How The Right Music Makes Things Weirdly Funny

Today, I wanted to feature a very creative video from Youtube that’s always made me laugh, but has also puzzled me.

This is a scene from the 2005 film War of the Worlds (loosely adapted from the book by H.G. Wells), but instead of the original musical track for this scene, someone has put the theme music for The Benny Hill Show, a comedy variety show, in its place.

For some reason, this combination of scary/serious events plus this upbeat, whimsical music makes for hilarity–I find myself giggling even though I know I shouldn’t.

I’ve shown this to people who know what kind of show the music’s from, as well as people who’ve never even heard of Benny Hill, and both groups responded with laughter the same way I did. What is it about this music that makes this grim scene so funny?

I think it has something to do with how the music and visuals combine in a movie to affect our perception of the events. The original scene is terrifying and dramatic, not just because of the visuals, but because of the ominous, grand music in the background; putting the more comical music with it helps us take the visuals less seriously.

What do you think? What are some other reasons this video might make us laugh?

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