Trope Talk: Bathos

You know how everybody has been complaining about quips and "whedon dialogue" and the MCU and all that stuff? This is what they're actually mad about. Let's discuss!

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[dicegerry]

"Sharing a story you care about is like ripping your heart out and submitting it for peer review."
As a writer and an artist, I felt that.

[Callie_Cosmo]

“She was like a bad metaphor, either forgotten instantly, or clings onto you for literal decades”

[alecchristiaen]

I really like Spider-verse's use of Bathos.

Several scenes early on subvert our expectation, or are in some way played out for laughs, but the third act is RIFE with moments that mirror the earlier jokes, but are played completely straight.

Especially Miles' leap of faith. Earlier he was too scared to jump and went down the stairs again; he fell next to a building before, an onomatopoeia mockingly chasing him down; the Stan Lee cameo assures him that the cheap suit will fit him eventually (it better, cuz no refunds). Now he's wearing a suit that fits and befits him, wearing web shooters that Aunt May even say fit perfectly, and while he is still nervous to hell and back (hence the shattered glass as he jumps), this time he does go for it. And then when he swings through NY, he launches himself up a building, an onomatopoeia of his cheering following him upwards.

It's almost bathos in reverse. First they establish a joke, or deliberately use bathos for a laugh, but later scenes parallel the funny ones, but this time with complete sincerity. I think it's utterly brilliant.

I mean...hot take of the century: Spider-verse was good.

[shotgotit_]

"Your Dad, The Goose" is genuinely one of Jolie's greatest line deliveries of her entire career...

[devonrule]

I've seen some writers discuss that the big fear of vulnerability driving the rise of bathos isn't fear of the eventual theater/consumer audience reaction, it's the other writers and producers on a project. It's scary to be emotionally vulnerable in a writers room, and feels a lot safer to pitch a joke that breaks the tension.

[Oooooof]

"... Self-depreciating humor is really only funny to people who are comfortable depreciating you." This quote hit me like a truck. It helping me realize why I keep making self-depreciating jokes all the time and why I should probably stop. I know this probably wasn't the intended goal of the episode but you have really helped me out to think through some stuff.

[nightingaleblades]

The best highly specific case of the older definition of bathos is encountering the phrase “among us” in any media context

[bananabanana]

Bathos can also enhance Emotional Sincerity. With the Spider-Man: into the Spiderverse example, Miles’ comedic failure to make the jump makes the actual jump so much cooler!

[FranNyan]

As I just recall the "She doesn't get eaten by the eels at this time." interruption in Princess Bride, where it cuts the action and tension, but not in a way that belittles anything. Having the commentary come from outside the story lets it have the best of both worlds.

[bismuth]

The problem with Bathos is that, if it's handled badly, it's one of the most obnoxious things ever.

[mitkitty]

The other way sincere bathos works for me is like...a character making a dumb joke in a stressful emotional situation and then everyone starts laughing/crying because they genuinely needed that. It becomes a sweet friendship moment

[jukori]

love a good reverse bathos, when you set up a joke, and all of a sudden it turns into something heartbreakingly real, hitting you right in the feels

[RmsOceanic]

For the curious, "Narm" is derived from the TV Show Six Feet Under, about a family of undertakers, where the longrunning Chekhov's Gun of the main character's brain aneurism finally goes off and he suffers a stroke while with his lover, with the iconic dialogue of: "My arm's gone numb. Numb arm. Numb. Arm. Narm. Narm. Narm-!" A potential moment of shock, horror and longtime dread finally made manifest undercut by a silly sounding word. Sure wasn't no Hodor.

[coyote-bird]

I gotta say I appreciate all the Into The Spiderverse and Kung Fu Panda 2 examples shown in this video. Those movies really executed this trope so well!

[Respectable_Username]

Thanks for not including the Rocket "standing around like a bunch of losers" scene as one if the examples! I don't know if you just didn't think to put it in or remembered the essay I might have left in the comments section of the last video, but I do think that scene is so unfairly maligned across the internet.

Rocket is the only one to undercut the sincerity of that moment, but he does it in service of his character arc and how he's learning to become more vulnerable (he is opening himself up to physical danger to help this new family by accepting at all, but he's still got that barrier to emotional danger), so you get the ultimate gut-punch when he finally drops the protective sarcasm over fear and grief for Groot leading up to and just following the climax. It's not the _author_ afraid of sincerity but the _character_, as part of an arc about opening up and accepting found family ❤

[kirstenpaff]

Red: Talks about stories accidentally making a serious moment funny due to poor execution.
Me: I don't like sand.
Red: Shows the I don't like sand scene.
Me: Called it!

[vowgallant]

I will defend the "Toss me" Gimli scene. It shows something he is embarrassed about, while also showing that he is able to swallow his pride and do something he considers humiliating if it means saving the day. It also shows that he cares what his friends think about him when he says "Don't tell the elf." And the fact that Aragorn acknowledges this shows his respect for him. It isn't so much that we can't take sincere people seriously, but for me, seeing someone do something silly who is usually serious is just as humanizing as the opposite. I think that is what that Gimli brought to the table.

[theeggman]

My favourite thing about George Lucas and the original 6 Star Wars movies is the fact they take themselves seriously and that he wasn’t afraid to show his own vulnerability.

Moments like “you were my brother Anakin” hit me sincerely because of how sincerely the characters, actors and Lucas were in creating them.

[kaneobscurum]

Liking the King Fu Panda examples being on full display as good ways to blend the goofy and the sincere. I will always enjoy the scene where Po talks to Tigress about finding out he's adopted, because it kinda pulls the double whammy. It starts all serious, then he lets her know what's bothering him and they start the tone shift with her pointing out his dad is a goose. But then just as you've got your chuckle she follows with an attempt at genuine understanding, showing that she does care for Po and that she's matured some from the previous film.

[owensreviews]

Batman: “Alfred, I’m watching OSP’s video about Bathos!”
Alfred: “What is a hos, sir?”