War Comedy in Western Civilization. What Fun! Quiz

Answer: Sparta

The Second Peloponnesian War wore on for 27 years. In "The Acharnians", the protagonist brokers a peace treaty. Athens' leaders are satirized as is the playwright himself. The chorus places the blame for this desultory and seemingly pointless conflict at the feet of profiteers, which sounds very modern. With so much ancient comedy lost or available only in fragments, one could hardly ascribe significance to the oldest complete comedy being about war. Freewheeling, democratic Athens' opponents in the war were paranoid, humorless and... well... "spartan". No Spartan war comedies have survived to modern times.

But what about performing Aristophanes' comedy in the midst of the armed conflict? Could an ongoing war actually generate comedy? Is the author of this quiz trying to make a point? Did anyone ever sing "Spring time, for Hitler, in Germany" in a Broadway Musical? (True/false questions are frowned on here, or that last question might have been part of this quiz!)

Answer: Abraham Lincoln

Ever felt a relief of tension when someone made an insensitive joke about a serious situation? Never? Then you might have been carrying one of the "No Vulgar Joker" signs and have been justified in doing so. Abraham Lincoln did not exempt the ongoing American Civil War from being a target for his humor despite his being vehemently criticized for it.

In his January 12, 2012 column entitled "Laugh During War Time", a New York Time's columnist with the apropos name "Jon Grinspan" pointed out that as the war became ever more brutal, the soldiers themselves engaged in ever darker humor. Grinspan noted that even a subject as grim as amputation could receive comical treatment.

The American Civil War spawned the character "Sawbones", a heartless amputating surgeon as well as a pamphlet alluding to amputation entitled, "An Off Hand Joke". Is it possible that an increasing degree of atrocity in an armed conflict produces ever darker humor? If humor is about released tension, does it make sense that as the intensity of atrocities increase the crudeness of humor necessary for relief will increase with it? And how come everybody calls Lincoln's humor "homespun" when they are alluding to its vulgarity and lack of sophistication? Nixon and Bush were not presidents during a declared war and wouldn't have made crude jokes in public (ha, ha). No one knows anything about Millard Fillmore and I hoped no one would pick him. "FunTrivia" does sound more winsome than "HardTrivia", and where's the fun if you miss all the answers? Would an author stoop to framing assertions he can't prove as questions?

Answer: Charlie Chaplin

In this film released three weeks before the war's end, Charlie Chaplin portrays a doughboy who captures the Kaiser. A New York times critic observed that somehow Chaplin made both him and the audience laugh despite the ongoing war. The war being elsewhere may have contributed to that. Chaplin's better-known comedy "The Great Dictator" that mocked Adolf Hitler was released in London in 1941 during the Blitz.

It was released in America before Pearl Harbor brought the Americans into the war.

Answer: As the Germans entered London in triumph, they were given the raspberry by a small child.

These accounts were presented in a show presented by Southern Counties Radio entitled, "Humour in War". The Blitz ended on May 10, 1941. By August 1942, a war comedy, "Gert and Daisy Clean Up", finished filming at Riverside Studios in London and was released. "...laughing and crying. You know it's the same release." - Joni Mitchell.

Answer: Idiot's Delight

TCM describes "Idiot's Delight" as "a plea for pacifism". That was a sentiment many felt in 1939 and not the reason the title "Idiot's Delight" seems to fit. "Idiot" seemed somehow appropriate for a gifted dramatic actor such as Clark Gable to star in a musical "plea for pacifism". (It was his only musical).

It does underscore how little was generally known and appreciated about the malignant ferocity of the Third Reich in 1939 America.

Answer: A bombardier

My uncle's childhood dream of being a pilot turned into a nightmare when he landed his B17 in England after a mission with every other crew member dead. He could never pilot a plane again but worked for decades testing aircraft in wind tunnels. Yet, my uncle thought Joseph Heller's darkly humorous account of B17 pilots was both hilarious and an accurate portrayal of his experiences. Humor would seem to provide solace not only during war but after it as well.

Answer: The Americanization of Emily

"So long as valor is a virtue, we will have soldiers," avers Charlie Madison (James Garner) to winsome war widow Emily Barham (Julie Andrews) in a scene from "The Americanization of Emily". The implication would seem to be that universal cowardice and disdain for heroism might be an antidote to war - a strategy that would thwart profiteers and war-mongering politicians and military leaders. Or is the message of the film more nuanced? Is it meant to explore the more individual issues of personal threat and loss in the context of the absurdity of war? The subtlety of the issues raised in this black and white Hollywood movie seem more indicative of serious film making than an effort to provide Hollywood entertainment and unworkable platitudes. (And yes, it is one of my favorite movies.)

Answer: Hogan's Heroes

My father fought in Germany during World War II. In the 70s, he spent an hour every weeknight for years watching "Hogan's Heroes" reruns while riding his exercise bicycle. Was this a treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder? Certainly, a significant number of American WWII veterans did not talk about their wartime experiences and no support groups were available. "Allo Allo" was a seriously wacky BBC series about World War II set in France. "Mc Hale's Navy" and the "Wackiest Ship in the Army" were American series involving boats. Along with the television comedy "Mr. Roberts", they may constitute their own small genre, World War II boat comedies.

Answer: M*A*S*H

"MASH", the movie, might really have been about the Korean Conflict. In that case, is it a "police action" movie rather than a war movie? The television series "M*A*S*H" might really have meant to portray truths about the Vietnam War. Should it be considered an "undeclared war" TV series? In any event, I'm not ready to change this to a "Humorous Armed Conflict Quiz".

A war by any other name... And what's with the asterisks in the television "M*A*S*H"? "Blast from the Past", in which a family emerges from their fall out shelter that they mistakenly entered and lived in for decades, is more of an "after-an-imaginary- war-that-didn't-happen" movie.

The other two movie choices were definitely war movies but wrong answers.

Answer: Dr. Strangelove

We really did have drills in my elementary school during which the blinds were pulled down and we hid under our desks. My parents discussed building a fallout shelter. During the Cuban missile crisis, my father wanted my mother to take my brother and I a safe distance from the city in case of nuclear attack.

In the film "On the Beach" a nuclear holocaust has destroyed five continents and a nuclear cloud is about eliminate life on the remaining continent. (Antarctica doesn't count. No error messages please!) The Australians decide to commit suicide just before their doom arrives. I was nine when I saw this film, and it petrified me. Yet, in the right context, with the help of "Dr. Strangelove", even the horrific war that seemed our inevitable future could be laughed about. Humor is a partial antidote even to the war we fear.