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Tom and Jerry

"Tom and Jerry" was one of my favorite shows when I was growing up and it holds a special nostalgic place in my heart. For some reason, Tom, the cat, evil plans getting foiled by the smaller but more tactful mouse Jerry was always and remains entertaining. I think the concept of the mouse out-witting the cat, who is a natural predator of the mouse, is an incongruity the show rest upon because it is funny to think of a cat being defeated by a mouse.

Having had multiple cats, I know that cats are natural hunters and are usually very good at catching what they want to. In the wild, that is normally how it works: the cat is able to catch the mouse. But Tom and Jerry takes that expectation and turns it on its head. In Tom and Jerry, the mouse ends up scoff free while the cat trying to get it is made to look silly and foolish. This incongruity between expectation, the cat getting the mouse, and the reality set up in the show, the mouse constantly getting away from the cat through slapstick comedy, is what the show rests upon and what has made it a classic show.

The physics-defying slapstick in the show also is incongruous. It is incongruous because it is absurd, which can be said of the show in general. In the episode you mentioned, Tom and Jerry, a cat and mouse, compete against each other about who can play piano better. In real life, cats and mice, obviously, do not and could not play piano, so just the idea of them playing piano is an incongruity and is funny.

Comments

  1. Shane HerronNovember 9, 2018 at 9:35 AM

    I do think that it's a classic role reversal humor, and the fact that it inverts the ordinary hierarchy tells us something about how superiority theory really works. It is a kind of theory of the triumph of the underdog at its purest perhaps. Oh, and to be an annoying English teacher for a second, the phrase is "scot-free". Though for a second I thought I might have been saying it wrong so I had to look it up! Just shows you that you never stop learning.

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  2. UnknownNovember 9, 2018 at 10:04 AM

    It's pretty evident that Tom and Jerry is so great because of the unheard relationship that a cat and mouse have in the show. I like your comment on how Tom and Jerry act on things that obviously wouldn't happen in real life. It definitely put a twist on the show.

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  3. UnknownNovember 9, 2018 at 11:47 AM

    You made very good point on Tom and Jerry and how the incongruity theory plays out because a cat is expected to be able to catch a mouse, but in this show the mouse is always able to get away.

    ReplyDelete

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