The Venetian Twins: The Aside

So I'll be honest, long ago first hearing of the idea of asides I thought they were evidence of poor writing. If you could develop your characters well enough, why would you need them to literally speak their minds? However, after seeing it done a few times I've since changed my mind on them.

Firstly, yes, asides can be used to easily justify one's actions without developing a character, however character development is not always necessary. As Frye said and as we discussed in class, stories and particularly comedies use very simple archetypes. These archetypes combined with an aside lets the viewer more easily understand the characters.

However, there's more to it than that. The aside is a tool used to create a sense of inclusion. As we said last time, the important part of this brand of comedy is being in on the joke; listening to Tonino's thought process when he believes Rosaura to be a prostitute is amusing because we have the extra knowledge of being a viewer; “ha ha, he thinks that but we know this.” Some of the more interesting use of aside can be seen in Pancrazio; if his demeanor wasn't enough, his personality changes drastically during his asides, revealing his true intentions.

Now in a time where most visual entertainment has no way to directly interact with the audience, is the aside still a valid tool? I would most certainly say “no, of course not,” if I hadn't seen a few episodes of House of Cards. The protagonist often speaks directly to the viewer, and I think the effect is better seen than described.