How the hell did the character get so viral? I’ve tried watching the skits several times to see if maybe I’m missing something, but for the life of me, I can’t seem to see it. Is everyone just biased because it’s Tom Hanks? Or is it actually hilarious, and I’m just struggling to understand the humor? Fall/Spooky season is my absolute favorite time of year, but am I just a buzz kill?
Sometimes humor is hard to explain. This sketch probably struck some chord with a fad for “random” things at the time, and maybe hasn’t aged very well.
While the internet was of course influential in 2016, my recollection is that people weren’t nearly as jaded and cynical as they are now in the post-truth, post-pandemic world.
We’re constantly bombarded with memes, jokes, and other distractions…so perhaps people are not so easily amused now as they were almost a decade ago.
However, I do remember some folks being confused, annoyed, and unimpressed with it back then, too. But enough people were tickled by it to want to share it with everyone. And I do think Hanks brings a certain bizarre charm to it that not many comedians can pull off.
2016 is well after 9/11/2001… People where already very I jaded on the Internet.
I suspect you where just too young to be jaded yourself yet.