Spring Break
Nonsense should become a necessary part of life
Scott Dennis
Issue date: 2/10/09 Section: Forum
Why does Weatherford look like a castle? Why was there once a cupola on top of Fairbanks? Why does Waldo Hall have those nifty-looking turrets? The answer to all these questions is, well, there is no answer - at least not one that makes any sort of sense, anyway.
None of these buildings needed to be fancied up for any logical reason. The aesthetically pleasing elements of these buildings are utter nonsense, and it is this element of irrational fun that makes life exciting.
Sometime last year, I saw the Marx Brothers film "A Night at the Opera" for the first time. It was hilarious, bizarre, and utterly ludicrous. The type of quick witted humor used in the Marx Brothers films is often funny because the jokes are so unexpected. Take this exchange from "A Night at the Opera" as an example:
"You live here all alone?"
"Yes. Just me and my memories. I'm practically a hermit."
"Oh. A hermit. I notice the table's set for four."
"That's nothing - my alarm clock is set for eight. That doesn't prove a thing."
As you can see, Groucho and the rest were experts at baffling one's expectations. When you think they're going to say one thing - they do something completely different. It is nonsense at its best.
A lot of things about the Marx Brothers' era seem a tad peculiar in retrospect (consider the popular outdoor entertainment of the period - say 1955 or so). The recreation sensation of the day was the newly opened Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. The mere fact that such a nonsensical place was built at this time and found success speaks volumes.
By the 1950s, amusement parks across the nation were going out of business, disregarded by a public fed up with the unclean facilities and cheap tricks that characterized the industry. When Walt proposed the idea of his theme park to carnival owners, they scoffed; his plan didn't make sense. Why spend a bunch of money on fancy landscaping or building a castle, if it wasn't going to generate revenue?
None of these buildings needed to be fancied up for any logical reason. The aesthetically pleasing elements of these buildings are utter nonsense, and it is this element of irrational fun that makes life exciting.
Sometime last year, I saw the Marx Brothers film "A Night at the Opera" for the first time. It was hilarious, bizarre, and utterly ludicrous. The type of quick witted humor used in the Marx Brothers films is often funny because the jokes are so unexpected. Take this exchange from "A Night at the Opera" as an example:
"You live here all alone?"
"Yes. Just me and my memories. I'm practically a hermit."
"Oh. A hermit. I notice the table's set for four."
"That's nothing - my alarm clock is set for eight. That doesn't prove a thing."
As you can see, Groucho and the rest were experts at baffling one's expectations. When you think they're going to say one thing - they do something completely different. It is nonsense at its best.
A lot of things about the Marx Brothers' era seem a tad peculiar in retrospect (consider the popular outdoor entertainment of the period - say 1955 or so). The recreation sensation of the day was the newly opened Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. The mere fact that such a nonsensical place was built at this time and found success speaks volumes.
By the 1950s, amusement parks across the nation were going out of business, disregarded by a public fed up with the unclean facilities and cheap tricks that characterized the industry. When Walt proposed the idea of his theme park to carnival owners, they scoffed; his plan didn't make sense. Why spend a bunch of money on fancy landscaping or building a castle, if it wasn't going to generate revenue?
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