Tragicomedy is a literary genre that blends aspects of both tragic and comic forms. Most often seen in dramatic literature , the term can describe either a tragic play which contains enough comic elements to lighten the overall mood or a serious play with a happy ending. Tragicomedy, as its name implies, invokes the intended response of both the tragedy and the comedy in the audience, the former being a genre based on human suffering that invokes an accompanying catharsis and the latter being a genre intended to be humorous or amusing by inducing laughter.
50-418: The Descendants is a 2011 American tragicomedy film directed by Alexander Payne . The screenplay by Payne, Nat Faxon , and Jim Rash is based on the 2007 novel by Kaui Hart Hemmings . The film stars George Clooney in the main role, Shailene Woodley , Amara Miller in her film debut, Beau Bridges , Judy Greer , Matthew Lillard , and Robert Forster , and was released by Fox Searchlight Pictures in
100-536: A limited release in 29 theaters, and grossed $ 1,190,096, averaging $ 41,038 per theater and ranking 10th at the box office. The film then had its wide release on December 9 in 876 theaters, and grossed $ 4,380,138, averaging $ 5,000 per theater and ranking seventh at the box office. The film was in cinemas for 156 days and its widest release in the United States was 2,038 theaters. The film ended up earning $ 82,584,160 domestically and $ 94,659,025 internationally for
150-503: A dual ending. In this respect, a number of Greek and Roman plays , for instance Alcestis , may be called tragicomedies, though without any definite attributes outside of plot. The word itself originates with the Roman comic playwright Plautus , who coined the term ( tragicomoedia in Latin) somewhat facetiously in the prologue to his play Amphitryon . The character Mercury, sensing
200-505: A fling and still loves his wife and children. Brian then apologizes to Matt for the pain he caused and asks him not to tell his wife. Frustrated and fragile from recent events, Matt asks the doctor to explain Elizabeth's inevitable death to Scottie. Elizabeth's father, Scott, admonishes Matt for failing to be a more generous and loving husband. Withholding his wife's affair, Matt agrees with him, but Sid and Alex unexpectedly defend Matt. At
250-415: A happy ending" eventually developed into melodrama , in which form it still flourishes. Landgartha (1640) by Henry Burnell , the first play by an Irish playwright to be performed in an Irish theatre, was explicitly described by its author as a tragicomedy. Critical reaction to the play was universally hostile, partly it seems because the ending was neither happy nor unhappy. Burnell in his introduction to
300-513: A limited release on December 16, 2011, but was moved to November 23, 2011, and then November 18, 2011. The soundtrack uses Hawaiian music , featuring artists including Gabby Pahinui , Ray Kane , Keola Beamer , Lena Machado, Sonny Chillingworth , Jeff Peterson , Makana , Dennis Kamakahi , and Danny Carvalho. It was released by Sony Classical Records on November 15. The Descendants opened in North America on November 16, 2011, in
350-749: A place steeped in human tragedy and suffering. Films including Life is Beautiful , Mary and Max , Parasite , Jojo Rabbit , The Banshees of Inisherin , Beau is Afraid , Robot Dreams , and Memoir of a Snail have been described as tragicomedies. Television series including Succession , Killing Eve , Breaking Bad , Better Call Saul , Fleabag , I May Destroy You , BoJack Horseman , South Park , Steven Universe Future , Moral Orel , Barry , Made for Love and The White Lotus have also been described as tragicomedies. Waikiki Waikiki ( / ˌ w aɪ k ɪ ˈ k iː / ; Hawaiian : Waikīkī ; Hawaiian: [vɐjˈtiːtiː, wɐjˈkiːkiː] )
400-459: A scientist, but I'll get a jackhammer in there and remove all the concrete that's there creating this backwash and sucking out more sand, plus it's just downright dangerous." The beach hosts many events, including surf competitions , outdoor performances , hula dancing , and outrigger canoe races. The many amenities, shops, and hotels enable Waikiki to generate approximately 42 percent of Hawaiʻi's visitor revenue. The neighborhood extends from
450-706: A sculpture incorporating ancient basaltic stones , was installed nearby and is considered a local monument . A bronze sculpture in Kapiʻolani Park of Mahatma Gandhi by Stephen Lowe entitled "A Fistful of Salt" was a gift in 1990 from the Gandhi Memorial International Foundation and the Jhamandas Watumull Fund. At Kūhiō Beach and Queens Beach, three public artworks were installed in the early 2000s. The bronze statue of Prince Jonah Kuhio by Sean Browne and
500-447: A secondary way on how close the action comes to a death. But, as Eugene Waith showed, the tragicomedy Fletcher developed in the next decade also had unifying stylistic features: sudden and unexpected revelations, outré plots, distant locales, and a persistent focus on elaborate, artificial rhetoric. Some of Fletcher's contemporaries, notably Philip Massinger and James Shirley , wrote popular tragicomedies. Richard Brome also essayed
