My brother said 'The Room' is just sad, not funny anymore

We were watching it at his place in Denver last month, and he pointed out how Tommy Wiseau clearly put his heart into it. He said, 'It's not a joke, it's a guy trying to make art and failing hard.' That hit different because I always just laughed at the bad lines. Now I'm split: is it funnier to laugh at it, or is that kind of mean? What's your take on where the line is?

2 comments

2 Comments

elizabethwhite7d ago

Wait, why can't it be both sad and funny? The heart he put in is what makes the bad parts hit so hard. Laughing at the art doesn't mean you're laughing at the man.

gray_roberts7d ago

Yeah, that's the thing. We do this all the time with stuff like bad movies or awkward family photos. You can cringe at how cheesy a homemade birthday card is, but that cringe comes from seeing someone's real, unfiltered effort. It's the trying that makes it both sweet and a little funny. The feeling isn't one or the other, it's all mixed together. That's just how people are, messy and sincere at the same time.