Can Female Nudity be Funny?

[JamesSD]

In a recent interview, Anna Faris (Scary Movie, The House Bunny) was quoted as saying in regards to a question about doing nudity: "I would do it but I'm not convinced that female nudity is funny."

With the recent rise of Judd Apatow comedies and their cousins and imitators, male nudity is often being played for laughs, of which comedy has a long tradition. The male ass in particular is frequently viewed as hilarious, and if you're seen "Forgetting Sarah Marshall" you know that it's not only male rear nudity that is being presented for comic effect. This image replaces the "sexy" image of Keira Knightly and Scarlett Johansson with Jonas Hill, Seth Rogan and Jason Segal in body stockings, with amusing effect. And how about Borat's mankini?

Can female nudity be played for laughs? In Porky's there was a lot of female nudity, but it was clearly to titilate, although the male reaction to naked women was obviously part of the funny. Shannon Elizabeth's topless scenes in American Pie were similar. "Not Another Teen Movie" parodied Shannon Elizabeth's nudity in a reasonably effective manner, with the joke being "her bare breasts in that movie were entirely gratuitous, so we're going to have a character who is naked 100% of the time".

The best examples I could come up with of funny female nudity are where the intention is to gross out the viewer. The three breasted alien in Total Recall. Some B-movie I saw once with zombie strippers (forcing the male viewer to ask themselves "are slightly decaying, discolored breasts still appealing?). Kathy Bates in About Schmidt (although you could argue the humor comes from Jack Nicholson's reaction).

Of course, Brad Pitt's naked ass hasn't been played for laughs as far as I'm aware. Daniel Craig's ocean scene in Casino Royale certainly wasn't played for laughs. Is it strictly a question of physique? Is a naked Will Ferrell funny because he's lumpy and hairy?

So, what say ye? Can female nudity be funny? Or will it always be more titilating than humorous?

 

[3113]

Well, you guys are funny when you're nekked. Cute. But funny.

 

[slyc_willie]

Well, you guys are funny when you're nekked. Cute. But funny.

Only when we jiggle.

How about the gratuitous bouncing breasts shot in Airplane? That was obviously done for laughs (but they were pretty nice ).

 

[NightDrive]

It's really interesting because the only time you can have female nudity that is completely for humour and not guilty of being gratuitous is when the female is so grotesque that no one would be able to use it as a method to get off on.

An attractive female being naked could be used as funny situation, but there are always going to be those parties who use the attractive female as a way to get off, hence making it not so funny, at least for them.

I think Faris is onto something.

 

[DeeZire]

I forget the movie, but the guy was speed-dating and the big-busted gal's bust popped out of her top while she remained blissfully unaware. That was funny.

 

[TheeGoatPig]

Only when we jiggle.

How about the gratuitous bouncing breasts shot in Airplane? That was obviously done for laughs (but they were pretty nice ).

Best comedy ever. And I loved those gratuitous bouncing breasts. Even the clothed ones. Both were used for comedic effe3ct, and both instances made me laugh

 

[NoJo]

http://*******.com/cbuyyc

 

[Submissioness]

http://*******.com/cbuyyc

At first, when I saw this I thought, oh, boobs. Then, oh, that's a crotch! Then I finally realized it was a whole torso!

 

[Saucy_Sage]

Depends on the context. You'd have to find a way to make it out of place or unexpected, like seeing Donald Sutherland's ass in Animal House. Maybe a nun movie...

http://soukosan.img.jugem.jp/20081010_566521.jpg

 

[xssve]

Right. There was a scene in Roxanne where Daryl Hannah gets locked out of the hose without her clothes, it was sort of humorous. In fact Daryl Hannah is pretty much the only actor I can think of that played nudity for laughs, she did it Splash too.

Cheesecake is usually funnier than female nudity, and more common. Dude, Where Did I Park My Car? and the Porky's franchise milk almost every Cheesecake joke there is between them, including the giant woman.

 

[Saucy_Sage]

Right. There was a scene in Roxanne where Daryl Hannah gets locked out of the hose without her clothes, it was sort of humorous.

"I notice you don't have any tattoos..."

