Ouch!
"The ball! His groin! It works on so many levels!"
Man Getting Hit by Football is a classic short film made by and starring Hans Moleman, created for a film festival in his small town of Springfield (the creator never told us which one). The premise is simple, it's about a man getting hit by a football. The film was not well-received when it was released.note However, it went on to be Vindicated by History, getting itself a successful remake which earned George C. Scott an Oscar.
The original can be viewed here.
The George C. Scott remake can be viewed here.
Tropes:
- Acting for Two: Possible in the original version, depending on if the narrator is the titular man or not.
- Alternate Character Interpretation: Is the man the unfortunate victim of football throwing? Or someone who was fully deserving of the football to the groin? The film seems to lean towards the former.
- For that matter, the person who threw the football, did they intend to hit the man? Or was it an accident and they were too far away to warn the poor man, or too close to do so in time?
- Ambiguous Ending: Did the thrower run away? Come to the man's aid? Laugh at him? The film ends before we get an answer, leading to multiple interpretations.
- American Football: The specific kind of football that the man gets hit by.
- Amusing Injuries: While a majority of the film festival audience didn't find it amusing, the football hitting the man is accompanied by a cartoonish sound effect that lessens the tragedy of the situation.
- Author Appeal: Averted. It's doubtful Hans Moleman found any appeal in this.
- Award Snub: Sadly, it lost out the short film Pukahontas.
- Beam Me Up, Scotty!: The title itself is sometimes mistakenly remembered as "Football in the Groin", which only further spoils the ending.
- Butt-Monkey: The man.
- Cult Classic: Despite its lack of popularity with the critics, it earned a riotous review and following from one judge.
- Dark Horse Victory: The remake, rumors persist Charles Montgomery Burns had bribed the judge's panel to get his own entry to win. Ironically, he had also submitted an entry to the same festival that premiered the original. While he came in second place during the festival, his film wasn't as lucky at the Oscars. Ironically, the director of Football cheered Burns' film with a hearty "Boo-urns!"
- Directed by Cast Member: Hans Moleman is both the creator and sole on-screen cast member of the original version.
- Downer Ending: The man gets hit by a football and is left while cringing in pain.
- Exactly What It Says on the Tin: It's about a man. Who gets hit by a football.
- First Installment Wins: A lot of people prefer the original.
- Found Footage: Rumored to be one, instead of a regular narrative film.
- Funny Moments: When the man got hit by the football.
Homer: This contest is over! Give that man the $10,000!Jay: This isn't America's Funniest Home Videos.Homer: But... the ball! His groin! Ha ha! It works on so many levels! (Beat) Roll it again.
- The Ghost: The thrower of the football doesn't appear on-screen in either version.
- Groin Attack: It happens to the eponymous man.
- He Who Must Not Be Seen: The person who threw the football.
- Hilarious in Hindsight: A Burns For All Seasons lost twice to this film.
- In the Style of: The credits and framing of the film seems to Homage Silent Film, though it's in color and has sound.
- It Was His Sled: Man Getting Hit By Football has the ending right there in the title, but the man getting hit in the groin specifically used to be a surprise. Now the film and this twist are so well-known.
- Karma Houdini: The football-thrower is not known to have gotten any comeuppance for his action.
- Large Ham: Averted by The Stoic Hans Moleman. Played straight by the typically hammy George C. Scott.
- Minimalism: The entire film consists of a simple shot of actor Hans Moleman's house.
- Narrator All Along: The narrator, Hans Moleman ("Man getting hit by footbaaaAAAAaaaaall"), turns out in a shocking Plot Twist to be the man hit by the football.
- No Name Given: While the original film, created and acted by Hans Moleman, is presented with his name during the title sequence, the titular "man" isn't directly given a name (unless his name is itself "Man"), leaving it as an exercise to the viewer whether As Himself is in play or not. The football thrower isn't named either.
- One-Hit KO: Well, the man does get incapacitated by a single football hitting him in the groin.
- The Oner: The brilliant camera work allows the film to be a single shot for the entire running time.
- Ow, My Body Part!: In the remake, George C. Scott says "Aaagh! My groin!" when he's hit.
- The Remake: Featuring George C. Scott and the bonus line "Aaagh! My groin!"
- Sadist Show: Certainly evident by some viewers, such as one unknown judge of the Springfield Film Festival who was reported to fall into hysterical laughter upon seeing it.
- Short Film: Short doesn't begin to describe this film. It may as well be The Ugly Barnacle of films.
- Spoiler Title: We all know what the ending is...
- Vindicated by History: The first film.
- Write What You Know: Hans Moleman was Born Unlucky, to the point that it's entirely possible, though unproven, that the events of the film coincidentally played out as he was about to film himself doing something else.
