So this weekend is going to shape like a banner weekend for animation. First off is the opening of the Incredibles, which thus far, I have tried my best to avoid learning too much about beforehand. All I know is that A) it’s by Pixar, and they can seriously do no wrong (especially after Finding Nemo, which for some reason I thought was going to be not that great, but turned out to be very awesome in the end) and B) it’s directed by Brad Bird, who’s easily of the greatest talents in animation today. I’ve been a big of his work since Family Dog, and in my opinion (and that of many others), Iron Giant still stands as the last great animated film produced in America.
Though as irrational as it may sound, I am worried that the film will not fare well with audiences. Yes, I know it’s Pixar, and at this point, people should know to expect brilliance, but as proven in recent times, Americans have extremely poor taste (and I’m not just about the election). Granted, Toy Story was a phenomenal hit because it’s a really good movie, but the virtue of being a first also played a huge part. And like many things in entertainment, people will embrace the very first of anything (which are often quite good by default for a variety of reasons) and then gravitate towards poor imitations, since imitators will use other tricks to compensate for deficiencies, such as celebrity voices or cheap pop cultural references, which the general public happens to eat up like crazy, while the good stuff gets ignored.
Also this weekend, the Super Milk Chan show premieres on Adult Swim. I haven’t seen any of the episodes beforehand, but I am a fan of the art (been seeing the characters for years now in places like Giant Robot and the such), so I expect it to be light, fun, and wacky.
Last night I caught another episode or Drawn Together, Comedy Central’s “reality show for cartoons.” Besides being a shitty cartoon, it’s another sad example of what’s considered funny these days. I used to be a big fan of it, but I am so sick of pop cultural driven, self-referential drive humor, at least how it stands today, simply because it’s now so easy and transparent. Yet audiences these days eats that shit up because it makes them feel like they’re “in the know” Sorry, but getting stupid references to reality television or Anime is not something to be proud about.
Back to CGI movies, that’s one of the primary reasons why I’m so annoyed with people’s infatuation with Shrek. Oh boy, they made fun of Disney! So biting!!! Was it the jokes that people found so funny, or simply the fact that they made fun of Disney is suppose to be funny. BTW, Disney is hardly an interesting target…
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So today is ” the day after”. Back to Comedy Central, I made sure to watch Jon Stewart last night. I forgot to mention yesterday that watching the Daily Show’s one hour election coverage was one of the depressing things ever. Seeing Stewart announce with a heavy heart, and while struggling to maintain just an ounce of humor, that some guy who hates women and gays just got re-elected as governor for some state in the south, as well as list off all the states that have officially banned gay marriages, was just plain sad. So I had to hear what he had to say about what had happened (since he’s basically the only person on television today who reports the news with any degree of intelligence and integrity).
Stewart basically hit it right on the nail by saying that “us” in “the big cities” simply assumed too much. And despite the fact that “we” know the truth, and have been saying it loud and clear, especially to “them”, no one likes being told how false their beliefs and actions are (no matter how wrong they may be). And truth be told, we have given “them” plenty of reasons to hate us. I know it’s easy to make fun of the idiotic P. Diddy “Vote or Die” campaign, but but it also speaks of a very serious underlining problem. After all, if those who believe in the basic, underlying message are also laughing at it, something is SERIOUSLY wrong.
The Democrats need to change their mode of action. But how? When Stewart was interviewing senator Chuck Shumer, he asked the same question, and Shumer was without a solid answer. The best he could muster was “we need to be more clear with our message” but Stewart responded with a “we’ve been more than clear!” response, which is true. Or is it? Maybe people don’t want to hear it.
If there’s one thing is election proved, it’s that there really is “us” versus “them” in this country, and the “them” clearly outnumber us (at least when it comes to casting a vote). I guess I should feel grateful that I’m a straight male since I’m relatively “safe.”
Sorry to dwell on this, but when you work at a college during the day, and half your coworkers are gay women, it’s hard not to think about such things…
