Why "Validation" Works

In a scriptwriting class I audited, we watched this short film, a delightful comedy that everyone seemed to love.

The question is, why? Really, there are a lot of clichés that we should have been booing halfway through the film. But we didn’t. Watch it for yourself if you haven’t already. Then, here are the reasons I think “Validation” shouldn’t work, and why it does anyway.

Super Cheerful Protagonist: If the movie had ended halfway through, I probably would have punched our enthusiastic parking attendant in the face. Because while his compliments might have been nice, they didn’t feel sincere at all. I was almost grateful when someone finally rejected him, because a little suffering made him seem more like a real person. The change that he goes through during the film makes him into a better, more relatable character by the end, and it was that change that justified his too-happy persona at the beginning of the film.

Puns: Generally, people hate puns. The very title of this film is a pun for the main plot device. Which is probably why it works—it’s the premise, one that we are told to buy into from the very beginning. Characters who make dumb puns as punchlines usually aren’t compelling. A pun as a concept that supports other humorous elements? That can work.

You Know How This Is Going To End: Was there ever any chance he wouldn’t get the girl? Of course not. But we all wanted him to, so it was okay that the plot wasn’t super complex with a dramatic twist ending.

General Corniness: Yes, there are so many things about this short film that are completely corny. But you can tell from the set-up that the writer knew it was corny…and did it anyway. The song-and-dance number, the melodramatic lovestruck-ness of the protagonist (with accompanying facial expressions), the clips of celebrities, and the ridiculously stoic love interest are all telling the audience “We are not taking this seriously. And neither should you. Just enjoy it.”

We like change, character growth, fulfilled dreams, and happily-ever-after-endings. “Validation” does all of those things, and it does them well. So despite not wanting to like this short film at first…I loved it.

And I smiled at the end. So sue me.

How to Write Humor

Ask any writer about how to write humor, and the first thing they’ll tell you is that there is no process. There are no rules, no steps you can follow.

Oh yeah? Well, one of the nonexistent rules for writing humor is to do the unexpected. So here are some steps you can follow. I expect a large group of writing experts to send me hate mail now. The rest of you can enjoy.

1. Eavesdrop.

Find funny people. Write down what they say, then figure out why it’s funny. You can do this with friends, of course. But the danger there is that some people are just funny because you know them and share a lot of inside jokes. If a stranger says something you find hilarious, it must be pretty universally funny, because you have no context for it.

One of my favorite eavesdropped conversations took place between two twenty-something guys in the Arts and Crafts section of Walmart. Guy 1: Dude, did you really try to *glue* the button back on? Guy 2 (very defensive): Hey, I don’t sew, okay?

There is, of course, a line for acceptability for when research becomes just being creepy. Check out this quiz to make sure you’re not crossing it.

2. Think like a sixth grader.

This one is for creating funny dialogue in scripts or stories. At my school, the sixth graders always did a musical at the end of the year. There was one role that every single kid wanted to get.

No, it wasn’t the lead. It was the funny character. What kid doesn’t want to get to deliver the punchlines and have the entire school laugh at his jokes? It’s pretty much the definition of cool.

Whenever I write a play or a funny story, I try to picture all of my characters as sixth graders who want that chance to make everyone laugh. Every character can be funny (even accidentally) if you work at it long enough. Spread out the jokes so there’s not just one goofball who gets to have all the fun. This can lighten up tense scenes, make your villain more relatable, and keep certain parts of the story from being crammed with all the humor.