“They [execs] just overthink it,” Vaughn told host Sean Evans “And it’s like, it’s crazy, you get these rules, like, if you did geometry, and you said 87 degrees was a right angle, then all your answers are messed up, instead of 90 degrees. So there became some idea or concept, like, they would say something like, ‘You have to have an IP.’”
The Couples Retreat star proceeded to use the board game Battleship (which inspired the 2012 film of the same name) as a meaningless IP example, saying it became a “vehicle for storytelling” just because it had a recognizable name. However, he noted that the “IP” when he got his start in Hollywood was the shared life experiences people have, such as the plot of his 2003 movie Old School, which saw friends (Vaughn, Will Ferrell and Luke Wilson) returning to college when they’re older.
“The people in charge don’t want to get fired more so than they’re looking to do something great, so they want to kind of follow a set of rules that somehow get set in stone, that don’t really translate,” Vaughn continued. “But as long as they follow them, they’re not going to lose their job because they can say, ’Well, look, I made a movie off the board game Payday so even though the movie didn’t work, you can’t let me go, right?’”
But the Bad Monkey actor still has hope for the future and predicted that audiences would see more films similar to his R-rated comedies again.
“People want to laugh, people want to look at stuff that feels a little bit like it’s, you know, dangerous or pushing the envelope,” Vaughn explained. “I think you’re going to see more of it in the film space sooner than later, would be my guess.”
It was clever at its time. I mean, it’s not like any of that was a secret that needed to be exposed, but it’s a comedy that clearly makes fun of a stereotype, and you can’t reference a stereotype without actually showing. That’s kind of the point.
Take any current stereotype. Muslims, immigrants, whatever, how do you make fun of the people creating that stereotype without showing the stereotype? How can you show that hate against immigrants is stupid, without showing hate against immigrants? Yes, that’s a fine line, but that’s the burden of art.
Many movies and TV shows seem to do it without making the people creating the stereotype the protagonist or the hero of the film. I think that’s the difference. Make the Muslims, immigrants, whatever the protagonists and then you can showcase the stereotypes and the racists, sexists, bigots, whatever in a way that doesn’t celebrate them as centered.
Or just create comedy that doesn’t rely on sexism or racism to be funny. I think that’s why Vince Vaughn isn’t getting the movie deals anymore, and I don’t think it’s only because producers are scared for their jobs, it’s also because the market for low brow humor is less than it was in the aughts.