Then why, after the goods are delivered, are comedies not given any more respect than a two dollar whore after she's done her job?
Is comedy a form of porn?
The arc of a comedy movie, in its mere approximate 90 minutes, can span days, years and even eons. In real life, most people can't generate that much humor, especially under dire circumstances. I wonder if this invokes a greater suspension of disbelief in viewers and they unfairly prejudge comedies as brain candy (thank you, Kids In The Hall) or somewhere on the path to Sci-Fi.
So, maybe comedy is pornographic science fiction.
What did the rare Oscar winning comedies, It Happened One Night (1934), You Can't Take It With You (1938), Going My Way (1944), Tom Jones (1963), The Sting (1973), and Annie Hall (1977) share with each other and movies in general?
They all seem as diverse as the eras in which they were made. Annie Hall created a fashion trend, but so did Gordon Gekko ten years later. The Sting, riding the momentum of the previous year's Butch Cassidy And The Sundance Kid, perpetuated the feel good anti-hero with a heart of gold. Tom Jones' anti hero golden anatomy was a bit lower, but might have also served as a herald for the sexual liberation and fashions of the coming decade.
AMC's filmsite.org also cites other borderline or hybrid comedies, including The Apartment (1960), Terms of Endearment (1983), Driving Miss Daisy (1989), Shakespeare in Love (1998) and American Beauty (1999), but I feel this just disperses the issue (and the genre) until you can't tell a dramedy from a coma.
Comedy is watching something bad, awkward or, at least, unexpected happen to someone else.
Is comedy sadistic pornographic science fiction?
If it is, no wonder so few comedies win Best Picture. Talk about being pigeon holed.
