SIDE SALAD - Everything crunchy is good.

AIN'T THAT A KICK IN THE...

The L.A. Times has an interesting - if painful to read - story about the resurgence of kicks-to-the-groin jokes in movies. (A short registration at the site is required, as well as a body cavity search and submission of dental records.)

I loved this passage:

In an age when government figures are routinely seen apologizing for a misinterpreted or off-color joke or offending a delicate sensibility, it's perhaps odd that no one — particularly men — seems terribly upset about the frequent attacks on the most sensitive area of the male anatomy. There's a good reason for the lack of protest and abundance of laughter, humor scholars say: Men, in society's eyes, deserve it.

"Women would certainly be screaming and complaining if men were kicking women in the genitals [in popular culture]," said Murray Davis, author of "What's So Funny: The Comic Conception of Culture and Society." "But men by and large still hold almost all the positions of power in society, and the powerful are always targets for humor."

Unfortunately, most of those moments aren't actually funny. But a few are. My favorites:

The Longest Yard - Tired of Bogdanski the prison guard's (Ray Nitchke) incessently pounding his skull on every snap, Paul Crewe (Burt Reynolds) instructs his team to just let the guy through the offensive line. Befuddled, they nonetheless allow it. Bogdanski runs through like a bull and Crew throws a bullet at Bogdanski's groin. Laughter ensues. Crewe's team rehuddles and then giggles when the same play is called again. Replay of the same, Bogdanski goes down and has to be carried off the field.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - This groin shot actually puts down a rebellion in the Hole in the Wall Gang, when Harvey Logan (Ted Cassidy) dares challenge Butch (Paul Newman) over the next target the group should rob. Newman asks someone to count, "Onetwothreego." Sundance obliges with a rapid, "Onetwothreego." And Harvey has his two best friends separated with the sharp toe of a boot. Mutiny over.

Posted by Jeff at July 21, 2004 07:45 AM