It Is To Laugh

National Review's critic Kyle Smith has gone nuts.  In his discussion of the Looney Tunes reboot, he complains the new stuff is too much like the original Looney Tunes--old-style slapstick, when they should be smarter. But he goes even further.  Much further:

It's seems beyond dispute that humor tends to age more like Borden's than Bordeaux.  Drama lasts; comedy fades.  From the entire first half of the 20th century, what is still funny?  I realize Chaplin and Keaton and the Marx Brothers still have their fans, but this stuff doesn't exactly light up Comedy Central today.  Comedy that endures even 50 years is rare.

Since this is the exact opposite of the truth, that "beyond dispute" part is especially bizarre.

What airs on TV isn't the question--TV tends toward recent stuff (though there are plenty of channels which schedule old TV shows and movies). The question is what do audiences respond to, and I can state--from personal observation, not opinion--the great old comedy still goes over big with modern audiences.  The best from the past will still be around when most of today's enthusiasms are forgotten.

In fact, I've never heard bigger laughs than those generated by Chaplin, Keaton, the Marx Brothers and their ilk (not that many reach their level). It's the drama of those days that doesn't play. I suppose some old silent drama still works, but audiences much prefer the comedies.  And the "serious" Hollywood films of the 1930s often seem silly today, while the great clowns, not to mention the screwball comedies, still delight.  For that matter, the old Looney Tunes are pretty great.

Maybe Smith wrote this article on Opposite Day.