550-489: A total of $ 177,243,185. On Rotten Tomatoes , the film has an approval rating of 87% based on 268 reviews, with an average rating of 8.10/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Funny, moving, and beautifully acted, The Descendants captures the unpredictable messiness of life with eloquence and uncommon grace." On Metacritic , the film has a weighted average score of 84 out of 100, based on 43 critics, indicating "universal acclaim". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave
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#1732790656210600-438: A tragic story was told with a happy or comic ending ( tragedia a lieto fine), which he thought were better suited for staged performances as opposed to tragedies with unhappy endings which he thought were better when read. Even more important was Giovanni Battista Guarini . Guarini's Il Pastor Fido , published in 1590, provoked a fierce critical debate in which Guarini's spirited defense of generic innovation eventually carried
650-680: A tragicomic impulse in modern theatre with Luigi Pirandello who influenced many playwrights including Samuel Beckett and Tom Stoppard. Also it can be seen in absurdist drama. Friedrich Dürrenmatt , the Swiss dramatist, suggested that tragicomedy was the inevitable genre for the twentieth century; he describes his play The Visit (1956) as a tragicomedy. Tragicomedy is a common genre in post- World War II British theatre, with authors as varied as Samuel Beckett , Tom Stoppard , John Arden , Alan Ayckbourn and Harold Pinter writing in this genre. Vladimir Nabokov 's postmodern 1962 novel Pale Fire
700-676: A well-known surfer in Waikiki. Throughout his life and after competing in the Olympics, many people around the world wanted to learn to surf. Duke's influence made Waikiki beach a surfing hotspot. "Dukes", a club in Waikiki named for Kahanamoku, helped Don Ho produce music and hosted the longest-running show in Waikiki. The first high-rise hotels on Waikiki were built in 1955, including the Waikiki Biltmore and Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel . Development boomed due to demand, and
750-554: Is Kalākaua Avenue , named after King Kalākaua , which houses most of the high-end hotels ( Royal Hawaiian , Sheraton , Hyatt , Marriott , Moana Surfrider Hotel ), most of the luxury designer brand stores ( Apple Store , Chanel , Louis Vuitton , Prada , Burberry , Dior , Tiffany & Co. , Fendi , Harry Winston , Saint Laurent , Gucci , and Hermès ), department store ( Macy's ), and popular surf clothing brand stores ( Quiksilver , Billabong , Volcom ). Waikiki's other main thoroughfare, Kūhiō Avenue, named after Prince Kūhiō ,
800-498: Is a Honolulu neighborhood and the eponymous Waikiki beach on its south shore, on the island of Oʻahu in the U.S. state of Hawaii . Waikiki Beach is one of six beaches in the district, along with Queen's Beach , Kuhio Beach , Gray's Beach, Fort DeRussy Beach, and Kahanamoku Beach. The sandy beach is almost entirely man-made. Waikiki (Hawaii) is home to public places including Kapiʻolani Park , Fort DeRussy , Kahanamoku Lagoon , Kūhiō Beach Park , and Ala Wai Harbor . Waikiki
850-411: Is a tragicomedy preoccupied with Elizabethan drama. American writers of the metamodernist and postmodernist movements have made use of tragicomedy and/or gallows humor . A notable example of a metamodernist tragicomedy is David Foster Wallace 's 1996 magnum opus , Infinite Jest . Wallace writes of comedic elements of living in a halfway house (i.e. "some people really do look like rodents"),
900-489: Is also a family legacy. While Matt has ably managed his own finances (as his father did), most of his cousins have squandered their inheritances. With the trust expiring in seven years due to the rule against perpetuities , the King clan is pressuring Matt to sell the land for hundreds of millions of dollars. Amidst these discussions, a boating accident has rendered Matt's wife, Elizabeth, comatose. With Elizabeth hospitalized, Matt
950-615: Is better known for its restaurants, cafes and grocers, along with its clubs, nightlife and prostitution . In 1990, the 9-foot (3 m) bronze statue of Duke Kahanamoku by Gordon Fisher was installed at Waikiki Beach, accompanied by a bronze replica of his surfboard, honorary spears, and commemorative bronze plaques. It serves as a culture and tourist locale with thousands of annual visitors and numerous cultural events. Seven years later, Billy Fields created The Stones of Life (in Hawaiian: Nā Pōhaku Ola O Kapaemahu A Me Kapuni ),
