The Secret Meanings of Yes and No

Quick, what's the difference between a comedy and a drama?

The answer to this question for most people really just depends on how much time you have available and how many exceptions you'd like to build into your argument. A comedy is something that makes me laugh. Dramas never do? A comedy is something that's funny ha-ha. Again, dramas never do?

Rather than look at the difference between them on a specific level, let's instead do what this blog is going to be all about and take a step back.

Comedy is characters saying yes to each other. 

Drama is characters saying no to each other. 

Does that mean literally? Well, it can, but it doesn't have to.

In the first act of an episode of a sitcom, much of the throwaway dialogue and often some of the plot consists of characters saying yes to each other. If someone talks about how they got lost in the sewers over summer vacation and their scene partner does not object, but takes it in stride as though it were a normal contribution to the conversation, this is what I mean by "saying yes."

If you've ever done any improv, you know the only real rule is to roll with whatever your partner gives you. If they say they've come down with a rare case of hair cancer, you're supposed to look for ways to fix it, not to tell them there's no such thing. This is what characters in comedies do, they say ridiculous things to each other, and don't ever challenge them.

Drama on the other hand is characters saying no. What exactly does this mean? This is a little more specific (but obviously not as rare) as what happens in comedies. When a character comes out to his mother and she pretends not to hear him, this is the opposite.

This is exactly what you're not to do in improv, since the purpose of the exercise isn't so much to develop well-fleshed out characters, but to get lots of ideas out there. When you stop the flow, you are stuck in the moment with your partner and have to figure out what's what.

This is where conflict comes from. This isn't to say that comedies don't have conflict. Of course they do, all stories have conflict of some kind. Dramas just tend to have them more frequently and introduce them earlier. In a drama, the conflict is usually internal, and often present towards the beginning, if not before the story starts altogether. In comedies it tends to be introduced later on and is usually external.

When two characters are talking and one says no to the other, the scene really can't move forward until they either reach a resolution or break on a note that leaves us, the audience with a distinct vibe that it will be addressed later on in the episode or arc.

This obviously isn't two venn diagrams that never intersect, and shows that possess aspects of both certainly exist. These are just two extremes, and you can decide for yourself where something falls. I find this a useful tool to ascertain what sort of attitude whatever I'm watching would like me to take towards it. The dissonance experienced when you realize you've been watching something serious as a comedy or the inverse is sometimes hilarious, and sometimes just annoying. Being in the proper state of mind when you're ready to watch something is often important to enjoying it, and the better you can figure out what that is by placing it on this scale, the more you'll be able to be entertain by being in the proper state of mind.

How does this work for you? Do you have other suggestions?

Also, I'd really love to be able to use one word for read/watch/observe/listen to/etc that's not specific to one medium, since the stuff I talk about here (and in the future) won't just be about movies, but will also apply to movies, plays, and other things. The only one I can think of is "consume" which seems sort of odd and sinister. Do you have any tips?