Monday, July 21, 2008

A Glimpse Into My Sense of Humor

The joke is below, but to make it make sense, you should to read this.

I've posted before about how my interest in Stargate SG-1 waxed and waned over the years, and I'm fairly certain I mentioned how much I liked the note of whimsy that Claudia Black's Vala brought to the show in the last couple of seasons.

(It should be noted, however, that I feel that one of Claudia's strengths is an actress is to show a character's subtle weakness -- and as the series went on, I felt that much of Vala's wisecracking was hiding some of her inner torment.)

In any event, driving home from Vegas the other night, Patrick watched the two-part episode "The Quest," in which the Stargate team is trying to find a weapon to defeat the bad guys.  They have to go through a series of puzzles, and the last one is to say the protector's name.

The protector is a mechanical dragon.  When it appears, the following exchange takes place, loosely quoted until the row of *****, at which point, it's an exact quote.

Ba'al:  I may have exaggerated when I said I knew its true name.

Vala:  Maybe it's Darrel -- Darrel the dragon.

Mitchell:  Or Smokey.

Teal'c.  Perhaps Puff.

Mitchell:  Okay, well, we know bullets bounce right off of Darrel --

(Vala preens.)

Mitchell:  (blah blah blah flawed plan blah blah blah)

They discuss some more, until Daniel realizes that the dragon is merely a device, and that the real protector is Morgan LeFay, whose name in her own language was Ganos Lal.

Vala takes off running into the open field.

******

Vala:  (triumphantly)  Hey!  (with emphasis)  Morgan LeFay!

Dragon:  (roars)

Vala:  ... Darrel?

Daniel:  Ganos Lal!

Dragon:  (goes away)

The point of the joke, of course, is Vala's plaintive yet hopeful "Darrel?"

And, yes, I find the whole thing hysterically funny.  And yet, comedy movies like...say...Adam Sandler movies or Will Farrel movies...not so much.

I must be weird.

Actually, I just like word play and situation-based humor, instead of...slapstick.

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