Unutterably Silly One Froggy Evening

[Patricia]

What about druids? I'm in Wales. Druids are an important part of our Eisteddfods.
But it's also a chance to see famous people, apparently with a bedsheet fixation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2173194.stm

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

No, none of the Pythons have OBEs. My freaking uncle had an OBE, but none of the Pythons. Go figure.

Government sanction is not a requirement. Please note original post quoted above.

Chaplin's Lifetime Achievement award is duly noted. Pity the Academy never saw fit to give either him or any of his work a specific award, but then very little of what wins an Academy Award has anything to do with the quality of the work under consideration.

So, so far, I've found two bits of American silliness that have been recognized by credible institutions. You have found one great British actor who was chased out of the US by the tax authorities and because he married a very young woman, and who, belatedly was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by an apparently contrite Academy of MPAS.

It isn't looking good for any of the other nations or cultures at this point. Although, if the British have seen fit to knight Mr. Pratchett, then there's a real contribution to the thread, and thank you!

The other stuff .... since it doesn't relate to the original post, I am simply ignoring. I would have thought that the French or the Germans .... someone else, any one else, would have had some culturally significant silliness that had been recognized by some credible group.

Guess not. Too bad.

Eric Frank Russell won the Hugo in 1955 (Best Short Story), for a nice piece of silliness called Allamagoosa. (But I still think Study In Still Life was sillier.)

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Patricia

What about druids? I'm in Wales. Druids are an important part of our Eisteddfods.
But it's also a chance to see famous people, apparently with a bedsheet fixation.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/2173194.stm

I suppose that would depend on if the Druids were trying to be silly and what credible group had recognized their silliness as culturally significant.

I was under the impression that the Druids were engaging in a form of worship. Were they, in fact, an ancient comedy troop??

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

Eric Frank Russell won the Hugo in 1955 (Best Short Story), for a nice piece of silliness called Allamagoosa. (But I still think Study In Still Life was sillier.)

Thank you. Just curious ... was he American? Or British? His name makes me think one of the two. I would like to hear about someone from a non-English speaking culture ... although, I suppose that silliness may not be valued in a lot of other cultures.

[Greg Anos]

Originally Posted by RickyMaveety

Thank you. Just curious ... was he American? Or British? His name makes me think one of the two. I would like to hear about someone from a non-English speaking culture ... although, I suppose that silliness may not be valued in a lot of other cultures.

He was British, but an American award.

I suspect since this is an English language thread, non-English speaker aren't nearly as attracted as they would be a thread in their own language. You might get Ravenne to post it's equivalent in German and/or Zelda in French...

On the other hand, silliness is not really respected here either. Look at the AFI's 100 best, some silliness but not a lot. I'm still miffed that the three stooges never won an academy award for best short in all their careers, though they got a nomination in 1934.

[pshrynk]

I'm pretty certain Goscini and Uderzo were given some sort of accolade by the French, but you'd have to ask Zelda.

[pshrynk]

Bugs Bunny got an Oscar for Best Animated Short.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Ralph Sir Edward

He was British, but an American award.

I suspect since this is an English language thread, non-English speaker aren't nearly as attracted as they would be a thread in their own language. You might get Ravenne to post it's equivalent in German and/or Zelda in French...

On the other hand, silliness is not really respected here either. Look at the AFI's 100 best, some silliness but not a lot. I'm still miffed that the three stooges never won an academy award for best short in all their careers, though they got a nomination in 1934.

I don't think the Marx Brothers ever got an Academy Award either, and they were beyond brilliant. I loved the Stooges as well, especially Babe Horowitz, his Curly was an amazing creation.

I would disagree that silliness is not respected here (in the US, I assume you mean). As noted by pshrynk, even Bugs Bunny (in reality Chuck Jones who created dear Bugsie) has an Academy Award. The fact that there is even some silliness in the AFI top 100 films means that silliness and greatness are not at opposite ends of the spectrum. If there was no respect for the creativity of the silly, then there would be exactly zero films on that list.

And, in point of fact, the only Oscar (non honorary) I can find for Mr. Jones was for "The Dot and the Line" .... so does anyone have any idea what short Bugs would have gotten an award for ???

And, nevermind, the award went to John Burton who produced "Knighty Knight Bugs."

[RickyMaveety]

As long as we are on the topic of Chuck Jones, "What's Opera, Doc?" has been deemed "culturally significant" by the United States Library of Congress.

I wonder if the Library of Congress has put either the Stooges or the Marx Brothers on such a list. I would bet they have. I'll have to check that out.

[Wetdogeared]

On February 17 2006, Steve Smith (AKA Red Green) was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Steve Smith is best known for the TV series "The Red Green Show", where he and Harold are the silliest of sillies.

Yvan will vouch for me on this if you are unfamiliar with their uses for duct tape and the Possum Lodge.

Here is a clip of the movie based on this character, which has been posted on MR recently.



WDE.

[RickyMaveety]

Oh, yessss .... found the list of the Library of Congress's list of "culturally significant" films.

I defy anyone to say that the United States does not recognize the importance of silliness. First film on the list ....

ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.

and there are quite a few other seriously funny films on that list.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by Wetdogeared

On February 17 2006, Steve Smith (AKA Red Green) was made a Member of the Order of Canada.

Steve Smith is best known for the TV series "The Red Green Show", where he and Harold are the silliest of sillies.

Yvan will vouch for me on this if you are unfamiliar with their uses for duct tape and the Possum Lodge.

Here is a clip of the movie based on this character, which has been posted on MR recently.



WDE.

THANK YOU, WDE!!! This is EXACTLY the sort of thing I am looking for!!

[pshrynk]

Okay, this is a bit of a stretch, but Robert Frost, the greatest subversive satirist of his or any other time, was Poet Laureate in the Kennedy Administration.

[RickyMaveety]

Originally Posted by pshrynk

Okay, this is a bit of a stretch, but Robert Frost, the greatest subversive satirist of his or any other time, was Poet Laureate in the Kennedy Administration.

Might not be that big of a stretch. I suppose it would depend on whether you included subversive satire in with "silly."

The Rocky Horror Picture Show, for example. It's clearly satire, it's certainly subversive. I also happen to think it's incredibly silly. Same with Blazing Saddles .... and both films are on that Library of Congress list of culturally significant films.

So, my guess would be that subversive satire could legitimately be included in with "silly."

Thenkew .... now you are getting the idea.

[montsnmags]

I'm not sure, and I'll look tomorrow, but it's possible Norman Gunston and Aunty Jack are recognised, and they're silly, Aunty Jack particularly so. There is Barry Humphries too, and he does have a CBE and OA, though whether one considers his satirical characters silly enough, I don't know.

Cheers,
Marc