1000-514: Is brother-in-law to Don Hollitzer, the developer to whom the majority of the family wants to sell the land, and that Brian stands to make a small fortune from sales commissions for the properties that will be developed on the land. Matt and his daughters find Brian on vacation with his family at an oceanside cabin. Matt privately confronts Brian and informs him Elizabeth is dying, and offers him an opportunity to say goodbye. Matt asks Brian if Elizabeth loved him, and he says she did, but he only saw her as
1050-504: Is forced to cope with his two troubled daughters, 10-year-old Scottie, who seeks attention by bullying other children, and 17-year-old Alex, who has a history of substance abuse and is away at a private boarding school on the Big Island . Doctors determine that Elizabeth's coma is irreversible and her living will directs all life support to be discontinued. When Matt tells Alex, she reveals she learned during her last visit that Elizabeth
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#17327906562101100-558: Is still called "Sans Souci Beach". In the early 1900s, Waikiki was home to many wetlands , which were claimed to harbor disease-carrying mosquitoes. To get rid of the mosquitoes, developers created the Ala Wai canal . The canal, originally known as the Waikiki Drainage Canal, was created by a Hawaiian dredging company run by Walter F. Dillingham. The project took about seven years, 1921–1928. Duke Kahanamoku became
1150-604: The Ala Wai Canal (a channel dug to drain wetlands) on the west and north, to Diamond Head ( Lēʻahi, tuna brow) on the east. Waikiki Beach is noted for its views of the Diamond Head tuff cone , its usually warm and cloud-free climate, and its surf break . The Waikiki skyline is filled with high-rises and resort hotels. Before 1950, the beach in the Waikiki neighborhood was continuous and known as Waikiki Beach. Seawalls and other developments have since separated
1200-522: The Corps of Engineers Pacific Ocean Division, created a Draft Environmental Statement for the Kuhio Beach Sector of Waikiki, which aimed to improve the overall quality and size of the fading, narrowing shoreline. From October 29 through November 4, 2000, the first FINA World Open Water Swimming Championships were held in the waters off Waikiki Beach. A partial restoration was completed in
1250-477: The 1880s. In 1893, Greek-American George Lycurgus leased the guest house of Allen Herbert and renamed it the "Sans Souci" (French for "without worries" or “carefree”) creating one of the first beach resorts. Later that year Robert Louis Stevenson stayed at the resort; subsequently it became a popular destination for mainland tourists. The area at coordinates 21°15′49″N 157°49′17″W / 21.26361°N 157.82139°W / 21.26361; -157.82139
1300-649: The King family meeting, Matt overrules the majority vote of his cousins, deciding instead to keep the land and look for a way around the rule against perpetuities. Shocked, Hugh tells Matt that the family will take legal action, but Matt is undeterred. After learning about Brian's affair with Elizabeth, his wife, Julie, comes to the hospital. She tearfully tells a comatose Elizabeth that she wants to hate her for "trying to destroy" her family, but that she forgives her. Matt comes to terms with his wife's infidelity and impending death. He kisses her goodbye, followed by Alex and Scottie. After she dies, they scatter Elizabeth's ashes in
1350-548: The United States on November 18, 2011, after premiering at the 2011 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2011. Tracing the journey of attorney and land baron Matt King, who struggles with unexpected occurrences in his monotonous life, The Descendants was a critical and financial success, grossing $ 177 million against a $ 20 million budget and receiving acclaim for the performances of Clooney and Woodley, Payne's direction and writing, and Kevin Tent 's editing. The film
1400-423: The Waikiki shoreline. Following World War II, Waikiki beach restoration efforts have occurred every few years. Sand was imported to this artificial beach from the 1920s to the 1970s, once by boat and barge from Southern California. 1,730 feet (530 m) of shoreline was replenished at a cost of $ 2.4 million following chronic erosion of more than a foot a year. Importing stopped in the 1970s. In March 1971,
1450-707: The area became filled with large resort hotels, such as the Hilton Hawaiian Village , Halekulani , the Hyatt Regency Waikiki, Marriott Waikiki, Sheraton Waikiki . These complemented historic hotels dating back to the early 20th century such as the Moana Surfrider Hotel and the Royal Hawaiian Hotel . Waikiki developed erosion problems starting in the late 1800s, as hotels and homes were built too close to
1500-423: The book; the filmmakers solved the issue by transplanting a banyan. For the scene where the King family drives up to a ridge to look over their land, the film used a 3,000-acre (1,200 ha) private cattle ranch on the south shore of Kauai, Kipu Ranch. Kaui Hart Hemmings , the author of the novel on which the movie was based, had a cameo as Matt King's secretary. The private boarding school attended by Alex King
