Finitude of the Subject
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#01
Only a Joke Can Save Us: A Theory of Comedy · Todd McGowan · p.89
Tragedy and Pathos > The Status of the Body
Theoretical move: The passage argues that the difference between comedy and pathos lies in the visibility of the subject: the pathetic body is one reduced to mere finitude (matter without subject), while the comic body is one in which the subject's excess appears through and against the body's material constraints — making laughter more ontologically respectful than pity.
The reminder of the subject's finitude, is fundamentally pathetic... The care that Simon Birch and I Am Sam demand is a care for beings who cannot transcend their finite condition.