So Bad, It's Good

Let's talk about movies. Bad movies, to be more specific. So Bad, They're Good.

Now, I know that not everybody is entertained by a movie's extraordinary failure. Movies used as examples here are strictly of my opinion. So without further ado, let's start with what kind of movies can't be So Bad, They're Good:

Comedies: When something is so bad, it's good, it always becomes funny. The reason terrible movies can be entertaining is because we find humor in their shortcomings. But the whole point of a comedy is to make you laugh. If it can't do that, all you're left with is a flimsy romance plot or a shallow drama.

Morally Bankrupt Films: Sometimes a topic can just be too heavy to laugh about. This is the kind of stuff that makes you feel ashamed of the human race. Movies laced with prejudice, hatred, or ignorance are hard to watch even when they're bad. And then you the special class of horror film that is impossible to laugh at because its extreme violence and cruelty pushes the limits of decency. Examples include "Grotesque" or "The Human Centipede".

Laugh. I dare you.

"Average" films: Your generic romantic comedies, underdog stories, vengeful ghost tales, and so on. These are the formulaic films that are reasonable well-made, but do not offer anything new or substantial. Their failure is the inability to be memorable.

So what makes a movie So Bad, It's Good? 

Ill-conceived plot: This is often the most important part. For a classic example, we need look no further than Plan 9 From Outer Space - an advanced alien race tries to get the attention of all the people of Earth by creating exactly 3 zombies and having them run around a cemetery, sometimes bothering gravediggers and policemen. You'd think that a species with interstellar travel would go about it all more effectively.

A modern example, Snakes On A Plane is a story about... well, exactly that. This is a peculiar example, though, because the premise of the movie was based on its own So Bad It's Good-ness after it became popular on the internet.

Technical ineptitude: You can see a zipper. The hero's birthmark keeps switching to the other side of his face. A harness is clearly visible during slow motion scene. What makes it all so funny to us is that we can tell not just that something is wrong, but exactly how it's wrong. It reminds us how silly the movie-making process can be. There is a divine satisfaction in the moment when you notice a truck in the background of a fantasy epic.

Blatant commercial interest: Double Team, starring Jean Claude Van Damme and Dennis Rodman, was obviously intended to cash in on Rodman's fame as a star athlete. It even puts in the extra effort to mention his basketball career by having him throw a skull at an explosive trigger and then calling it a "five pointer". What truly sets this movie apart is its thrilling use of product placement:

Did I mention during one point of the climax, Van Damme karate kicks a tiger? Seriously, go see the movie.

Outlandish script: Legion is a personal favorite. Most would say that it's actually just a terrible movie, but it holds a special place in my heart. What really sold me was Tyrese Gibson's heartfelt monologue:

"When I was a shorty, the only time my old man ever gave me attention was when I did something bad. So I got really good at being bad. Problem is, when you get older, being bad is not so good." 

I remember hearing this line in the theatre and clapping my hands in applause as I shook my head in disbelief. 

Mortal Kombat: Annihilation is also a treasure trove of bad lines and ridiculous plot points. Here is a line that just captures the heart of the script:

And this one gives us an in-depth look at the tortured soul of Scorpion's (the yellow ninja) character.

Bad acting: Bad acting is a peculiar thing. We can easily tell the difference between a good and bad performance without knowing anything about films or movie-making. It's difficult to quantify or put into words what makes a performance so bad, but there is always just something off, weird, and hilarious about it.

The Room is a prototypical So Bad, It's Good movie. It fulfils every single criteria in such spectacular fashion that I'm surprised I haven't used it in any example until now. Just listen to the delivery of Tommy's lines compared to the seriousness of their content.

This next is just superbly inept. The pacing. The dialogue. The way Tommy just steps over the shopkeeper's line. Fantastic.

What makes bad acting so special is that even good actors can give bad performances. It is a rare treat to see a great actor in a giftedly terrible movie. Such is the case with Raul Julia in Street Fighter. Despite being in bad movie, he chews up the scenery with his hot-blooded portrayal of the absurdly over the top villain M. Bison.

