Comedy is considered to be the most serious genre within film. This is due to the fact that comedies often deal with some of society’s most controversial issues. Comedy can, therefore, be seen to be fundamentally queer, meaning that patriarchal norms are subverted and perverted. Thus, comedy has a critical function within our society. Comedy, like film, has a reflective nature, in as much as, it encourages audiences to reflect upon their lives and society in which they live, where often the powerful are made powerless. Comedy is, therefore, an expression of the carnivalesque, where the societal norms are queered and transgressive behaviour is celebrated. The humour created within comedy, in fact, is seen to render most controversial issues as trivial, thus meaning that the film is not threatening to the audience’s beliefs or social ideals as laughter breaks out in the most tense moments. Therefore, the audience on most occasions will not absorb the implications of the humour that is created and, therefore, will not consider the text to be threatening or controversial. This is the case with Johnny English Reborn (Parker 2001, UK). This comedy uses humour to subvert authoritative figures. Johnny English Reborn is an action spy comedy, a parody of the James Bond films, which uses humour as a tool for criticizing people in power in British Society.
The humour in Johnny English Reborn is derived from mainly one character, Johnny English (Rowan Atkinson). Johnny is a reinstated MI7 agent, a member of the government who is meant to protect and serve Britain. At the beginning of the film Johnny is reinstated and must redeem his respect in the office as he “ballsed up” on his last assignment in Mozambique and, as a consequence, was sent to live with Tibetan monks until he was ready to return. Johnny’s assignment involves stopping a group of international assassins called Vortex who are all undercover CIA, MI7 and KGB government agents, who also were responsible for his failure in his last assignment. Johnny is teamed up with Agent Tucker (Daniel Kaluuya) and must stop the Vortex before they kill the Chinese Premier by finding three parts of a key that unlock a secret weapon that Vortex holds. English and Agent Tucker must use all the latest gadgets and equipment in order to stop the assassination.
Johnny English’s position as an MI7 agent subverts authority in the film due to the fact that English is presented as an idiotic character that is expected, by the rest of the Government and MI7, to save the world. At the beginning of the film when Johnny is sitting with one of the Monks training him English asks the Monk what his destiny is and the Monk tells English that he is in touch with higher powers. This suggests that the higher powers are of a religious nature, but they are in fact MI7. This positions MI7 as an authoritative and even omnipotent figure in society and English is part of it. However, the irony lies in English’s incompetency to do his job well. When English is sat in Pegasus’ (Gillian Anderson) office, who is the head of MI7, she explains to him:
Pegasus: “MI7 has come a long way since then. The guns, the fast cars and the chauvinism are all on their way out”
The guns, fast cars and chauvinism makes MI7 sound like a James Bond movie, which is the purpose of a parody. This undermines MI7’s position of power as it criticizes their integrity and attitude with which they approach their work, as this kind of senseless violence is not acceptable in society. However this is also the source of the humour which is used in order to cloak serious issues that the film challenges. This is also evident throughout the film, for instance all the accessories English needs are made and stored in the “Toy Cupboard”. This not only encourages humorous scenes, but also to some extent it criticizes government actions, as the audience is encouraged to laugh at government agents in the film and mock authoritative figures through the use of humour. There is one scene in particular that subverts authority through actions of English which produces humour and to some extent allows the audience to mock authority in the film by laughing throughout the scene.
English sits next to the Prime Minister and whilst the Prime Minister leads a discussion on the relationship between Britain and China Johnny tries to adjust the height of his chair. At first, the chair sinks down and then English pushes the lever and the chair rises, however the lever breaks off and Johnny continues to rise until his knees are above the table. He then fumbles around whilst the rest of the team raises their eye brows at his behaviour. He finally manages to get the chair to sink back down again, however it does not stop. The discussion then turns to English as he explains about Vortex’s plot to kill the Chinese Premier, at the same time English is sinking down until only his head is visible above the table. This scene is hilarious in terms of humour, however the implications of this humour are serious. By implementing humour in a serious scene the audience would, in some cases, be unable to take seriously what the Prime Minister is saying, thus, undermining his status and authority. The implications of this laughter are serious as the audience is encouraged to mock and ridicule authority through laughing at them. Therefore, through comedy, the contingent nature of power is exposed and we are made aware of the fact that power is not fixed and, therefore, is something that should be ridiculed. This interdependent relationship power has with society is revealed and the audience is made aware of the fact that they, the people in society, hold as much power as the authoritative figures in society. This is an extremely controversial issue to raise and can only be done through humour as its implications would prove to be radical otherwise.
In recent years, there have been many issues raised between British society and its governing authorities. This film reflects many of society’s attitudes towards the authorities. English uncovers that there is a mole working in the MI7 and must, therefore, track down who this is. It turns out that the mole is Agent Ambrose. The humour here lies in the fact that English is completely unaware of the fact that Ambrose, whom he assumes is a good friend, is the mole and thinks that English is a complete fool and is leading English on a wild goose chase. Having an MI7 agent who is a mole holds many underlying meanings. This plot has political significations, as it suggests that society feels betrayed by their authority. This can stand true for some recent events that have taken place in British Society, as recently the public have been betrayed by MPs in the expenses scandal and there has been much doubt over the new government due to the economic crisis. Therefore, it is of no surprise that this film portrays society’s doubt and un-trust in government by having a government agent as a mole. This film portrays these views through English as he is meant to represent the best agent, yet he is completely incompetent. However, like many mainstream films the film does not force the audience to read it this way but, rather, this controversial reading is left open for the audience to read it as they like.
Although the character of English allows for these controversial issues to be dealt with, he also acts as a scapegoat to the extent in which he is positioned as a social outsider. English is an MI7 agent which raises particular issues in itself, as his position as a government agent undermines that status of the government agents due to his incompetency and lack of social understanding. How could a character such as English save the World against terrorists? The fact that English is considered to be stupid by his colleagues and has no understanding of social etiquette or behaviour makes him a social outsider and, therefore, rendered unthreatening to the audience and their understanding of their social world. Thus, the film is able to target societal issues and criticize the government without seeming to be too controversial. The audience is, therefore, able to choose whether to read this film as controversial or conservative. Thus, although Johnny English Reborn raises many societal and political issues within British Society the films humour is used in order for the audience to sit back and enjoy the film.