 

[xssve]

Female nudity as comedy generally relies on male reactions for comedic effect. Hands down, the funniest scene I've ever seen like this (Cheesecake) was in Mystery Men:

[Outside Disco Room.]
Sphinx: The door! Door!
Shoveler: On three. One...two...three!
(They push the heavy door open and are confronted by the
Furriers.)
Shoveler: Shrink 'em.
(Sphinx turns the Shrinker on the Furriers, and they writhe on the
ground in agony as their scanty clothes shrink rapidly.)
Raja: Oh I say--they've gone from junior to missy petite.
Bowler: Now that's a wedgie she won't soon forget.
Furious: My pants feel like they're shrinking too.

The comedy of course, centered on Stiller's bug eyed fascination.

 

[xssve]

I can see where it might be funny, the scene in my head might be meeting your girlfriends parents, who turn out to be nudists, or conversely, somebody shows you a picture of their mother, and she's nude, a nude portrait of her mother, etc., i.e., played straight, incongruity can be good comedy.

I sort of have a dimly remembered scene like this in my head, but I can't remember where I might have seen it, maybe I imagined it.

The nudist neighbors longing in their backyard is a staple, I'm sure I've seen that one a few places, although the nudity is alluded to rather than seen.

Negative male reactions also pop up occasionally, it was a routine gag in Married With Children for example.

 

[xssve]

"I notice you don't have any tattoos..."

I had such a thing for Daryl Hannah back then too, I forgot about that.

 

[xssve]

Ah, I almost forgot about the "nude girlfriend" episode of Seinfeld, sort of a "Married with Children" moment.

 

[3113]

Only when we jiggle.

Or bob. Or swing. Or bounce. Or dangle.

And your tushes are cute, too.

Just to add: the recent rash of full frontal male nudity in comedies has not included (so far as I know--please correct me if I'm wrong!) a hard-on. NOR for that matter, studly guys. These are all American comedies that we've been discussing so far, and Americans are only now coming to terms with male frontal being so casually flashed in movies. Part of the "funny" is that it's still unexpected and new, and part of it is that the guys flashing their bits in these comedies are average joes. Their bits, like them, are furry, friendly and, yes, funny. Often, the flash is in contrast to what they're doing, like in Forgetting Sarah Marshall when Jason Segal is crying while naked. Or the naked guy poses as if he's man's gift to women and he's not.

I'm wondering if, as with the contrast between the usual sexy naked women and a grotesque naked woman, the jiggle of the naked fellows would be less funny if the jiggler was a sexy stud rather than some poor shmuck. I'm also wondering if a hard-on would be too "shocking" to be funny (to Americans that is!).

 

[JamesSD]

Ah, see, I'd argue that near-nudity is often funnier than nudity. In many of the examples people are citing the movies are PG-13, and the naughty bits are either barely clothed or strategically covered.

And certainly something can be funny and titilating at the same time (such as the breasts from Airplane!)

 

[Stella_Omega]

Does the last scene of Austin Powers count?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl_295f530E

 

[voluptuary_manque]

Not to me, to be honest. But then, I am tired.

 

[Austin8]

Do personal experiences count or only film?

 

[Guest]

I've always thought that Carmen Electra's lingerie-clad run through the sprinklers in "Scary Movie" was hilarious.

Not exactly nudity, but it's not like we don't know what's under the bra and panties.

 

[Stella_Omega]

Or bob. Or swing. Or bounce. Or dangle.

And your tushes are cute, too....

I'm wondering if, as with the contrast between the usual sexy naked women and a grotesque naked woman, the jiggle of the naked fellows would be less funny if the jiggler was a sexy stud rather than some poor shmuck. I'm also wondering if a hard-on would be too "shocking" to be funny (to Americans that is!).

I'm thinking that a lot of female veiwers would take the jiggling of a sexy stud far too seriously for their boyfriends' comfort...

 

[voluptuary_manque]

I'm thinking that a lot of female veiwers would take the jiggling of a sexy stud far too seriously for their boyfriends' comfort...

Valid point. I have heard that a good percentage of women aren't any too comfortable with their boyfriend's ogling sexy vamps, so it's sort of a karma thing, no?

 

[Austin8]

Valid point. I have heard that a good percentage of women aren't any too comfortable with their boyfriend's ogling sexy vamps, so it's sort of a karma thing, no?

*lifts shirt shows permanently bruised ribs cage area*

 

[slyc_willie]

I'm thinking that a lot of female veiwers would take the jiggling of a sexy stud far too seriously for their boyfriends' comfort...

Doesn't bother me too much since I have a healthy appreciation for the male form myself. But I figure I'm in the minority (bisexual men have to be the smallest crowd in the sexual orientation pool, methinks).