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Response to: Laughs with Jane

The Best Christmas Movie: Elf

 Great post, Jane! I am so happy you chose to analyze Buddy the Elf and this movie because it is definitely one of the best comedic christmas movies. The way you analyzed this movie in terms of the superiority theory is completely accurate, especially when you criticised Hobbes work because he put too much emphasis on the actual feeling of superiority over someone, and does not recognize that people can often feel superior over someone without a negative connotation. When you compared Buddy the Elf to a mom laughing at a little kid, I completely agree with that statement since Buddy was raised by the elves and Santa Claus, he never got to experience anything other than child-like memories, allowing us to feel superior to him in a more nurturing and caring way.

Comments

  1. Caroline BassDecember 6, 2018 at 3:29 PM

    I really love that you brought the nurturing and caring sense of superiority. Because the viewers know that he was raised with Santa Claus and the elves, we almost gain a sense of understanding about why he would act like a child, even though by outward appearances, he's clearly an adult. So in this way, we laugh at his learning curve the same way we would laugh at a child making the same mistakes in an adult world.

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  2. UnknownDecember 8, 2018 at 2:38 PM

    I've always been curious about why Buddy acts the way he does. It's attributed to his growing up at the North Pole, but the elves he was surrounded by were all very responsible, hard-working individuals. How do you think this aligns with the image of a parents laughing at a kid? How did Buddy fail to realize his humanness earlier? Just a thought.

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