1550-475: The children's story sculpture Makua and Kila by Holly Young were installed in 2001. Robert Pashby's Surfer on a Wave was installed at Queens Beach in 2003. Waikiki beach has had repeated problems with erosion, leading to the construction of groins and beach replenishment projects. Imported sand came from California, local beaches such as Pāpōhaku Beach on Moloka‘i, and a sandbar from Oʻahu's Northern side near Kahuku . Officials look for ways to sustain
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1600-406: The coast into eight distinct beaches. Since 1951, nearly 2,800,000 cubic feet (80,000 m ) of sand have been added to restore the beach in the region, but it is believed that little of the added sand remains. As of 2020 the family of beaches in the region are still referred to as "Waikiki Beach", but most venues and addresses will use the name of a specific subsidiary beach. From Waikiki Beach
1650-413: The day. Guarini's tragicomedy offered modulated action that never drifted too far either to comedy or tragedy, mannered characters, and a pastoral setting. All three became staples of continental tragicomedy for a century and more. In England, where practice ran ahead of theory, the situation was quite different. In the sixteenth century, "tragicomedy" meant the native sort of romantic play that violated
1700-722: The existing sand by eliminating loss due to tidal flow. Erosion claims about one foot (0.3 m) of beach per year. Local sources are sought for sand to replenish the beach. Waikiki Beach had repeated contamination problems due to sewage spills in 2017. Many homeless people settle around the beach because of the public shower and sanitary facilities available there. The Honolulu Police Department has increased patrolling in and around Waikiki Beach with assistance from other city agencies and local businesses to prevent homeless people from making camp in this area. Hawaii state Department of Education operates conventional public schools throughout Hawaii. Thomas Jefferson Elementary School
1750-625: The film an average grade of "A−" on an A+ to F scale. The Descendants has appeared on these critics' top-10 lists for the best films of 2011: Tragicomedy There is no concise formal definition of tragicomedy from the classical age. It appears that the Greek philosopher Aristotle had something like the Renaissance meaning of the term (that is, a serious action with a happy ending) in mind when, in Poetics , he discusses tragedy with
1800-470: The form, but with less success. And many of their contemporary writers, ranging from John Ford to Lodowick Carlell to Sir Aston Cockayne , made attempts in the genre. Tragicomedy remained fairly popular up to the closing of the theaters in 1642, and Fletcher's works were popular in the Restoration as well. The old styles were cast aside as tastes changed in the eighteenth century; the "tragedy with
1850-471: The indecorum of the inclusion of both kings and gods alongside servants in a comedy, declares that the play had better be a "tragicomoedia": I will make it a mixture: let it be a tragicomedy. I don't think it would be appropriate to make it consistently a comedy, when there are kings and gods in it. What do you think? Since a slave also has a part in the play, I'll make it a tragicomedy...— Plautus , Amphitryon Two figures helped to elevate tragicomedy to
1900-499: The law of writ and the liberty, these are the only men." Some aspects of this romantic impulse remain even in the work of more sophisticated playwrights: Shakespeare 's last plays, which may well be called tragicomedies, have often been called romances . By the early Stuart period, some English playwrights had absorbed the lessons of the Guarini controversy. John Fletcher 's The Faithful Shepherdess , an adaptation of Guarini's play,
1950-570: The natural shoreline, while seawalls and other structures blocked the natural ebb and flow of sand along the beach. In the 1920s and 1930s sand was imported from Manhattan Beach, California , via ship and barge. Before 1950, Waikiki beaches were continuous. Then seawalls and groins began to appear. These helped build sand at one beach, but typically appropriated sand from others. They became separated into sections, some with sandy beach and others without. By 1950, more than 80 structures, including seawalls, groins , piers, and storm drains, occupied
2000-564: The ocean off Waikiki . Later, Matt, Scottie and Alex eat ice cream together as they watch March of the Penguins , covering themselves in a blanket that Elizabeth had at the hospital. The film began its on-location shoot in Hawaii on March 15, 2010. Most of the film was shot in Honolulu and around Hanalei Bay . The location used as Matt King's house lacked the banyan tree described in
