Missing the point. The intended use of this scene was for sexual innuendo for the audience to laugh. Obviously Clark had been talking about Lois as a reporter since Martha follows that up with stating as much, and Clark didn't say "thirsty," that was Martha's mistake. I think this is one where I'm not even sure where you are coming from anymore.
No, the scene is about Lois and Martha bonding on several levels, and specifically about setting up Lois character conflict.
A few relatively short moments of that scene are about making the audience (as well as Lois and Martha, laugh). And even that has to do with them as characters. The laughter is about them comforting and relaxing each other, not just the audience.
It's not about labeling, it's about letting certain scenes be what they are meant to be.
I would imagine the filmmakers know what the scene is meant to be.
Since the scene is placed after several more serious and intense scenes and consists of a fairly casual conversation between two characters, odds are good that the scene is intended to allow the audience to come down from the tension of previous scenes, using some levity and humor.
So in the end, it comes down to preference. For me, and for others who have been critical of this scene, we would have liked to have seen this scene with more depth to it rather than just another scene for what feels like, to me, and I imagine others, perfunctory purposes. If it works for you, then fine, but others it did not and felt shallow.
It isnt perfunctory, though, nor is it any more shallow than any of Lois Lane's interactions with Martha. In fact, it's probably the majority of the set up and development that Lois Lane receives in the film.
The scene has some depth to it. Its even arguably the scene with the most depth and bonding that weve seen between Lois and Martha in this franchise, an emotional ring delivery scene aside. Its also one of the few sequences weve seen in this franchise that specifically addresses why Lois does what she does.
I can't help but think you are being purposely obtuse here. The intention of this scene was to make people laugh, that's it. It's hard for it to feel scary when every other word is bleeped out and the audience is laughing instead of feeling for this woman. That can work in some movies, but given the tone set in MOS and BvS, it feels very odd here.
I can't help but think that you don't remember the actual scene. The television thing is a transition into the scene. It is not the meat of the scene itself. It's 45 seconds or so, at which point the focus turns to Lois and Martha for the remaining two minutes of the scene.
I didnt say it was supposed to feel scary. Its an action movie, not a horror movie.
But the audience can laugh and feel for the woman at the same time. The humor is not in her plight, it is in the fact that the reporters are treating her like a crazy person, but shes actually right about what has happened. Her husband has been taken by aliens. She's legitimately concerned. Its a nod to the secret invasion nature of the villain's plot.
I would suggest that you watch the scene again. The focus of the overall scene, from a story a character standpoint, is clearly not on making people laugh. Its about Martha and Loiss conflicts and them showing support and comforting each other.
It also matters when and how you do it. A dramatic scene can be ruined by forced humor, whereas that same dramatic scene can be given greater power or poignancy due to how humor is used. Is it artificial, forced humor or does it come naturally from the characters and the scene.
Well, in this case, the humor, after the alien invasion story, comes from the very nature of the scenes conflict, which is that Lois has lost her ambition.
Is the writer thinking, "Hmmm, I need to make the audience laugh here because their attention span isn't long?" If so, that's an issue.
The writer is thinking that balancing a serious moment with a brief moment of levity is acceptable mainstream writing. Its a brief moment of levity in a two minute plus sequence.
Movies like Lethal Weapon and the original Star Wars trilogy had plenty of humor. The LOTR trilogy also has plenty of humor, even during some of the darker moments, but they work in service of those scenes, not to undercut it.
I dont think that it does undercut it in any real sense. They go right back to talking about what has happened. Its a nice quiet moment with a quick laugh to break the ice and then they move right on.
Very rarely was I take out of a moment during the LOTR trilogy because of humor. On the other hand, I often was taken out of scenes due to forced humor in the Hobbit trilogy or the Star Wars prequels because their humor was more sophomoric, more "look at me, look at me, I'm trying to make you laugh" rather than authentic, character moments or of genuine playfulness.
Ive already explained why the humor is character specific.
Were not exactly talking about a fart joke here.
Can't think of a single scene where I thought humor undercut a dramatic moment in these two movies. Perhaps the "I think he's kind of hot" was forced, but other than that, what else? "Is she with you?" wasn't over the top "ha ha." In fact, it works because each genuinely didn't know who this woman truly was, and it's only slightly humorous to the audience because we are in on it and they aren't.
Which brings up an interesting perspective...using subtle humor, many people didnt even recognize that there WAS humor in the films. WB made an attempt to broaden the films appeal by making the humor a little bit more evident.
Again, it's a matter of when and how. Entertainment doesn't have to mean "make you laugh."
Entertainment quite literally means to provide with amusement or enjoyment.
I would say making people laugh falls under amusement.
This scene takes place only a few months after the loss of Martha's son and Lois' would-be fiancee. We see clearly that both are still grieving, as anyone would be. And based on the dialogue, it seems that they don't see each other that often which would of course bring up strong feelings.
But theyre also having a fairly casual meeting. There is no indication that this is meant to be a particularly heavy scene.
And they weren't using humor to deal with their grief, that's the point. Joss Whedon was. Martha's "thirsty" line wasn't a joke by Martha, it was simply dialogue added to her mouth by Joss. There's a huge difference.
No, but she smiled at the memory and laughed a bit. Shes using humor, period, and it helped her to feel better. You can see it in Lanes performance. It doesn't have to be humor specifically about Clark.
Again, this seems obtuse to me because nobody is even arguing this.
you did.
That may work for you, but given the grief these two women are going through, I think a scene between the two deserved more room to breathe and to be without the need to unnecessarily lighten it up artificially (which is to say, jokes that have nothing to do with their actual personalities, but merely meant to make the audience laugh).
o) I'd say it was gonna be an ascending shot while zooming out, and with the lighting flashing and reflecting we would've seen the "comic book eyes" on Batman...
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