https://youtu.be/n188Cp8rzlA?si=5oeUWYdlEaF8GjZj
Among other theories, Henri Bergson’s essay on the comic refers to the connection between the human and the mechanic. He points to one of the reasons for comedy relying on this disjointed relationship, and even what happens when it breaks. One of these breaks can be seen in the concept of a person being embarrassed by their body: something in the perfect automation of the body unexpectedly goes wrong, and the audience’s attention is therefore “suddenly recalled from the soul to the body” (51), causing laughter.
The television series Modern Family follows three families, each character having a very distinct personality. One of these families has a mother (Claire Dunphy) known for her neurotic and anxious tendencies, as well as her perfectionism. As part of her need for control, Claire decides to run for mayor, and the comic element of this episode resides in the fact that her tooth unexpectedly breaks, causing her to have a lisp.
Even without knowing the context of the character, the episode lays a foundation for this understanding of Claire’s character as somewhat automated to break as it begins with her hopes being dampened when she, herself, is the first person to have said to a reporter that she is voting for Claire Dunphy. This sets the foundation for this automated illusion of control that Claire has attempted to achieve in the past to comically shatter as she breaks her tooth. This is especially highlighted with how Claire breaks her tooth – in trying to gather herself and make herself appear more put together by taking out the clothes tag that was showing by ripping it out with her teeth, she ends up becoming more disheveled.
Though Claire has always strived to be taken seriously, and has placed much importance on this moment of becoming mayor as a major step towards that goal, her sudden lisp is symbolic of her loss of control.
Bergson also expresses that any “incident is comic that calls our attention to the physical comedy in a person, when it is the moral side that is concerned” (51). Indeed, when Claire goes on to speak at a radio show about the issues she wishes to target and fix as a prospective mayor, she is not understood. Whether through a conscious misunderstanding to bring attention to her lisp or an absentminded and/or genuine lack of understanding of her new accent, Claire loses all sense of control over her mayoral aspiration.