The Lighter Side of Grief: Loss in Contemporary American Cinema

Abstract

This article focuses on the current trend towards the combination of grief and humor in American cinema. These representations reflect a society built upon capitalism, competitiveness, and success. But nowadays the American culture seeks to cope with loss of direction and identity. Psychology, sociology and film studies expose these filmic depictions as a social representation of a generation in American social structure rather than as narratives of grief. The question remains, why now? Why at this particular point in history is Hollywood accepting of such humorous films in place of many of the more seriously dramatic works?