The use of humor in Life Is Beautiful is appropriate. Humor should be seen as a healing agent and a tool against helplessness, not as a mockery of serious subjects. In the second act of Life Is Beautiful, the main character, a Jewish man named Guido, is taken to a Nazi concentration camp along with his wife, Dora, and son, Giosue. Realizing the danger they are in, Guido tries to protect his son using the only resources available to him, his wits. “The film is dominated by Guido’s effort to persuade his son Giosue that the execution-camp experience is an elaborate game” (Source C). Guido creates a ruse, saying that the Nazi’s are really just actors, and if they find you, you lose points. He uses his humorous mannerisms to protect his son mentally from the traumatic events around him and physically from the harm the soldiers around him would inflict on him if he was found. “He [Benigni] is showing how Guido uses the only gift at his command to protect his son. He is a clown and comedy is his weapon …show more content…
“It offended some left-wing critics with its use of humor in connection with the Holocaust” (Source A). However, the people who oppose this film choose to focus more on the politics surrounding the Holocaust rather than the central core of the movie, “Then comes the second act….you laugh and feel like an anti-semitic bigot” (Source B). These viewers seem to forget the whole first act of the movie, where Guido is introduced to the audience as a charismatic, funny guy, who uses his comedic abilities to charm his wife, Dora, and keep her happy throughout their marriage. The people who centralize on the representation of the Holocaust are missing the true message of the movie, which is that comedy is not just a source of entertainment, but also a basic human tool that can be used in many