Hello!

Time and time again I have been asked, “Why do you like comedy as a genre?” My answer each time, regardless of situation, moment and environment has probably been a bit too casual and informal as I just go with the flow of things. So with the Okinawa Film Festival around the corner, I’m taking this as a timely and wonderful opportunity to finally compile a list of reasons detailing my affinity to comedy film:

1.Laughing cures disease.

Dr. Norman Cousins was not only notably as a professor, journalist and world peace advocate, but also for his battle with Ankylosing Spondylitis- a form of arthritis that caused him pain due to an abnormality in his backbone tissue. Cousins developed a recovery program incorporating doses of Vitamin C, along with a positive attitude, love, faith, hope, and laughter therapy through film. "I made the joyous discovery that ten minutes of genuine belly laughter had an anesthetic effect and would give me at least two hours of pain-free sleep," he reported. "When the pain-killing effect of the laughter wore off, we would switch on the motion picture projector again…”. Moreover, this process reduced the inflammation. And in the end, Dr. Cousins recovered. His struggle with this illness is detailed in a well-known book and movie Anatomy of an Illness.

2.Laugh makes all of us feel good to be alive.

Those who can create some humor or laughter during adverse situations such as illness and disease are truly brave. That person allows themselves to feel and harness their inner power to overcome a bad situation. Like I said earlier, it’s not only good for the patient’s health, but also for their minds. Laughter provides a good foundation for people to open up their perspective of the world in a more positive way.
Whenever you think of funny stories or jokes, your left brain will function and analyze those meanings in conjunction with the front brain. Then the right brain will start to string the information and synthesize stories together. In combined effort, the processed information and stories spread to the whole brain. It is then when you burst out in laughter.

3.If we laugh often, your breathing system will be better. It helps to clear your lungs for deeper breaths, which is especially vital for those who have respiratory problems.

4.Laughing will stimulate your immune system and it will assist your heroic T-cells to destroy disease in your body.

5.Please forget all #1-4. I was just joking (even though they are the facts).

My real reason is I simply love seeing people being happy - especially when I see them smile and hear their laugh or know that feeling they can relate or feel supported in any way from watching my films. This happiness drives my passion to keep wanting to film to continue to positively affect people. I am addicted to this cycle to make people happy.

And for all of you reading this, if you have read this far, that means you must be an avid fan of comedy film as well. I know because…you’re smiling right now too. :D