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Keeping the Characters Straight: Comedy and Identity

1998; Taylor & Francis; Volume: 26; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1080/01956059809602783

1930-6458

Daniel Lieberfeld, Judith A. Sanders,

Cinema and Media Studies

Abstract Mistaken identity, the silent-era director Mack Sennett observed, is one of two primordial types of joke–the other being the fall of dignity. Plots that turn on switched identities and disguised passing have been comic staples since the Greeks. With cinema's added possibilities for manipulating point of view has come a proliferation of comic disguise plots. In recent years, films from Victor/Victoria (1982) to Mrs. Doubtfire (1993) have featured disguised protagonists who cross gender lines. Comedies of class reversal, such as Trading Places (1983), are also common. Those whose heroes switch races include True Identity (1991) and Soul Man (1986).