It occurred to me recently that Deadpool, a character that people seem to keep referring to as “new”, is actually a little over two decades old. For my part, I do occasionally enjoy the character, (I was a pull-list customer for ‘Deadpool Team-Up’ not so long ago) and I can clearly see that he has the malleability necessary to last the long haul in comics, much like Batman and Spider-Man. Still, my favorite part of any ‘Pool adventure is the fourth-wall breaking, wherein our hero (and the voices in his head) make reference to their existence as a comic-book character. I’m a sucker for a story that’s self-aware in a fun way (as opposed to the deathly dull, trying-so-hard-to-be-Neil-Gaiman way), and I’ve always enjoyed the moments where characters become aware of their place in the world. Ambush Bug’s original mini-series was a hoot, and She-Hulk’s second run wherein she spoke directly to the readers and editorial team made for some fun stories at a particularly brutal time of comic history. Indeed, the MS-QOTD knows that it’s nothing more than a question on the internet, but still has a small law practice and an active eBay store, which in turn begs a query…
The MS-QOTD (pronounced, as always, “misquoted”) breaks the fourth wall all the time, but all I get are weird looks, asking: What’s the most entertaining example of fourth-wall-breaking in pop-culture?
10 Comments
My favorite example all-time is Ferris Buehler’s Day Off.
Throughout, he talks directly to the audience (or at least directly into the camera), but what really brings it home is one of the final scenes where Ferris doesn’t actually speak to us, but casts his triumphant gaze in succession to the characters in-scene, and then takes a second to smirk directly into the camera.
It is brilliantly done, and hilarious.
Agreed. Nothing left to say.
agree 100%.
Man, I kind of hate when that happens, what with it being a question to start a conversation, he said, hinting broadly. :)
For what it’s worth, I watched that movie about a year ago and didn’t get what people liked about it. Ferris is a jerk and a terrible friend. I wanted him to get caught.
And to actually answer the question, I’d have to go with Ultimate Spider-Man, the cartoon TV show I’ve been watching on Netflix with my son. Funny stuff.
While not a specific example, I rather like Ambush Bug’s constant breaking the fourth wall while still being part of the mainstream DCU. The fact that it is usually just chalked up to insanity makes it even more amusing to me.
And I also liked Jasmine breaking the fourth wall in the Dekaranger/Magiranger crossover.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X6QT6gCsNDU
Basil Exposition telling Austin a Powers not to worry about temporal mechanics and just have fun “and that goes for you to.” Sound advice for any time travel story.
The final act of Blazing Saddles (studio tour, cafeteria food fight, utter destruction of a lovely dance number, watching their own movie….). Mel Brooks breaks the fourth wall quite a bit in several of his films, from sly references to blatant camera takes. What other western finishes the ride into the sunset in a two-door sedan?
The Netflix show House of Cards. Kevin Spacey does a brilliant job not only breaking the fourth wall but making you feel like someone he’s confiding in or mentoring. He says more with a quick smirk to the camera than lesser actors say with lines of dialogue