Poster Analysis 3 The King of Comedy Dominic

Poster Analysis 3: The King of Comedy Dominic Munro

On the surface this poster appears to be a fun, boisterous advertisement that depicts a family film. However when you look closer you see that this is not the case. There are some very obvious, and some very subtle, hints that this film does not follow the typical conventions of comedy during the 80 s. The first comes at the top of the page in the line ‘It’s no laughing matter. ’ This line is placed almost in answer to the viewers initial humour at seeing a caricature of Robert De Niro and Jerry Lewis. It acts at as a sense of gravity for the audience, they have originally been lifted by these pictures and now they have been intellectual challenged by the poster, thus making them want to study it further. The tagline of the film follows on with theme of tantalizing anticipation with its use of extremes and touches of foreboding – ‘Nobody knows Rupert Pupkin, but after 11: 30 tonight no one will ever forget him. ’ Instantly the reader wants to know what he does to become so unforgettable and will look for other clues on the poster. The next clue that they will turn to is the image of Rupert holding a crown above his head at a gagged, dethroned Jerry looks on. Rupert has a sense of great victory around him and through this, and confirmed later by the film, we see the victory of the everyman – the ‘man on the street’ achieving his goals against all odds, however sinister the means. Because that is what Scorsese portrays so excellently, a overlaying sense of comedy in this poster with hints of underlying malevolence. Ideoligical it is an exact mirror of real life, its all ‘fun and games’ until someone breaks the rules. In this section I shall be talking about the visuals; colour schemes, use of fonts, visual elements that bounce of one another. Visually the most pronounced part of the poster would be the title of the film, the blood red text is a sharp contrast when compared to the more muted beiges, whites, and browns that comprise the rest of the poster. The font used for the title goes with theme of ‘fun’ that runs along the surface of the poster, with its rounded letters and simple layout it gives an easy, calm and enjoyable compliment to the poster as a whole. The use of the bold emphasis on the word ‘King’ references to the film in that it shows that Rupert, just like every other person in their respective field, wants to be the very best – not just good, the best. This calm, enjoyable feel is contrasted by the image of Jerry gagged standing in front of the microphone. Whereas all the other pictures are fun and easygoing this is the one that inspires and sense of dread and forces ourselves to ask if Rupert is the villain of this piece, do his exploits in the film effect others negatively? Overall this poster captures the duality of mankind. It shows the ‘winners’ and the ‘losers’ and it gives a sense of the lengths people are willing to go to get what they want. It is not only a comedy but an ideological comment on society as a whole, that they are those who would forfeit their following of the law and their own safety too achieve their darkest desires.