Movie 666

By Dr. Theodore Mangrove

Last year, two films emerged as contenders for the worst comedies ever made. The first of these was Freddy Got Fingered written and directed by MTV wacko Tom Green. Michael Rechtshaffen of the Hollywood Reporter wrote that it “has the dubious distinction of being quite possibly the worst comedy ever made.” Gene Seymour of the Los Angeles Times called it “an airless vacuum” while Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly declared it to be “a disaster”.

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The other film contending for the worst of the worst is Say It Isn’t So, inexplicably starring Heather Graham, Chris Klein, and Sally Fields (how much did they pay HER to be in this movie?) This film, written by the Swallow brothers and directed by the Farrelly brothers was declared “quite possibly the worst comedy of all time ” by Roger Ebert. Maitland McDonagh of TV Guide called it “a bucket full of sludge” and Owen Gleiberman of Entertainment Weekly characterized it as “vicarious serial punishment”.

Both of these films have been identified as possibly the worst comedies ever made. But the reviews making these allegations have to be taken in their chronological context, for none of them actually compared and contrasted the two films in question. So, the issue remains, which one of these films is actually the worst comedy ever made?

Freddy Got Fingered is by far the more bizarre of the two. Tom Green has taken off-the-wall antics to a new extreme, and mixed that with completely inexplicable gross-out humor. His character is somewhere between avant-garde, disgusting, and brilliant wrapped in a thick blanket of stupidity. Freddy Got Fingered is not just a wacky gross-out comedy but also an absurd satire on the entire comedy genre, as if The Marx Brothers had done a feature length version Un Chien Andalou. Just the fact that some producer at some studio ALLOWED Tom Green to make this film is absolutely extraordinary. It’s so bad it’s almost good.

Say It Isn’t So is yet another stupid tasteless Farelly Brothers comedy where most of the humor lies on the premise that nothing is sacred. This film is entirely powered by taboo subjects such as incest, as well as poking fun at stroke victims and legless cripples. But Say It Isn’t So is a film that has no higher cause or purpose. This is not a satire of itself or it’s genre. Unlike Freddy Got Fingered, it aspires to be nothing more than a sick comedy. And while Freddy Got Fingered feeds off the energetic absurdist stupidity of Tom Green and the rough cynicism of Rip Torn, Say It Isn’t So is mercilessly dragged along by an uninspired cast who probably regret taking the job.

While both of these films may be difficult to watch, particularly for art house film snobs, Say It Isn’t So is clearly the worst comedy ever made. While Freddy Got Fingered may be excruciatingly painful, it somehow manages to become absurdist art. Say It Isn’t So, on the other hand, achieves nothing but tiresome schlock.

Whereas the world might be a better place without Say It Isn’t So, there may actually be some social and cultural value in Freddy Got Fingered. It offers hope that young people today will embrace the absurdity that defines our everyday lives, and teaches the importance of satire and irreverence in an open democratic society. Further, Tom Green’s incongruous oeuvre encourages the young people flocking to his films to look beyond the snobbish European art house cinema to appreciate a home grown art form nourished on it’s own excrement. Freddy Got Fingered, though tastelesss and stupid, is an artistic work of unparalleled courage.

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