Eccentric Laughter

Dispels The Idea That Postwar British Comedies Were Apolitical, Arguing Instead That They Presented Subversive, Iconoclastic, Queer Experiments In Living For A Country That Was Rebuilding And Reimagining Itself After Years Of Conflict. Eccentric Laughter Explores Ways To Watch Postwar British Film Comedies, Arguing That Their Representations Of Eccentricity Offered A Set Of Possible Queer Futures For A Britain That Had Been Destabilized By Years Of Conflict And Social Upheaval. Far From Being The Apolitical Cinema Described By Previous Critics, These Comedies-including Both Perennial Favorites From Ealing Studios And Neglected Films Ripe For Rediscovery-make A Joke Of And Suggest Alternatives To The Heterocentric Home And Family.