Blackadder Goodbyeee

Blackadder is a four series BBC1 sitcom that was created in 1983 by Richard Curties and Ben Elton. It attempt to explain Bristish history in a period from 1485 to 1917 in a comedic way. Blackadder Goes Forth has an lampoon approach to the World War I which was an dread event. This lampoon approaching is particularly success in the last episode, Goodbyee, which tells the story of five main character, Captain Edmund Blackadder (Rowan Atkinson), Private S. Baldrick (Tony Robinson), Genereal Sir Anthony Hogmanay Melchett (Stephen Fry), Lieutenant The Honourable George Colthurst St.

Barleigh ( Hugh Laurie) and Captain Kevin Darling (Tim McInnerny). Each of them had their own reaction and feeling in respond to the last push. The fear, the anxiety, and desire not to be dead were described in a comedy way. It is said that when the situation is far worse to cry, laugh to it. It means there is no word can describe the horror of that situation. The episode Goodbyee chose that approach to tell the real story of soldiers, hero and casualty, in World War I. Eventhough the laugh, silly questions, cunning plan, and funny event happen throughout the movie, there is nothing real fun.

All the reaction is their respond out of depression as the last attempt to avoid the dead. Blending comedy with tragedy, Goodbyeee definitely makes the audience feel the horror of the war, the meaningless and the cost of it. World War I or Great War was a major war took place in Europe from 28 July 1914 to 11 November 1918 between two opposite alliances: the Allies (United Kingdom, France and Russia) and the Central Power (Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italia). Triggered by the assassination of the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, the heir of the throne, the war began.

The Austro-Hungarian invaded Serbia, the German invaded Belgium, Luxembourg and France, and the Russian attacked Germany. The Western Front settled into a static battle with a trench line that changed little until 1917. After United Sates entered the trench and the Allies drove back the German armies in a series of successful offensive, Germany agreed to a cease fire on 11 November 1918, marked the end of the Great War. This four years war cost about 70 million military personnel mobilized and more than 9 million combatants killed. “World War I”, Wikipedia)

Goodbyeee tell the true story about the soldier in the Western Front. All of their reaction, feeling and ideas about the war are shown in their last minutes before the big push. Eventhough they were professional soldiers, they were still afraid of a battle. Captain Blackadder (Atkinson) pretended to go mad by putting an underwear on his head and putting stick up his nose, in order to be sent back but it did not work out. General Melchett (Fry) gave Captain Darling (McInnerny) the frontline commission honor- the honor of being dead.

Afraid of being dead,Captain Darling kneeled and pleaded General Melchett (Fry) to change his mind but unsuccessful. Eventhough the fear of Captain Darling was so obvious; General Melchett intentionally misinterpreted the pleading. Regardless the leader’ responsibility and role-mole, all of them were trying to find a way to escape the dead. They did not feel ashamed when pretending to be mad in the cunning plan in front of their soldier or shoving the honor of dead in the front line to other people. They did not feel humiliated when pleading and kneeling.

They even pretended to misunderstand the obviously begging. They ran away from their responsibility. That never have been expected to do as a soldier who could die for their country. The laugh added, the calm voice and the funny faces of actors make the viewer the humor of the situation. However, beneath the humor is the raw fear that can not be easily uncovered. The raw fear was not easily uncovered, but the lost would be. All of George’s friends were dead, simply and normally. However, looking at the way their dead were described “Sticky had been out for a duck…” (Goodbyee, DVD), there were anything but normal.

The news of their dead was not told directly to avoid the feeling of lost. This mean the lost were so horrible that it needed to be avoided. Obviously, as George said, “I suppose I’m the only one of the Trinity Tiddlers still alive. ” (“Goodbyeee”, DVD), the number of lost were so high. This scene of the movie has another interesting but sorrowful approach: the lost counted by the number of soldiers who were still alive rather than who had been dead.

The fear was so visible and the lost were horrible. That leads the question of Private Baldrick (Robinson),“How did the war start? (“Goodbyee”, DVD). Even the soldiers who were responsible for protecting the country did understand the reason of the war. Even the Captain could not give the fully and correctly answer. The scrambling of words in question and explanation were attempted to avoid the real truth behind it. There were no clear reasons for the war. There were blind soldiers who would die without knowing why. That is the real horror of the war that the movie makes: people may felt fear, tried to avoid the dead, lost the pride as a soldier without understanding why.

Good bye is the obviously comedy. However, beneath all the humor is the sorrowful truth about the war: fear, death and the meaningless of the war. Fear was hidden under mindless activities for exclusion from war. Death and the meaningless of the war were avoided by scrambling words. Laughing at the humor in the movies to hide the tears bursting out when the final truth had been recovered in the last minutes before the big push “ I’m scared, sir. ” , said Goerge, “I’m scared too, sir”, said Baldrick. (“Goodbyeee”, DVD).