Seriously Funny Music: The Use of ‘Serious’ Music for Comedic Effect

Abstract

With eyes closed, we hear a lush, yearning string section performing a heartbreakingly beautiful string melody, accompanied by rich orchestral textures and angelic, wordless female chorus. It is film music at its emotive, affecting zenith. Our eyes open, and we are encountered with a blow-up doll co-piloting a plane, actor Robert Hayes sweating profusely in the pilot’s seat, and visual jokes, puns, and slapstick humour aplenty. This is Airplane! (1980, dirs. Jim Abrahams, Jerry Zucker, David Zucker), a satirical disaster film which frequently appears near the summit of ‘funniest film of all time’ polls. Elmer Bernstein’s score, evoking the powerful impassioned sounds of the golden age of Hollywood, might ostensibly appear to be wasted on such a film, but the incongruity and incompatibility of the music and film is one of several examples in this case study chapter which uses ‘seriously’ funny music; ‘serious’ film music in comedic situations.

This case study chapter will analyse the use of serious music in Animal House (1978, dir. John Landis), Airplane! (1980), and the Naked Gun (1988, dir. David Zucker) and how it influences the comedic value of specific scenes within the narratives. We will consider what it is that makes the music ‘serious’ in the first instance and ascertain how the intentionally humorous visuals and dialogue juxtapose with the intentionally serious music to create a comical filmic whole.