The creepy detail in Martin Scorsese film ‘The King of Comedy’
Martin Scorsese movie The King of Comedy is a 1982 American satirical black comedy-drama that comments on celebrity worship and American media culture. The film was written by Paul D. Zimmerman and starred Robert De Niro in his fifth appearance in a Scorsese film.
De Niro plays Rupert Pupkin, a delusional and aspiring stand-up comedian trying to launch his career. In his quest for success and fame, he approaches talk show host Jerry Langford for a chance to perform on his show. When this doesn’t go according to his original plan, he conjures up a plot to kidnap Jerry to get his name in the lights.
The movie received mostly positive reviews from critics but performed poorly at the box office, grossing only $2.5 million against its $19 million budget.
The King of Comedy explores and compares Pupkin’s interior state and his exterior surroundings to create tension and emotional effect. This is conveyed using the idea of the fantasies in his mind, which audiences are invited to see in order to understand Pupkin’s complex character. We see him imagining show host Jerry begging him to do the show. During this, we can hear his mother’s voice (provided by Martin Scorsese’s mother) as she yells at her son and interrupts him.
This seems like a fairly straightforward and simple case of constructing Pupkin’s character, linking him to emotional stress and parental neglect. However, Scorsese pulls the rug from under the viewer on this element and throws out a disturbing shock.
During the stand-up scene, Pupkin describes his troubled upbringing while simultaneously laughing at his circumstances, establishing his darker humour to translate his character further. This is where he reveals that his mother has been dead for nine years, neglecting the fact that we previously heard her disembodied voice.
This sets up various theories in an attempt to find an explanation. Is Pupkin simply lying and exaggerating aspects of his life in order to appeal to audiences and make things sound more interesting? Does he think back to his mother’s harsh treatment as a means to cope and ground himself in reality even though she is no longer alive?
Regardless of the answer, this detail of The King of Comedy is disturbing and unsettles audiences upon first viewing. It proves once and for all that the main character is an unreliable focus due to his damaged psyche.
