Monkey See, Monkey Don’t
Comedy is a pinnacle that is ever-changing, especially in this day and age. With the adult-bound Gen Z claiming their stakes in current media trends, the humorous aspect of comedy has taken a drastic shift unlike anything seen in past years, especially in the film industry. Gen Z humor is unique in the fact it is built upon complete absurdity. From meme references to brain rot humor as a whole has had to adapt to meet the criteria of our current generation.
In hopes of capturing and appealing to this new generation, the film industry has seen a rise in Gen Z representation over the past few years. With this newfound implementation of humor, creators must navigate the delicate balance between staying relevant and avoiding clichés that might alienate this discerning audience. To put it simply, there’s a time to be funny and a place to be serious. In cases such as Lady Bird, Blockers, and Spider-Man: Homecoming, Gen Z humor was used not just as a tool for laughs but to enrich the dramatic elements of the stories and resonate with its audience. Movies such as these manage to capture the essence of proper Gen Z representation and bring with it a fresh and entertaining viewing experience. On the other hand, some movie studios lean too heavily into the more cringy humor, forgetting the serious elements altogether, resulting in a disconnect with the audience they aim to engage. Such as in the case of Oz Perkin’s newest horror comedy “The Monkey”. Osgood Perkins’ new adaptation of Stephen King’s “The Monkey” possessed every potential to deliver a chilling experience yet Perkin’s choice to include cringe-worthy methods of Gen Z representation weakened the story’s fundamental tension and eeriness. A potential masterpiece of a modern horror remake transformed into a parody instead because its cringy comedic elements overshadowed the psychological terror that Stephen King skillfully built in his original short story.
Common vs Sense
Stephen King’s original story “The Monkey” was originally published in 1980 and later revised and included in King’s 1985 collection, Skeleton Crew. The story follows twin brothers who are haunted by a cursed toy monkey that brings death to its owner when wound up. This story could have been the perfect setup for a story centered around dread and fear of the unknown. However, with the forced implementation of Gen Z humor, Perkin’s adaptation felt confused and a tonal mismatch rather than a refreshing new take. The film leans heavily on over-exaggerated humor and outdated stereotypes that undertone the grim reality the main characters find themselves. This completely took away the original ominous tone King had originally created in his story leaving a cringy aftertaste.
Monkey Gone Bananas
In trying to add a humorous tone the movie completely lost its intended horror aspect it was supposed to portray opting out to be more of a badly written parody film. While the movie did have some actually surprising jump scares, Perkins chose to center his focus on, absurd and exaggerated kills that leave the viewer more confused than scared. The center and main antagonist of this story is a generational hand-me-down from hell. When its key is turned, it flashes a sinister grin and plays its drum immediately after one random person dies in an absurd way. From skydive weddings gone wrong, a plane crash wiping out an entire town to a babysitter being decapitated over a hibachi grill Perkins went above and beyond to portray character death with each becoming more absurd throughout the run of the film.
After the beginning of the movie, the monkey itself starts being treated more as the center of comedy than the demonic threat it poses. Instead of trying to build tension around the toy slowly, Osgood opted for a “Sharknado” level of CGI, and the use of the Deadpan Snarker stereotype with characters treating these freak occurrences casually and indifferently resulting in characters that are as accurate as a “Robot Chicken” skit. These moments were an exasperate shift in tone that took away from the story’s theatric stakes as a whole.
Script Gone Wild
Even the performances from the cast, couldn’t save this rejected “Scary Movie” script. This seemed to be more of a script problem than acting one with characters being written as painfully stupid and unaware as Randy Marsh from “South Park”. The protagonists were written in a way that made them so unlikable and annoying that you were wishing that they would be next in the monkey’s death parade. Throughout the film, Perkin writes “M Night Shyamalan” level twists leaving the audience confused about the characters’ true intentions. These twists make it difficult to discern the underlying message of the plot about how life happens, people die, and you just have to find the positive in grim situations to keep going. Every other character was written so blissfully unaware and ignorant, that it left them feeling like placeholders lacking depth and devoid of any true substance that could be contributed to the plot. The script seemed more focused on writing plot lines than any actual character development leaving the story feeling hollow and incomplete.
The worst offense of this movie was the missed opportunity to tap into and possibly even build upon the psychological horror aspect that Stephen King’s original short worked so hard to portray. King’s writing is riddled with themes of guilt, childhood trauma, and the fear of inevitable death and the unknown. In Perkin’s version, these themes feel muted, as the focus of all these major plot points was shifted into a more humorous light. If used correctly humor could have mildly been used to intertwine with the psychological aspects lightening some of the more serious situations in the movie. However, less-than-subtle humor managed to always find its way into these scenarios leaving the movie feeling unserious. The humorous aspect of the film weakened the impact of the core story, which was meant to explore the long-lasting psychological effects of trauma.
It Had To Be Someone
The incorporation of humor within horror films serves as an essential mechanism to stabilize narrative tension while delivering moments of relief amidst the otherwise relentless intensity. Through the implementation of comedic elements into their work filmmakers create moments of relief from relentless dread which sustain audience engagement by preventing fear saturation. The careful balancing of humor with fear becomes essential because its mishandling can destroy the intended mood and downplay the tension these types of films work to build.
Recent movies such as “The Monkey” have unfortunately failed to balance comedy and horror leaving audiences confused and sometimes disappointed. Recent creators have not been able to get Gen Z humor right or blend it with horror effectively, often sounding artificial or failing to resonate with the audience they intended to portray. Instead of trying to capture the genuine, self-referential, and sometimes absurdist comedy typical of Gen Z, these movies resort to shallow portrayals of overused stereotypes. Horror is all about tension and the rising action brought on by fear, but these films all too frequently kill that atmosphere with humor that feels too forced or misplaced. The efforts to capture Gen Z humor feel forced, trying too hard to be relatable but at the cost of failing to attain the delicate, subtle humor of the generation. What we have gotten instead is an hour and 30 minutes of forced stereotypic humor that completely clashes with the tone of the film ruining the mood and leaving viewers bored and in some cases disappointed.
Ultimately, Osgood Perkins’ adaptation of “The Monkey” ends up falling flat due to drowning itself in bad and otherwise cringy humor that chokes out the organic suspense and horror of the tale. It fails to deliver in contrast to Stephen King’s original tale. Instead of writing a creepy, psychological thriller that focuses on dread and loss, the film is watered down in what can only be described as a sad attempt at being relevant. Osgood Perkin’s noncommittal nature throughout “The Monkey” felt like being in a relationship with a toxic partner. This movie was filled with the best intentions surrounded by its marketing but completely missed the mark. For fans of King and the genre, this adaptation is a misstep—one where cringe humor takes the place of horror in all the worst ways.
