She Likes to Watch

Make ‘em laugh: “Tropic Thunder” aims for funny bones, gag reflexes 

Now that “Tropic Thunder” has opened in theaters, questions about the goofy war movie spoof are flying like fur.

Is “Tropic Thunder” a clever satire of Hollywood types? An offensive slur on African Americans and people with developmental disabilities?

Most importantly, will “Tropic Thunder” wallop “The Dark Knight” at the box office?

“Tropic Thunder” is the latest in a long line of boundary-pushing comedies — most of which rake in huge returns. They’re rude, crude and frequently raw.

So why are gross-out gurus like the Farrelly Brothers, Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith and “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone so successful?

Without further ado, I bring you “The Six Habits of Highly Disgusting People.”

UNLEASH YOUR INNER 8-YEAR-OLD

Locked inside each and everyone of us is a second-grader who still giggles at poop jokes. While some filmmakers rely on clever wordplay and plot twists to get their point across, these guys gleefully plumb the gutters for gags about diarrhea and dogs biting people in the crotch. And guess what? It’s still funny.

BE A POTTY MOUTH

Like it or not, swear words get our attention. That’s why you’ll see F-bombs and detailed descriptions of various sex acts floating through many an obscene comedy. Extra points if you get a little old lady, a minority character with a funny accent, or beloved game show host Bob Barker to utter your filth.

GET ‘EM TALKING

It took moviegoers and news anchors buzzing about Cameron Diaz’s hair gel faux pas to make “There’s Something About Mary” the sleeper hit of 1998. The same goes for Ben Stiller’s cat-milking scene in “Meet the Parents.”

MIX SASS WITH SWEETNESS

Look past the porn jokes, perversity and painful nerdiness of “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and you’ll find a man searching for romance in a harsh world. Apatow in particular excels at mixing bro humor with touching themes of love and male friendship.

WHEN IN DOUBT, SING

As the “South Park” guys know, there’s something endearing about characters launching into song: whether it’s a cheerful tune about trapping animals (”Cannibal! The Musical”) or “Everybody’s Got AIDS” (”Team America: World Police”).

CONTROVERSY, CONTROVERSY, CONTROVERSY

Few things heat up a theatrical run like boycotts and angry protesters.

You could cast Alanis Morissette as God (”Dogma”) or give moviegoers an unsolicited look at Satan’s love affair with Saddam Hussein (”South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut”).

Or you can go the “Tropic Thunder” route and load up on jokes about self-centered actors willing to break every social taboo to bring home Oscar gold. Works (nearly) every time.

News of George Carlin’s death spread this week like a slow red tide.

Carlin, the counter-culture comedian known for his smart, sarcastic take on drugs, dirty words and the decline of human civilization, died of heart failure in Santa Monica on Sunday.

Since Carlin had a history of heart attacks and drug addition, his death at age 71 didn’t exactly come as a surprise.

Still, most people — like me — were taken aback by the loss of one of America’s funniest sages.

When I interviewed the bald, bearded comedian in September 2007, Carlin was on a national tour and preparing for his 14th and final comedy special for HBO. (”It’s Bad For Ya” aired this March.)

On stage, Carlin’s natural pessimism came to audiences tempered with gallows’ humor and a sly, sideways grin. The ship might be sinking, he seemed to say, but at least we were in the same doomed boat.

In person, though, there was little to temper the bitterness behind the comedian’s astute observations.

My first thought was, “Man, this guy is depressed.”

“I didn’t really care about my culture or my country. I really don’t have any emotional stake in either of them anymore,” Carlin told me, back in 2007. “I’ve kind of given myself a divorce from the Homo Sapien species … I’ll still live here and I’ll still take advantage to the things that are afforded me, because anything else would be stupid.”

“But, at the same time,” he added, “I don’t really participate emotionally in the American drama. I don’t really care what the outcome is. I have a suspicion, a very strong one, that this country is breathing its last gasps and maybe a hundred years is left.”

Not exactly inspiring words.

“I try to be skeptical,” he explained. “I try not to just believe everything I’m told, and I try to be realistic about what the world is, not what some people wish it would be.”

Carlin, of course, had reason to be realistic.

Raised Irish-Catholic and poor in a New York neighborhood, he grew up with an absent father and a working mother. He witnessed America grow in the prosperous ’50s and ’60s. He watched hope and freedom flourish, while he worked to establish his career.

Then, as Carlin battled relationship problems and drug addiction, he watched as almost every promise from the Summer of Love was betrayed by decades of greed and political maneuvering.

As he told me, “They say if you scratch a cynic, you find a disappointed idealist. I would have to admit to some version of that being true for me, way down deep beneath the surface.”

Added Carlin,”For those who wonder why I’m angry, I’m not angry. … What (people) hear on stage that they think is anger is disappointment and disillusionment with my fellow humans and my fellow Americans because they’re pursued such a silly path.

“They’ve made all the wrong decisions about how to organize themselves, and I just think it’s stupid. And stupidity sometimes will make you a little bit impatient. So that’s what it is.”

There you have it, folks: Brilliant. Edgy. And not afraid to speak his mind.

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As tributes to Carlin pour in, here are a few that have caught my eye.

Here, you can read two interviews done by The Onion AV Club in 1999 and 2005.

Entertainment Weekly blogger Gary Susman shares his thoughts, along with a few video clips.

Director Kevin Smith, who directed Carlin in “Dogma,” “Jersey Girl” and “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” speaks here.

And here’s a great picture, courtesy of The Associated Press and The Los Angeles Times: Carlin being led away by police during his 1972 arrest on obscenity charges.

But it really doesn’t get much better than this New York Times op-ed by — who else? — Jerry Seinfeld.