Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World Part II - Opening Scene

Looking for Comedy opens with a casting meeting for a remake of Harvey. Remembering that the title of the movie is Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, we open with a scene that strangely challenges whether America has any comedy either.

For the fact is that a remake of Harvey is eminently plausible - and inherent grotesquely unfunny, since the original's concept and conclusion are widely known and inherently time-bound. The world of Harvey can exist only in a small (and yet comparatively prosperous) close-knit community in rural or suburban America - communities which were largely a memory even during Harvey's 1950 filming - and communities which are economically impossible today.

Harvey's comedy is not a nostalgic one. It's targets are contemporary fake seperations between reality and fantasy. However, the Harvey remake's humor will be primarily nostalgic and the remake cannot really take aim at our contemporary society.

However, it is clear that the studio is willing to put all of it's power behind this horrid remake. Further, the studio staff and the director (played by Penny Marshall) are revealed to be entirely humorless in person - indeed, they are openly cruel and sadistic (in high contrast to Stewart's legendary off-screen kindness).

As we will learn as we continue through the movie, Brooks will continue to ask whether Americans have any comedy themselves.