Those who know me and my compatriot, Axon, are familiar with our love of making fun of movies. You don’t even have to know us well to know this fact—it’s practically a point-of-conversation the first time you meet us. It’s a hobby that I personally have been interested in for 15 years. And we two are not alone in our love of this sport; it has a long, traditional, cult following. However, explaining to someone not acquainted with the activity what is involved can be difficult at best, extremely awkward at worst. Thus, I would like to take an opportunity to outline for our less-informed friends why this hobby is so intriguing to us and the intricacies of making the most of a movie-watching experience.
Let me begin by addressing some Frequently Asked Questions and complaints from individuals who just ‘don’t get’ the art of riffing.
1) What’s so great about making fun of movies?
Those who have a natural draw to sarcasm and satire as a form of humor can see the benefits almost immediately—after all, riffing caters to those particular styles of humor. However, other characteristics are used and exercised when riffing. For instance, riffing is generally considered an art (a topic I will expound on more later), and thus is an exercise in creativity. Just as an actor starring in the actual movie, riffing is all about presence, timing and substance. Riffing is far more than just reading off jokes about a situation—it is a practice in effective delivery, often requiring split-second timing and proper inflection of voice to ‘sell’ the joke.
2) Why watch a bad movie when you could watch a good movie?
While others might provide a slightly different answer, the one I can offer is this: Making fun of a bad movie is more interactive than just watching a good movie. While watching a good movie is...well...good, it must be a very good movie to make you forget you are watching a movie and draw you in. This is the only way to give the feeling of interactivity. On the other hand, you can take any bad movie and instantly give it depth by making fun of it. Rather than trying to get sucked into it, you keep your distance and focus more on the film, as an object, rather than the actual entertainment. People have no problem grasping the concept of commenting on a work of art hanging in a museum—riffing just involves ‘commenting’ on a series of moving images with sounds.
3) It’s annoying when people are talking during the movie.
This is the biggest complaint I hear about riffing, and it is based more on a misconception than anything—to wit: People assume we actually care about the movie. My wife constantly pulls this one out on me. (She’s a great example of this too, as she actually likes riffing, but usually only if it’s a movie she’s seen before.) “I’m trying to watch the movie,” she (and others) might say. The problem is that I too am watching the movie, but not because I’m trying to get a story out of it. Rather, I’m dissecting what is being shown with a cynical attitude, ready to jump on the movie for any lack of quality it might display, and usually there's plenty. Sometimes a movie that is mostly moronic will have a ‘nifty’ part, and I might get caught up in the movie at that point—there might even be few if any riffs during these moments. In general, though, I try to keep myself ‘emotionally distant’ from the movie. In so doing I might make an enemy or two out of those who are attempting to 'watch' the terrible 'B' movie, but it just makes the experience much more enjoyable when I do. The point? If you want to watch it—watch it. Just come back to it the second time and lampoon it.
4) Isn't 'riffing' just a fancy word for 'making fun of a movie'?
You know how there are individuals out there who consider themselves artisans of a sort just by performing the art? For example, many people consider Nickelback and Creed to be bands. I do not classify them as such. “They perform music, even if it is insipid,” one might argue. “Whether you like it or not, that makes them a band.” This is not true. Performing music makes one a performer, but it does not make a person a musician. What is the difference? A musician is an artisan, which, by definition, means that they have an understanding of the art they are attempting to partake in. Knowing what a ‘C’ chord is does not make one a musician. Playing a ‘C’ chord does not make one a musician. Knowing that ‘G’ sounds great after ‘C’ does not make one a musician. A musician is one who fully understands that they are creating art and thus are inspired to take their time and use ingenuity in creating something unique and thoughtful that will attract quality fans who have true appreciation for their art form. A musician is not someone who allows music producers and 'audio mixologists' take the same repetitive song with the same chords and rehash and regurgitate it into a 'new song' just to fill up an album and to appease the throng of 17-year-olds looking for something to feel good about because their home life is a wreck.
Similarly, it's at this junction where we find the demarcation between making fun of a movie and actually riffing a movie. Just sitting in front of a television and pointing out dumb things in a matter-of-fact way is not riffing. Riffing is making a thought-out, commentary-style observation based on a presented circumstance. It is providing the funniest (or in some cases, most practical) line for a given opportunity. Of course, if attempting to riff in an improv manner, such as when watching a film for the first-time, no one should expect the best riffs. The quality of a good riffer is not to just state the obvious, but to come up with a funny retort. Example: My wife and I found ourselves watching a ‘Made for SyFy movie’ (instant dreck) called Mega Shark vs. Giant Octopus. I mean, right there you know you’re in for choice riffing material. The most memorable moment was when ‘Mega Shark’ leapt out of the ocean and dragged down an in-flight en route jet liner. Not getting into the absurdity of the situation (which is a dissertation in itself), the way that one would comment on this scene shows the depth of one’s riffing ability.
