Bergson/Chaplin/Keaton

The first major claim that Bergson makes about the comic is that it springs forth from a “mechanical inelasticity” that is found in a human being. He uses the example of a man falling down to prove his point. If a spectator sees someone who has been walking correctly all of a sudden fall down, he will most likely find this funny. This becomes comic because the man was not able to adapt to his surroundings. Bergson calls this “mechanical inelasticity” because it is as if that man had turned mechanical and lost his human elasticity when he should have been able to adapt. Machines are inelastic in that they always perform the same task no matter what, they do not adapt to obstructions like human beings, therefore when human beings are unable to adapt the result is comic. Bergson also calls this rigidity, where a person’s rigidity keeps them moving in the same manner instead of taking action, e.g., stepped over the banana peel.

Chaplin's Modern Times seems to directly comment on this phenomenon. In one of the funniest scenes of the film Chaplin’s character is working at a factory when his boss suddenly picks him to be the test subject for a new machine that is supposed to feed workers in the most efficient way possible. Chaplin gets strapped to this massive feeding machine that tries to feed him as effectively as possible. The comic in this scene arises when the machine keeps repeating the same movements mechanically instead of adapting to the situation, e.g., the machine has a part that is suppose to wipe the person’s mouth after they have eaten something, but it repeatedly tries to wipe Chaplin’s mouth after every little bite even when it is obviously not needed. The comic results from the inability the machine has to adapt to the situation. This sort of mechanical inelasticity, or rigidity, resulting in the comic is very important for Bergson.

In a similar manner, Bergson goes to claim that when the body’s movement collides with the soul’s line of thought, the result is comical. He uses facial expressions and caricatures as examples to develop his argument. A facial expression is laughable when it recalls something rigid in the usual mobility of the face. It becomes comic because it imitates a stereotypical face. This becomes even more comical when it is connected to a deeper cause, as if “the soul had allowed itself to be fascinated and hypnotized by the materiality of a simple action." For example, one of the funniest aspects of Buster Keaton was his facial expression. No matter what situation he found himself in, he always wore the same deadpan facial expression. This facial expression becomes comical because it imitates the "stoneface" stereotype of someone who is unhappy. This never changing expression becomes even funnier because of the inability of his body to adapt to his soul when he keeps that expression even in situations where it does not seem to fit.

All quotes from Bergson's Laughter