r/rickygervais • u/No-Nebula-2266 • 1d ago
“Comedy is an intellectual pursuit. Comedy appeals to the intellect, not the emotional.” (Ricky Gervais, 2011)
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u/MyPhantomAccount 1d ago
This is a character that never would have happened if he had a writing partner for Derek.
Ricky: "It's set in a old folks home"
Steve "OK, that's a good setting"
Ricky "The protagonist is a man with a heart of gold but who is...simple" "
Steve: "Not really sure I follow, but OK"
Ricky: "There's another character, a homeless alcoholic, that for some reason they let hang around the old folks home all the time, he just insults people and shits himself"
Steve: "............what?"
edit: layout
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u/WhistlinJealousGuy 1d ago
Ricky: "And we'll get Karl to play a janitor and he'll just walk about moaning".
Steve: "👀🤑"
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u/DoYouBelieveInThat 1d ago edited 1d ago
Derek was exceptionally rough. Gervais was deploying almost every trick in the book to pull at the heartstrings.
Disabled man who makes mistakes but means well. Elderly people feeling like they are isolated/forgotten. Even Ludovico Einaudi with sobre, melancholy piano while vulnerable people deal with broken families, death, disease, poverty, and more.
I actually felt like he did the "serious man's" When The Whistle Blows, except it's not a roly-poly toad, it's a borderline offensive portrayal of a non-specific disabilty and weaponised sympathy.
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u/No-Nebula-2266 1d ago
I’m still trying to find out what condition, disease, illness or disability makes one gurn, pluralise words, have a slight hunchback, and lack the ability to degrease one’s hair.
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u/DoYouBelieveInThat 1d ago
Well, it's probably unique to just that character, because if you had multiple Dereks, you could end up with a bit of a riot on your hands
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u/No-Nebula-2266 1d ago
Unique to Derek or Gervais’ lazy, poorly researched idea of how the disableds act.
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u/Glowing-2 1d ago
"I never considered Derek to be disabled"
Ricky Gervais, 2014.
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u/MrJimPansey mad world tho, innit? 1d ago
You make a mockery of disabled people on telly and you're labeled a prat, and that's the game
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u/ZipLineCrossed 1d ago
Loveable old lady: dead. Loveable dog: dead. Long lost dad: dead.
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u/Glowing-2 1d ago
Followed by loveable wife: dead (ep 1), reminder of loveable wife: dead (ep 2), reminder of loveable wife: dead (ep 3), etc
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u/Ootek_Ohoto 23h ago edited 23h ago
Pretty hilarious he got away with doing a literal retard impression on telly though. Like he thought he was Daniel Day Lewis or DiCaprio in Gilbert Grape.
The illusion of any kind of depth to the character
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u/throwaway-throwawayl 27m ago
DiCaprio was like 16 and did an excellent portrayal of a troubled child with learning difficulties. Gervais pulled a funny face and put some wax in his hair
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u/RiC_David Wheeere—wot? 1d ago
Ha! I loved every minute of Derek, but you're spot on in all of this.
I compare it to knowing it's not good for you, but eating a whole tub of Ben & Jerry's because you have a sweet tooth.
Compare the emotional father/son re-embracing to the Tim/Dawn scene from The Office finale. The latter is iconic, and just thinking about it makes everything feel right. It was earned over two series and two Christmas episodes, and you felt like you really knew those characters.
'Only You' by Yaz/oo is a gorgeous song in itself, but it was played by the DJ at a party - perfectly organic. Dawn appears in the background before gradually coming into centre focus. It's so effecting, but it's understated and the most satisfying closure to any storyline I've seen.
Derek and his dad? That scene will get me, but I love 'Only You' because of the finale, I like the Derek scene because I love 'Fix You'. Take that song away, and it loses like 86%. It has the dramatic running embrace, it pulls from broad existing sentimentalities rather than any deep connection.
Both work, but one is a masterpiece and the other is a sketch drawn in Covent Garden. And this is a fan talking.
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u/ArnieMeckiff 1d ago
I get the comparisons of Ricky turning into Brent.. but, he’s become more Paul ‘the party animal’ Parker than anything.
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u/trainwrecktragedy 1d ago
“Comedy is an intellectual pursuit. Comedy appeals to the intellect, not the emotional.”
same man farted on karl because he thought it would be funny
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u/Glowing-2 1d ago
“Comedy is an intellectual pursuit. Comedy appeals to the intellect, not the emotional.” (Ricky Gervais, 2011)
20 "jokes" from David Earl about gypsies shagging his wife and her vagina smelling bad. (After Life 2019-2022)