Example 1 “Look at that! Sharks can’t do that in real life! That is so stupid it makes my brain hurt!”
Some may classify this as riffing the movie. However, there is no weight to that statement outside of just directly attacking the scene. Nothing about it added to the experience of watching the movie, and outside of an observation, nothing witty was said. Imagine watching that scene and, instead, hearing:
Example 2 “I’ve heard of flying fish, but this is ridiculous!”
Rather than just making a straight observation about the quality of what is shown, a joke is made that improves and brings humor to an otherwise dreadful scene in the movie. The first example is a contentious comment that separates itself from the movie, while the second example almost becomes part of the experience of the movie. It gives reason for the audience to stay tuned to what they are watching. It also includes a level of entertainment value.
Some may argue that there is no right or wrong answer to how a riff should be handled. Both comments above do work, but you should tailor a joke to your specific style of riffing. For instance, I’m partial to making outside (and often obscure) references to other things, people or movies:
Example 3 “Man, these Jaws sequels are really getting out of hand.”
Or, take the first example of just making an observation about the scene in the movie, but improve upon it as a wry comment:
Example 4 “You know, if I were afraid of flying, this would be the last thing I'd have envisioned bringing the plane down.”
It isn’t so much that a person riffs because they are just a sarcastic, curmudgeony soul, but because it is an art form of comedy in itself. It truly is nothing more than an extension of the old ‘straight man, funny man’ duo team: The movie is the straight man (as it is trying to be serious), while the riffer is being the ‘funny man’. In those instances, the straight man isn’t really trying to be serious, but for the sake of the joke, he has to come across that way. Treating a movie as the straight man in a comedy makes the movie watching experience completely different. As my old saying goes, “All movies are made to entertain—it’s just that some of us are entertained in different ways.”
Riffing—Art or Science....or Both?
To use established examples of each, compare Mystery Science Theater 3000 or their new project www.rifftrax.com to the essay-like commentary at http://jabootu.net, and other sites like it. At the former example, you will find that the riffs will come as in the examples mentioned in the previous subheading—comments made along with a movie in a comedic style, often with good timing and sharp wit. The jokes might come in the form of observations about the scene, cutting sarcasm against the characters or the plot, perhaps even banter among the riffers. It comes akin to the two Muppets in the balcony on the old episodes of The Muppet Show.
The latter example, however, reads more like a column you’d expect to read in a newspaper or a blog. Focusing more on the irks of the movie, this type of riffing brings out why the movie should be viewed as funny, even when it clearly was not supposed to be. Take the ‘flying shark’ incident mentioned earlier. Rather than a witty repartee, in this instance, one might point out, not just the stupidity of what just happened, but the poor acting skills of the passengers in the plane (for instance, I did not once ever believe the stewardess in the plane was a stewardess, but rather an ‘actress playing a stewardess’), the cheesy and obvious CGI effects, the poor direction, the generic music, etc. It would be tantamount to reading a humorists’ article as they describe the experience of watching the movie. As you can predict, while the two forms of satire are attempting to reach the same goal (humor and entertain at the expense of a poorly made movie), the way it is delivered is different. I personally view the two different disciplines of riffing as equally interesting and both worth their weights in gold as far as their effectiveness. Interestingly, I’ve found those who are the 'writer type' seem more often to be fond of the 'artistic' movie riffing form, whereas the movie buffs usually don't care for the written movie commentary. In other words, not many like to read for which we can thank (in yet further irony) the media.
The art of riffing has actually been around for thousands of years, according to English majors who apparently view performance works in Ancient Greece as satire of already established works. (I guess those plays started off with the theme song line ‘In the very distance future, Thousands of years A.D…’)
To me, it is both sad and great that the field is still only in ‘cult’ status—sad that not everyone fully appreciates the art form as I do; great in that it is not over-saturated. Face it, certain hobbies and activities just aren’t as fun as they once were because of the sheer influx of people taking part in them. I still like having something I call my own, and to have someone like my buddy Axon, to do it with is just that much more excellent. After all, what good is making fun of something if there isn’t anyone to appreciate your quirky rejoinders?
-Zerom
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