Here we see how being evil has become routine for the Mighty Bison.

I wish I could find a better quality video for this next scene. Raul Julia devastates the scene to a billion pieces with his Large Ham performance - filled with dramatic pauses, explicit punctuation, and dramatic emphasis on everything.

What am I saying? His performance was marvelous. RIP Raul Julia.

Irony

Depending on who you ask, there are about four kinds of irony:

Verbal irony is when someone says one thing but means another. For example, describing something being "as pleasant as surgery." You say something in a manner that has a literal connotation, but express something different in the context of the situation. This is the mechanism that makes sarcasm work. Sarcasm and irony frequently overlap, but the distinction is that sarcasm is meant to mock things. Not all verbal irony is sarcastic and not all sarcasm is ironic. Unlike the other types of irony, this kind is intentional.

Dramatic irony is the disparity of awareness between a character and the audience. Shakespeare used this device all the time: Romeo kills himself because he thinks Juliet is dead, but we know she only took  a sleeping potion. In Othello, the audience knows that Iago is lying long before the characters do.

Situational irony is when the result of an action is contrary to a desire of expected effect. It's like climbing up a tree to escape a wolf and then getting struck by lightning, or going to bed early for an important meeting and then oversleeping.

Cosmic irony... technically isn't irony at all. It's the sharp contrast between human intention and harsh realities of the world. This is essentially when the universe seems to be screwing with you. Imagine that you're buying an anniversary gift for your boyfriend. You sold your hair to buy him a gold necklace, only to find out that he's allergic to gold and that he bought you a comb. Whoops.


Since it's often misused, let's point out that irony is not:
-a lie
-a joke
-a coincidence
-merely anything unexpected

No.

These are coincidences:

-A chef being eaten by cannibals
-A dog lover mauled to death by pit bulls
-Being mugged right after you withdraw cash from the ATM

These are ironic situations:

-Accidentally pushing your friend off a bridge while shoving him out of a way of a moving car
-Being killed by a safety feature
-Choking on the pill of immortality

Irony is great for stories because it creates conflict and helps move a plot forward. Unexpected outcomes and complications keep us interested, even if we don't always like them. Think of all the times you've sat through a bad story simply because you wanted to see how it all played out. People aren't deeply moved by things that are common or mundane. That's why we find things that are predictable to be boring, and the reason why jokes aren't as funny when you already know the punchline. 

But assumptions can only be proven wrong so many times. A story must eventually deliver on some expectations of the audience. A hero eventually triumphs and a villain faces justice. The honest are rewarded and the greedy are left with nothing. This is because stories are used to paint the image of our ideal worlds. We expect people to get what they deserve. That's why cosmic irony gets a strong reaction from us - especially endings. It's hard to see a good person suffer or watch a villain get away. Though these outcomes are plausible and realistic... they just aren't satisfying. It's difficult to be reminded that, unlike in stories, life truly is unfair. That's why we refer to fate being cruel.

Dramatic irony is great at creating tension. You see it all the time with Horror. Watching a character walk through a haunted house is scary because you expect something to jump out... but watching them explore the room where you know the ghost is waiting? Ho. Ly. Shit. Any time you've yelled at the screen in frustration or groaned at the actions of a character is likely the result of this dramatic irony. Think of all the times a character walks right past a vital clue or gets into an obviously dangerous situation. These scenes are frustrating because you know that the choices being made are bad, even though the characters don't. 

Dramatic irony also creates some of the saddest and most memorable moments. In the Futurama episode, "Jurassic Bark", Fry decides not to resurrect his dog, Seymour, after finding out that it had lived another 12 years after he disappeared. He assumes that Seymour lived a full life and had forgotten him, and that it would be best to let him rest in peace. In the final flashback, it is revealed that Seymour sat for years and years, waiting for his master's return while the world around him slowly changed. He grows older and older until he finally lies down and closes his eyes for the last time. The feeling of, "...Fry was so close. If only he knew..." is the reason why scenes like this one are so heartbreaking.

Sigh, the feels.