The Fool is a trope that has never really disappeared. It's grown and evolved to immerse itself in the stoner, the deadbeat, the nerd--any one that falls into a outcast social group has the freedom to get layers.
Ideally. I can think of many examples of lazy writing, so let's just specify that well-written genre entertainment has this trope.
"[The Fool] may be seen as half-witted, a natural whose wisdom is instinctive clairvoyance, or as a sage rationalist, shrewd and thoughtful. [...]He has also been portrayed as embodying the conscience of the King, as a voice of social protest, and as a court fool who 'shrivels into a wretched little human being on the soaking heath' (Bayley, 61)." R.A. Foakes, "Introduction to King Lear," Bloomsbury, pg. 133.
The writer/director who most forcibly embraces this conceit is Joss Whedon. If you have watched any TV show, seen any movie, or read any graphic novel that Whedon has been involved in, you know that amid the character dynamics and clever quips is a character who seems to see through illusion and transcend distraction. The best example is probably Cabin in the Woods (2012), in which Whedon parodies popular entertainment by relegating initially complex and varied characters into static tropes, including "The Fool." However, as Cabin in the Woods is rated R, so a more approachable example would be Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Firefly. Characters who don't fit into any of the societal categories such as Spike, a vampire who can't hurt humans, and River, an insane prodigy that straddles the divide between culturally human and instinctively animal. These characters see what other characters don't, and these characters can say what other people can't. There is another excellent Fool in Twelfth Night. I'm eager to see how Shakespeare varies the role.
I ~LOVE~ Firefly!! Also, Joss is pretty great. This was a really good connection-- I never viewed Spike or River as embodiments of the Fool trope, but I see it. It's interesting to see how they're discounted but still able to speak the truth.
ReplyDeleteRight?? I mean, they don't fall into any defined category in their respective shows, and yet the become vital and insightful central characters. I'm trying to think of who would be a comparable character in Dollhouse. In Angel, I'm thinking Lorne, since he's the character that best blurs the distinctions among factions.
DeleteAlso, I love that I have a Joss Whedon ally.
It is an interesting comparison. Its interesting how this trope never seems to die out. We all love watching someone that is suppose to be a complete fool act the sage and outshine the other characters. Humans universally want to root for the underdog I guess.
ReplyDeleteI think it even goes beyond that. I think that the fool trope is an outlet for the socially unacceptable side of our instincts. We can't always say what we want to say or treat people like we think they deserve. It's the entirely self indulgent side of intellect tempered with charm so we don't have to pretend we hate it.
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