The Trickster and the Fool: Matt Damon and Comedy

Azcona, María del Mar (Universidad de Zaragoza)

Resumen: Matt Damon may not be anyone’s idea of a comic actor. Yet, a look at some of the films he has starred in reveals comedy as a recurrent dimension of many of his fictional characters. This is a side of his stardom that he has consistently exploited when he is "playing himself", as is the case of his fake feud with television host Jimmy Kimmel and his “toilet strike speech” in February 2012. This article explores the dimensions and implications of Damon’s manifold engagements with comedy. As will be argued, Damon’s comic performances construct him as a fool, that is, the target of ridicule and the butt of other characters’ jokes, or as a trickster, a practical joker that likes to cause trouble. Yet, in the hands of Damon, these two comic masks are not as antagonistic as they may seem. In combination with other features of his star brand, Damon’s tricksters and fools are different articulations of the resilience and zest for life that are intrinsic to comedy. In this sense, Damon’s alignment with the comic view of life is both a key component of the actor’s star persona and crucial to his portrayals of 21st-century heroes.

Idioma: Inglés

DOI: 10.1080/10509208.2021.2010490

Año: 2023

Publicado en: Quarterly Review of Film and Video 40, 3 (2023), 299-318
ISSN: 1050-9208

Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/DGA/H12
Financiación: info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/MICINN/FFI2017-83606

Tipo y forma: Artículo (PostPrint)

Área (Departamento): Área Filología Inglesa (Dpto. Filolog.Inglesa y Alema.)