Seriously Unserious: Theoretical Implications of the Gimmick for Film and Media Studies

Imagine a mechanism that, upon waking you up, could wash you, brush your teeth, dress you, and seamlessly transport you from bed to a dining table, where freshly brewed coffee and breakfast await.One variation of this whimsical and gimmicky morning mechanism is humorously depicted in Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Nick Park and Steve Box, 2005), tied to the character of an eccentric inventor (Fig. 12).This is likely the fantasy of many who dread leaving the warmth of their bed each morning.It reflects one of the recurring dreams of modern convenience -emerging from the promises of mechanization and automation -allowing individuals to rationalize the workload of boring and mundane tasks and devote time and energy to labor that truly and genuinely matters.Typically, such a mechanism occupies a significant portion of the living space, comprising an intricate network of wires, pulleys, and gears.However, these contraptions rarely function flawlessly.The journey from bed to breakfast often becomes slow, cumbersome, or chaotic, resulting in comedic mishaps.Thus, the promise of such a gimmicky mechanism highlights the tense and fluctuating balance between labor, time, and value.While the humor of such a contraption captures the imagination, it also invites a deeper reflection on the nature of gimmicks, a theme explored in Sianne Ngai's Theory of the Gimmick: Aesthetic Judgment and Capitalist Form (2020).After briefly introducing key points from the book, our focus will turn to how Seriously Unserious: Theoretical Implications of the Gimmick for Film and Media Studies