Comedy in film, or how to slip in subversive ideas with a smile.

Comedy isn't just about making us laugh. It's also a subtle way of expressing some subversive ideas. Faced with comedy, censors often let their guard down, which enables the genre to take aim at taboos and prohibitions more effectively. Seen as entertainment, comedies paradoxically have an easier time smuggling in critique. But conversely, comedies rarely achieve cultural legitimacy, as witnessed by the histories of major awards.
A journey into film history, this study covers over fifty transgressive comedies from 1920 to 1980, after which film becomes less of a whipping boy for censors, and comedy ceases to be a refuge.