The Aristocrats

—Overview
—Photos

One of the jokes my wife is fond of is one we first heard on A Prairie Home Companion:

Two penguins are on an ice flow together. One looks to the other and says, “You look like you’re wearing a tuxedo.� To which the other penguin replies, “How do you know I’m not?�

My wife finds humor in such simple juxtaposition of reality and absurdity. I just think the joke is lame.

Different people find different things funny. Why? Some people laugh at things that other people are downright offended by. That brings us to The Aristocrats.

The title of the film comes from the punch line of what is said to be the world’s most obscene joke. Actually, the joke itself is just as lame as my wife’s penguin joke. It has been around probably one day less than there have been comedians and talent agents. It’s not the type of thing that comedians include in their routines, but it is one they all seem to know and enjoy talking about.

This film is a documentary about this terrible joke. It features a number of comics who tell the joke, recall first hearing the joke, and laugh at the joke. Actually, the film is a marvel of editing as the various comics are interspersed with each other in their telling of the joke.

But the film is more than just several tellings of this one joke. It also gives us a chance to parse the humor of the joke. We get to examine why people laugh at such things and why this lame joke keeps being retold generation by generation. It also allows us to consider the way our tolerance for obscenity shifts over time.

The reason comedians are so taken by this joke is that the joke is so basic that it requires each teller to adapt it to their own style. It also allows them to see just how far they are willing to push the envelope in their humor. They have to be inventive to find new ways of presenting the scatological, sexual, violent, and politically incorrect, elements of the joke. In many ways it may be like an essay question for entrance into the comedian’s union. In some ways it may also be a bit of a Rorschach test that reveals something of the inner struggles of the teller.

Penn Jillette (of the comedy/magic team of Penn and Teller) says the joke is a prime example of how comedy is “about the singer, not the song.� That is, it is in the telling of this joke that the humor is to be found. (As I said, the joke itself is pretty lame.) Watching and listening to these comedians riffing on this joke does have its moments. Even though you know where the joke is headed, you just keep listening – even as it offends you. And it is designed to offend. If it isn’t offensive, it just isn’t being told right.

Because of the nature of the joke, this film is filled with vulgarity, obscenity and all around offensive language. I say that as one for whom language really isn’t an issue. It almost gets to the point that all of the vulgarity just rushes over you without you noticing anymore. (Note that I said “almost.�)

Society’s reaction to that is one of the things this film is about. One of the reasons the joke keeps being retold is that what may have been truly disgusting in years past doesn’t carry the same emotional baggage anymore. What was crude and rude a few decades ago seems somewhat innocuous by current standards. As our standards evolve, this joke evolves as well pushing the limits of acceptability even farther. In fact, the film even points out that as we think about families that would be as dysfunctional as the family in the joke, we may think this is terrible. But then we turn on The Osbournes, where we can watch a real family wallow in its dysfunction.

George Carlin points out that he likes to be able to take his listeners a bit over the line with his comedy, and then hope that a few of them will be glad he took them there. As we hear his joke being told and retold, it keeps taking us past the line. Some of the time we may be glad we went, but not always. The onslaught of all that is meant to offend us does grow old as we watch the film. There is humor to be found, and even some social commentary worth thinking about. But it should be obvious that this film will not be to everyone’s liking.

—Overview
—Photos