In my last post, I talked about Spike from Notting Hill as a jester in modern day comedy who is endowed with a similar type of "bauble" that serves to protect him from angering those whom he's humiliated.
Let us now move on to a movie where the jester possesses a bauble, but it is not a "Shakespearian" bauble. That is, this jester does not offer any wise advice nor is he morally or intellectually superior to our hero.
I am talking about Jason Alexander as the character Mauricio in Shallow Hal.
Some of the following quotes will show you what kind of a character Mauricio is:
Hal: I would never believe a girl as beautiful as her could have such a great personality.
Mauricio: Ugly-duckling syndrome.
Hal: What?
Mauricio: She probably wasn't pretty 'til high school. THe personality developed out of necessity.
Hal: You know what? I bet you're right. She's way too pretty to be so nice.
Mauricio: Sometimes they're ugly so long, when they turn pretty, they don't realize it. The ugly self-image is so well ingrained. That's a real find.Mauricio: I know I'm being a little harsh on you here. I think real friends are obligated to be honest with each other. And this one that you're dating now, jeez.
Hal: Careful.Mauricio: Hey, all I'm saying is she's got cankles, for goodness sake. Hal: What?Mauricio: Cankles! She's got no ankles. It's like the calf merged with the foot, cut out the middleman.Hal: I know what cankles are. Rosemary doesn't have 'em.Hal: Okay, who do you think is the most beautiful woman in the world?
Mauricio: Wonder Woman.
Hal: Okay... let's say everyone else in the world thought Wonder Woman was ugly.
Mauricio: It wouldn't matter. Because I know they'd be wrong.
Hal: See! That's what I had with Rosemary! I saw a knock out, I don't care what anybody else saw!
Mauricio: You're right. I guess I really did screw you, huh?
Just as medieval jesters possessed physical characteristics that made them comically inferior to other people, the deformity that Mauricio possesses is shallowness. Much like Hal's shallowness before he is given the ability to see women's inner beauty.
Two things that differ between Mauricio's and Hal's shallowness:
- Hal's shallowness can be attributed to the very first scene of the movie when his dying father, who is doped up on morphine, gives him the drug-induced advice to find "a classic beauty with a perfect can, and great totties." Thus, we reserve some sympathy for Hal and his shallow disposition because of the traumatizing effect his dying father had on him.
- Mauricio's shallowness never changes. We find out he is shallow because of his low self-esteem due to an elongated spinal cord that resembles a tail. Still, his deformity is not endearing and remains unresolved even when he finds an attractive woman who loves puppies and decides to test his newfound confidence on a woman who might find his tail endearing.
Like Spike, Mauricio foils Hal's success with Rosemary when he removes the inner-beauty vision that Hal was experience. However, upon ruining his romantic ventures, Mauricio is unrepentant, proving to be more immature than ever when he laughingly says, "I guess I really did screw you, huh?" And Mauricio's character does not help Hal win her back with the exception of providing him a vehicle.
