question had finished calculating.
Why do I recall this gag for you?
Because it serves the story. The joke is the story, and it serves the themes. The answer is nothing. It’s nonsense. We can’t understand the meaning of life because we don’t know the question of life. What is the question? Irrelevant. Life is meaningless. Now go out there and have fun.
While I disagree with the story’s themes, there they are. You can see how the 42 joke plays into them. It’s not some random, stupid joke to get a cheap laugh out of the audience. It’s there to communicate an idea in the way only Douglas Adams can. A cheesy, ridiculous sci-fi joke.
But Adams didn’t have to communicate this idea through a story filled with quirky humor and Babelfish. He could have made it serious. He could have created a sprawling space epic with dark ideas and serious characters. But that’s not Adams’ style. The choice to make “The Hitchhiker’s Guide” wasn’t made out of necessity but voice. Comedy is Douglas Adams’ voice. I can’t imagine reading one of his works, fiction or not, without smiling at least once. He’s a silly person. The silliness is enjoyable, and it’s his way of communicating.
(Now, before any of you Douglas Adams fans go on about how the choice to make it a comedy was out of necessity because he was tasked with writing a sci-fi comedy radio show, then you aren’t wrong. But comedy is still Adams’ voice, and he still could have written the story as dark and serious. Fortunately, he didn’t, and we are left with the funniest piece of literature ever.)
This isn’t to say that all stories be funny. Most of the best works of fiction are dark and serious. They aren’t funny, they’re moody. They’re brooding. Let’s compare “Guardians of The Galaxy” to “Star Wars: A New Hope.” They’re both space operas. They’re both pulpy sci-fi stories. They both have a group of ragtag heroes fighting a menacing villain who serves a higher power. What’s the difference?
The difference is while one uses comedy to tell its story, the other takes itself more seriously.
That doesn’t mean one is worse than the other. They’re both fantastic movies. But imagine “Guardians of The Galaxy” being told seriously. You lose most of the personality in the characters. Now imagine “A New Hope” being told comedically. Again, you lose the personality of the characters. They’re completely different stories with identical plot structures. It’s an interesting case. They’re simply the same story told differently, but no one sees them as the same. No one compares them. But the main plot of the story is. It’s the same idea. The only reason no one notices is because they’re communicating different messages, one about hope and one about family, and they’re told through two completely different styles.
However, when you compare “A New Hope” to “The Force Awakens,” people begin to notice the similarities. Why? Because they’re the same story told in the same way. There’s nothing new, and it’s not saying anything different. It’s simply the same story. But “Guardians” is different because it has a different message and tells the story through comedy.
However, most modern movies tell stories through comedy even when they shouldn’t. Marvel Studios is incredibly guilty of this. After “Guardians,” they’ve been forcing quirky comedy and 80s music into every other movie. It doesn’t fit a lot of the storytellers’ voices, either. If you want an example, look at “Doctor Strange.” I’m not saying the movie is terrible. Far from it. That movie is fantastic. But there is a big issue with it that illustrates what I’m talking about.
After the Ancient One dies and Doctor Strange completes his character arc, deciding to go after Kaecilius, he has this moment where he changes into his outfit and looks at himself in the mirror, changing into the man he needs to be. It’s a powerful and essential beat to the story. It’s emotional, it’s inspiring, and it’s exciting.
But then the Cloak decides to try and wipe something off Strange’s face. A joke! How funny! Marvel, you’ve done it again.
But the problem is that this is a darker film. This movie takes itself seriously. The joke doesn’t fit, and this is the worst place to put it. It undermines the power of the scene. It makes it lighter when it needs to be dark. This is a turning point for our hero. Gone is the selfish surgeon looking for some way to keep his practice so he can stay rich, and here to stay is the selfless hero looking to save the world. The joke doesn’t work here. It’s forced and unnecessary.
There are a lot of great stories that are great because of their dark, serious tone. But it’s good to have fun, goofy stories, too, as long as the funny serves the story, themes, and messages. Too many stories rely on jokes to draw their audience in, even though they are forced and undermine the story’s meaning. If your story is serious, don’t force a ton of jokes merely to bring people in. If your story is funny, use the humor to elevate your story to another level.
Thanks for reading! Have a fantastic day.