The Death of Comedy

When was the last time you saw a quality comedy film come out from Hong Kong? The last funny film I saw from Hong Kong was Stephen Chow's Kung Fu. The Comedy is dead in Hong Kong.

Why you ask? There are little to no comedic actors left in the business. Film producers are not willing to take risks with new styles of comedy. Staying conservative, they stick with slapstick and mindless humor with actors who are actually singers by trade. The industry dictated this change, not the audience. I'll bet the Hong Kong audience is dying to see a serious, high quality comedy. Entertainment firms just aren't willing to take any risk. Instead, they come out with stuff that has worked in the past, shunning anything new or experimental.

Perhaps its the Hong Kong market that caused this situation. The market is too small, so in order for movies to make a profit, they have to be able to do well in China as well. Greedy firms may not see the value in producing a film only for Hong Kong, even if it does pay for itself. Touchy comedic material might be censored or unaccepted in China. Pirated DVDs are no help. Also, consumers (wrong as they are) will go for the pirated version, as they aren't willing to spend a lot of money on the current, rehashed, run of the mill comedies being produced today.

The vicious cycle continues, and thus brings forth the death of the comedy in Hong Kong cinema.