Last night the wifely-one and I were discussing Amy Yasbeck, and how she was absolutely brilliant in Men in Tights and Wings, but her choice of rolls beyond that were mostly, meh. It was a shame, considering she really stands out as one of the better comedic female actors, that her talent would would be used for one off bit parts in terrible sitcoms.
The conversation quickly turned to the funny ladies of hollywood. I realized that I can sit and name a never ending list of some of the most brilliant women working today... and a very sizable list of those from the 50s 60s and 70s, but not so many from the late 80s through 90s.
Generally speaking it wouldn't phase me, I would just go to bed, and not give it any thought beyond that, but I woke up the next morning and racked my brain trying to figure out why that is.
I poked around looking for a list of the funny ones from that 15 year period, and was distraught to find a reoccuring theme, actors such as Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Meg Ryan, Mia Farrow, and such. Each and every time that a blogger would say why they were queens of comedy the reasons were: She is so beautiful, and her (physical trait) is so unique, and OMG when she wore that (sexy garment) in (that one film). Oh yeah, and they were funny once. So to distinguish from actors who did a comedic roll and some one who is funny, the one brings nothing to the part, just reads the lines and thats it. The latter is someone who has a fundamental understanding of what works, why it works, and brings a significant amount of themselves to the part, enhancing the humor.
Years ago my screenwriting teacher gave a lecture about women in comedy. His theory was that because of a major shift in what is considered politically correct, leading to a period when the comedy styles of Lucile Ball, Penny Marshall, or Goldie Hawn would no longer be acceptable as it would be seen as being contrary to the feminist movement. Unfortunately that style of comedy was what was popular in Hollywood for that time.
When I told the wifely-one about his theory she... well... agreed, but only somewhat. She had a separate theory that comedy in general was pretty awful during the 80s and 90s, sitcoms, dumb empty humor, failed slapstick.
Either way, I don't know, but the one thing I do know it's not because women are inherently not funny (a suggestion I received on two separate occasions, by two different people) So what went on? Where were the Madeline Kahns, the Jane Curtains of the 90s?
Someone suggested an evolutionary psychological reason, being women prefer men who are funny, and the opposite is not the case. Specifically whenever a man talks about a woman having a good sense of humor it translates as she laughs at my jokes... for a small crowd, this is probably true, but doesn't explain why it would kick in in the late 80s and dramatically change in the early oughts.
*Tangent*
When I was younger, I was awkward, not very well liked by the opposite sex, and was generally a bit of an outcast. I became the funny guy, not because I was a natural, but because it helped me fit in. Something that is echoed by many of the funniest people alive. (If you get the chance read Bossypants by Tina Fey, it's brilliant and gives a nice insight into the life of one of the funniest people of our time)
*we're back*
I've come to the conclusion it's probably the combination of everyone's input. Something that comes to mind is movies in which someone is "hollywood ugly" (see: Uma Thurman in the beginning of Batman and Robin, Sandra Bullock in Love Potion Number 9, She's All That, anything starring Janine Garofalo) Their seems to be a period where actors were cast because they were beautiful, and they'll make them fit the character later. So you have actors who understand the art of comedy less and less. People who grew up being worshipped by those around them, who never had to try. Pair that with generally terribly writing and you have a long dry spell.
The change then? Geek Chic. The increasingly grey area of what makes a little girl, a little girl, and a little boy, a little boy. Girls playing video games or sports, reading comic books and action oriented novels. Young girls who grew up in a society where those behaviors were still considered tomboyish. While they still might have been worshipped for being omg so pretty, they were still exposed to the awkward ostracism that comes from being not quite normal.
Though, as I get older I understand more and more that what I believe and what I know is probably wrong. So I welcome any opinions, no matter how different they might be, even if you have a crazy conspiracy theory, go ahead and share, or if you have a favorite female comic actor from the 90s, I'm always looking to expand my comedic influences, some of my favorites are: Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Tracy Ullman, Alyson Hannigan (though I admit How I Met Your Mother has really been her only time to really shine, as most will think of her in American Pie, and Date Movie, but she has an amazing sense of timing), Sarah Silverman, Mary Lynn Rajskub.
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