Quentin Tarantino is an undeniably influential name in cinema; as a result, his opinions on movies always garner attention. In an interview for Filmmaker Magazine which transcribes a conversation had by Tarantino and fellow director, Alexandre Rockwell, between the stories about their upbringings in the world of indie filmmaking, Tarantino had an interesting movie take. At the outset, it’s not a particularly bizarre theory. People have regularly discussed how characters in different films could be the same person, like the one that ties together Frankenweenie,The Corpse Bride, and The Nightmare Before Christmas. Still, Tarantino’s theory connects two rather surprising media properties.

“I’ve always had the theory that Jason from the Friday the 13th movies is Curly [from The Three Stooges] because they both wear a jumpsuit most of the time. They have the same old stocky build. They’re both bald-headed. And, they’re both completely indestructible.”

It’s an intriguing idea, to say the least. For the uninformed, the characters he is referring to are Curly Howard, the comedic alter-ego of Jerome Lester Horwitz and a member of the legendary comedic troupe The Three Stooges, and Jason Voorhees, the machete-wielding serial killer and mama’s boy from Friday the 13th Part II onward. It’s fun, it’s incorrect, but it’s more than likely something that was said in jest.

Why Quentin Tarantino’s Theory Is Clearly a Joke
Image via Warner Bros.

The first thing to point out would be the facts that the quote itself got wrong. Firstly, Jason’s default outfit is not a jumpsuit, he might have been thinking of Michael Myers there. In a certain light, it appears that way, but it’s a shirt and pants with a jacket. Jason can certainly be described as stocky, but he’s tall and imposing, and canonically at least a whole foot above Curly Howard (Horwitz stood at 5 ft 5 in, and Jason’s height ranges from 6 ft 5 in to 7 ft). Utterances of “Um, actually” aside, it might be a fun take, but it just doesn’t make a lot of objective sense.

Curly is bumbling and erratic, with a nervous disposition and a high-pitched voice. While Freddy Kruger or Leatherface might be more up for laughs, Jason is one of the most efficient killers in the slasher genre who combines his superhuman strength with a genuine knack for hunting prey. Not to mention, Jason is on the depressing side of movie monsters, being the vengeance of a child who was left to drown in Crystal Lake, and the furious cry of a grieving mother from beyond the grave. In a sense, yes, he’s a “victim of soikemstance”, but he wouldn’t be the type of person to roll on the floor going “woob-woob-woob-woob!”

Tarantino does get one thing right; they’re completely indestructible, or at least functionally. It wouldn’t be very amusing if Curly got hit in the head, and it resulted in blood and a concussion, and Jason wouldn’t be very frightening if he was taken down by a single bullet. Therein lies the fascinating part of Tarantino’s theory.

Jason Voorhees May Not Be Connected to Curly, But Slashers Are Connected to Slapstick Comedy

Right after Tarantino lays out his theory in the interview, Rockwell goes on to add, “Jason’s an unappreciated comic actor. He’s trying to make a comedy in a horror movie and no one is getting it.”

We all know that horror and comedy go together like cheese and wine. From classics like Shaun of the Dead, The Cabin in the Woods, and Evil Dead 2, it’s clear to see that it’s a winning combination. The setup and punchline of a joke are the same build-up and release that the best scares are made of. Slashers and slapstick comedy feel especially closely connected, both delivering entertainment from exaggerated violence. Let’s face it, there’s a part of us that revels in watching forgettable characters meet gruesome fates. It taps into our morbid curiosity — a fascination with things that we’d never do ourselves (hopefully). Jason, despite typically being killed at the end of each installment, remains a consistent source for this violent spectacle. While we may not care about most of the characters who face him, there’s a certain grim satisfaction in watching him dispatch them.

Schadenfreude is what drives our enjoyment of slapstick comedy like The Three Stooges. If a normal person took any of the bumps Curly, Moe, or Larry took throughout their careers in real life, it would end in tears at best. But as long as they get up, there’s nothing wrong with having a chuckle at seeing someone taking a bit of a tumble. It’s empathy and relief, but it’s also that little slice of malice that lives in us all. In that way, Tarantino is right in his theory about Jason and Curly, that both their antics satisfy the same part of the human consciousness. After all, few know better about horrific violence and sidesplitting comedy than Quentin Tarantino.

Friday the 13th is currently available to buy or rent on Apple TV+ in the U.S.

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