Between hilarious and tragic is something else
and I realised that actually, my very favourite thing is tragicomedy. I not only enjoy it most, I rate it 'best'. Perhaps it just resonates with my worldview.
The best TV show I have ever seen is Supernatural
The best film I have ever seen is Werner Herzog's 'Grizzly Man'
The best book I have ever read is...I'm gonna say 'Midnight's Children'. I've read hundreds upon hundreds of books, and if we're including fanfic, thousands. But If I really have to pick, and search my brain, MC is what I come back to.
Grizzly Man is a documentary on the life and death of self-styled eco-warrior Timothy Treadwell (self-given name). Treadwell was one of those characters who has to be seen to be believed: hysterial, ecstatic, narcissistic, generous, deluded, brave, childish, resourceful, absurd. Treadwell loved grizzly bears. Not content to love them from a distance, he made frequent pilgrimages to Alaska to live amongst the bears, protecting them from shady government agencies who persecuted him and them in vague and sinister ways. Treadwell loved the bears, but his respect for them is questionable, as he comes within touching distance and chastises them like a parent, giving them nicknames like 'Aunt Melissa' and 'Mr. Chocolate'.
In the end, Treadwell was eaten by a bear.
I first saw this film as part of a tragedy module as an undergraduate. Everyone in the room was entranced, and some visibly upset. Myself and one other person (notably a director himself) were falling out of our seats with laughter. That doesn't mean I wasn't disturbed. It is disturbing. It's also hilarious.
The documentary is a compilation of Treadwell's footage of bears (amazing), his monologues on life, bears and himself to the camera, and investigate work and voice over by Herzog, who sees nature very differently, as violent, cruel and chaotic. Treadwell's girlfriend died with him: she is a mysterious figure, who appears on camera only once or twice, and reportedly expressed grave reservations about Treadwell's self-appointed crusade, and yet stayed with him until the end. It's not that surprising. There is something magnetic about him, and though he's obviously crossed some kind of line, he expresses Romantic notions a lot of us have felt drawn towards: an affinity for animals, contempt for the 'people's world', the need for a purpose and mission, etc. There's so much going on in this film, but one of the things that really makes it for me is the astounding contrast between Treadwell's desperate, frantic search for meaning and the gorgeous stillness of the deserted landscapes he makes his quests in. For me, the Alaskan wildnerness is neither cruel like Herzog sees it nor benign and personified like Treadwell imagines it. It just IS. As the are the bears. Except for the extremely hungry bear that ate him, they appear totally indifferent to Treadwell's presence. And in the end, perhaps that's the source of his agony: that the universe, for all his desperation to be noted and needed by it, is indifferent.
You can watch Grizzly Man on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cFyaiqDXD2U
But really, get the DVD. It's a film that deserves fullscreen.