2050-516: The printed edition of the play attacked his critics for their ignorance, pointing out that as they should know perfectly well, many plays are neither tragedy nor comedy, but "something between". Criticism that developed after the Renaissance stressed the thematic and formal aspects of tragicomedy, rather than plot. Gotthold Ephraim Lessing defined it as a mixture of emotions in which "seriousness stimulates laughter, and pain pleasure." Tragicomedy's affinity with satire and "dark" comedy have suggested
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2100-540: The spring of 2012. The project imported sand from nearby shoals and widened the 1,700-foot-long (520 m) beach by about 37 feet (11 m) between the Royal Hawaiian Hotel concrete groin and the Kūhiō Beach crib wall. The project temporarily restored the beach to its 1985 shoreline. Two aging sandbag groin structures were also removed that year. In 2017, beach erosion worsened with high-energy king tides and elevated sea levels. Honolulu's mayor stated: "I'm not
2150-400: The status of a regular genre, by which is meant one with its own set of rigid rules. First was Giovanni Battista Giraldi Cinthio , a dramatist working in the mid-sixteenth century who developed a treatise on drama modeled on Roman comedies and tragedies as opposed to early Greek-based treatises that became the model for Italian dramatists at the time. He argued for a version of tragicomedy where
2200-644: The sunset in the sea is visible from mid-September to late March. Half of the beach is marked off for surfers. For some distance into the ocean the water is quite shallow, with numerous rocks on the bottom. The waves can have some force, particularly on windy days. The surf is known for its long rolling break, making it ideal for long boarding, tandem surfing , and beginners. Largely as a result of shoreline development, Waikiki has eight beaches. They are Ft. DeRussy Beach, Duke Kahanamoku Beach, Halekulani Beach, Royal Hawaiian Beach, Kūhiō Beach, Kapiʻolani Beach, Queens Beach, and Kaimana Beach. Waikiki's main thoroughfare
2250-577: The unities of time, place, and action, that glibly mixed high- and low-born characters, and that presented fantastic actions. These were the features Philip Sidney deplored in his complaint against the "mungrell Tragy-comedie" of the 1580s, and of which Shakespeare's Polonius offers famous testimony: "The best actors in the world, either for tragedy, comedy, history, pastoral, pastoral-comical, historical-pastoral, tragical-historical, tragical-comical-historical-pastoral, scene individuable, or poem unlimited: Seneca cannot be too heavy, nor Plautus too light. For
2300-596: Was depicted as Mid-Pacific Institute , which is in Honolulu , Oʻahu . Kaui Hart Hemmings stated that Hawaii Preparatory Academy , which is located in Kamuela , Hawaiʻi (the Big Island), was the inspiration for the private boarding school. Postproduction began on June 14, and continued into February 2011. The film was screened at the Telluride, Toronto and New York film festivals and was originally scheduled to have
2350-511: Was having an affair, causing a major rift between mother and daughter. Two close family friends, Kai and Mark Mitchell, tell Matt that Elizabeth was unhappy and loved Brian Speer, a real estate agent, and wanted a divorce. After Matt informs friends about Elizabeth's condition so they can say goodbye, he decides Brian should also have an opportunity to do the same. He and the girls, along with Alex's slacker friend Sid, travel to Kauai to find Brian. While there, Matt's cousin, Hugh, mentions that Brian
2400-485: Was nominated for five Oscars at the 84th Academy Awards , including Best Picture , Best Director for Payne, and Best Actor for Clooney, winning one for Best Adapted Screenplay . The film also won two Golden Globe Awards ; Best Picture – Drama and Best Actor – Drama for Clooney. Matthew "Matt" King is a Honolulu -based attorney and the sole trustee of a family trust of 25,000 acres (100 km) of pristine land on Kauai . The land has great monetary value, but
2450-431: Was produced in 1608. In the printed edition, Fletcher offered a definition of the term, stating that: "A tragi-comedie is not so called in respect of mirth and killing, but in respect it wants deaths, which is enough to make it no tragedy, yet brings some neere it, which is inough to make it no comedie." Fletcher's definition focuses primarily on events: a play's genre is determined by whether or not people die in it, and in
2500-583: Was the first capital of the Kingdom of Hawaii from 1795 to 1796. The Hawaiian language name Waikīkī means spouting fresh water , for springs and streams that fed wetlands that once separated Waikiki from the interior. After the founding of the Kingdom of Hawaii, Waikiki was its first capital, 1795–1796. In the 1800s, the area was a retreat for Hawaiian royalty, who enjoyed surfing there on early forms of longboards . A few small hotels opened in
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