Ten Films that Bill Hicks May Have Liked
“I’m Bill Hicks, and I’m dead now.”
Bill Hicks has been gone for twenty six years today, but his lasting impact on dark comedy (and I mean dark dark) will never be forgotten. Hicks perfected the cynical outlook on a world through jaded eyes, and often said the most jarring proclamations while we were in that uncomfortable trance. He would go on for too long mimicking satanic corporate overlords, repeat the same disturbing lines that made us laugh awkwardly, and refrain from even telling jokes at points to get his real points across. If there was ever a master at dissecting black comedy, it was Bill Hicks. For crying out loud, the guy joked about his own demise before he had any reason to, and during his cancer battle (while hiding his illness from the public for years).
To honour the late comedic great, I’m looking at satires and bleak comedies released after his death. You can say these works were inspired by Hicks, or that Hicks may have been drawn to them if he were still alive. Either way, these are ten films that Hicks missed out on that he may have liked if he were still here. Then again, what do I know? He might have gone off on me for writing such a silly list.
These films aren’t in any particular order.
The Truman Show
Bill Hicks Quote: “It was the tail end of the American Dream. Just before we lost our innocence irrevocably when the TV eye brought the horror of our lives into our homes for all to see.”
Hicks commented on our source of information and entertainment a lot, and that included television. Even though The Truman Show’s premise was meant to be a positive (a twenty four hour series surrounding one man’s entire life since birth), the exploitation of that individual is horrifying. Then, there’s all of the advertisement placements shoved down Truman’s throat (and ours, if you think about it).
The Square
Bill Hicks Quote: “We're a virus with shoes, okay? That's all we are.”
Hicks hated pretentious people and industries, as well as the over-celebration of our achievements. The Square is the complete lambasting of performance art while being — in and of itself — a piece of performance art. Huh. Of course, it’s easy to see that Hicks isn’t completely serious all of the time, but maybe he would love the hypocritical take of this Palme d’Or winner, particularly the moments where the film becomes its own piece that you have to critique yourself (no matter how shoddy it may be).
Wag the Dog
Bill Hicks Quote: “Go back to bed, America. Your government has figured out how it all transpired. Go back to bed, America. Your government is in control again. Here. Here's American Gladiators.”
Fake news is not news to us, but the very term was likely foreign to Hicks. However, the idea of a government — or media — lying to us is as old as history. In a film like Wag the Dog, where America is lied to about a fake war in order to cover up a sex scandal, the lack of foundation in what we are told as people is put on full blast. Sadly, Wag the Dog is twenty three years old, and I’d argue this kind of scenario has only gotten worse.
Happiness
Bill Hicks Quote: “They're putting the cart before the horse on this pornography issue.”
I can imagine Happiness is still a difficult film to talk about nowadays, especially with how upfront it is with its incredibly disturbing takes on perversion. While not everyone’s cup of tea, I can imagine Hicks himself would find value here. Amidst the nauseating content — and the uncomfortable humour to boot — is a statement on the extents of fetishization to the point of mental illness and unspeakable thoughts and actions. Maybe Hicks would have gotten a kick out of a film like this existing at all, and how Todd Solondz could divide the film community so easily.
Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
Bill Hicks Quote: “I believe that there is an equality to all humanity: We all suck.”
Hicks felt as though the oh-woe-is-me attitudes of celebrities was hogwash, but he also felt as though humanity as a whole was nothing to celebrate. The pity party of Riggan Thomson in Birdman may have been right up his alley, particularly because you can find a bone to pick with all of the characters, and not just the lead. It bashes art industries and its artists and critics as much as it champions all three. It’s a cinematic paradox.
God Bless America
Bill Hicks Quote: “The eyes of fear want you to put bigger locks on your doors, buy guns, close yourself off. The eyes of love instead see all of us as one.”
Oof. Where do I even start with this Bobcat Goldthwait controversial flick? I feel like God Bless America being released a few years after 2011 would have resulted in an even bigger backlash. So, the main premise would have tickled Hicks’ fancy: a man on his deathbed going out and slaughtering poor idols and hateful Americans. However, it’s the extra layer of commentary about self fragility and American fear that may have made God Bless America even more intriguing for the late comedian.
American Beauty
Bill Hicks Quote: “I'll smoke, I'll cough, I'll get the tumors, I'll die, deal? Thank you America.”
The drive-of-self in American Beauty is all Hicks would ever joke about. Are we geared by our own arrogance, or the instilled fears of the system in our brains? You find characters that are jailed in the white picket fence cells of the American dream, amongst those free spirits that simply stopped caring about those around them in favour of their own freedom. No one is technically right in American Beauty, but only you are right to yourself, according to Hicks (maybe).
Dogtooth
Bill Hicks Quote: “The Greeks used to put a lot of bodily functions in their plays, and a lot of graphic sexual material, because they believed, that in performing that way it released the demons of shame from the audience, which is what I believe.”
Yorgos Lanthimos has no problem with making his audiences feel like absolute trash, and Hicks was no different. This savagely dark satire on politics — in the form of parents that have held their own children hostage from the world, and have depraved them of life — feels like the kind of film Hicks himself would have made, had he grown up in Europe. When Dogtooth gets going, you realize quickly there is no holding back.
Fargo
Bill Hicks Quote: “[I]f only we had crime like this, you know? It's hilarious. You don't know if you're reading the front page or the comic section…”
Even though Fargo had the naivety that Hicks would mock in his acts often, I think he would be more drawn towards the insanity of a plot-gone-astray. Fargo is just so darkly funny, you forget that you’re laughing at absurd murders, and terrible people. Of course, there are shining beacons of light (mainly Marge Gunderson), but I don’t know how much Hicks would care for that. Nah. He’s here for Jerry Lundegaard and company: the jerks of the film. He finds humour in the most obscure of crimes, and Fargo is a make-belief true story meant to cause a stir.
Trainspotting
Bill Hicks Quote: “Why do we put people who are on drugs in jail? They're sick, they're not criminals. Sick people don't get healed in prison.”
Drugs have been tackled in film before, but Trainspotting put an interesting spin on a tired narrative. These people aren’t bad because they are drug addicts. They are morally corrupted in different ways, and they just happen to share the same addiction vices. Plus, Hicks shared his own substance experiences frequently. He understood the seriousness of obsession (drug related, or consumerism based), but he also enjoyed having a good time. Trainspotting has a bit of both worlds for him.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.