In particular, I'm far less sensitive to criticism of things that I like. I remember a time just a few years back when I would engage in heated arguments on internet message boards over trivial nerd issues. These flame wars could be about anything....
Like video games. As a lifelong Nintendo fan, for about two decades, I couldn't help but to view everything the company did as gold. Hey, Nintendo was a hallmark of my childhood -- how DARE anyone insult its titles? Nintendo = good; end of discussion. During the Gamecube years, when the Big N was perhaps at its lowest point, I was among the dedicated fanboys who trolled gaming websites, ferociously defending every decision the company made, and flying into a rage every time some X-Box proponent called it "kiddy" (grrr). I wonder how many hours were wasted arguing over something so fundamentally pointless. Immaturity and difficulty adjusting to to the concept of internet made me feel as though my actions actually had some kind of real life effect on worldwide events. "If I don't speak out in favor of the cell shading in Zelda: Wind Waker (still, I believe, the best Zelda title to date), then WHO WILL???" was my attitude. Only in the darkest corners of my brain did I stop to think that my rants online had, at most, an extremely minimal impact on a game's, or game console's, sales in any way. Whatever happens is just going to happen. -- Although the truth, that wasn't my thought at the time, nor is it the thought of most web denizens.
I was the same way with my favorite celebrities. Now, anyone who's even perused a celeb gossip site should be able to tell you that it is a thankless and impossible task to defend a famous person on internet. The sorts of individuals who frequent such domains are among the most vicious on Earth, and the sites' proprietors like to play to that as much as possible. Look at the comments on Perez Hilton or Oh No They Didn't; there are some MEAN girls out there -- extremely jealous, and highly critical. They'll tear down a celebrity with shocking efficiency. You can't fight them, and it's stupid to bother. Nevertheless, when I was a young lad of 25 or so, and I had a crush on some Hollywood strumpet, I'd be there on those sites, flying off the handle with each "She's anorexic" or "She's untalented" remark. "No, Eliza Dushku is NOT better than Amy Acker, you moron! What is WRONG with you?!? You insult my Amy? If I ever find you, I'll DESTROY you! I'll swallow your soul!!!"
(**PS: If the celebrity is English, then WATCH OUT! Despite having a reputation for being proper and polite, the British are friggin' MEAN. Seriously -- read one of their newspapers. Even the mainstream media over there makes a habit out of openly trashing people. Succumb to an obsession with an English celebrity, and you're in for internet heartbreak, as those folk instinctively attack any of their own who makes it big worldwide, and the arguments are fierce.**)
Other stuff used to make me got all hot under the collar, as well. I remember being unable to sleep because I was so upset over Terri Schiavo arguments I'd had online; my hands would shake with anger because of election commentary on various blogs; I almost killed several people with road rage during my early 20s; and one time, my blood pressure rocketed up to, like, 170/90 because of a dispute I had with some idiot over human microchipping.
Anyway, over time I recovered, and I think it's because, for me anyway, something that's gone hand in hand with getting old is not only a general mellowing out, but also acquiring the ability to understand that things I personally enjoy are not necessarily perfect. In fact, these days, I seem to find it just as easy to criticize my favorite things as it is to praise them, and I delight in watching others do so. Recently, I finally got into Zero Punctuation. It's a series of web videos featuring some English guy who trashes various video games. ZP has been famous for some years now, but I never watched it until a few weeks ago. See, back in the blackest days of my Nintendo fanboyism, I would have gone through the roof hearing some of the jabs this dude takes at the latest Wii titles, but now, I recognize that not only is he funny as heck, but he's also totally right. For example, The Conduit (on the Wii), as much as I play it, actually DOES SUCK if one is willing to be honest (God, the near-constant glitches a player experiences with the online mode alone should be enough to prove that). Same goes for Too Human, on the XBox 360. Sure, I've put 20-plus hours into the game, but that doesn't mean I can't admit it's pretty crappy. The thing is, I like it ANYWAY. Why can't that be entirely reasonable?
This concept also now applies to those celebrities. Yes, what Perez Hilton does is still wrong, but he's darn funny, regardless. The fact that I like someone's work doesn't mean that I can't enjoy seeing it trashed. There's a whole world of comedy out there to be found, once the mind is free and criticism can be accepted.
On a related note, here's a motion picture that was written and produced by a movie guru whose work I usually admire. A few years ago, I would have been unwilling to admit it, but now, I gotta be honest and declare that this film sucks.
My Big Fat Independent Movie (2005)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0385890/
Netflix description:
"In this parody of the independent film genre, Johnny Vince (Darren Keefe) is a hip cat who plays trombone in a swing band. Two bumbling criminals, Sam (Neil Barton) and Harvey (Eric Hoffman), mistake Johnny for a member of a crime trio put together by their mob boss in order to pull off a robbery in Las Vegas. On their way to Sin City, they take a gorgeous woman hostage, but have no idea that she's about to change their lives."
So, Chris Gore, who I watch regularly on the G4 network's Attack of the Show, wrote this one. I expected it to be hilarious, since Gore knows his movies, and I enjoy his website, Film Threat. My Big Fat Independent Movie also had a great concept behind it. It's a parody film, along the lines of the Scary Movie series, that pokes fun at a number of several successful indie films. The big ones are all here. Let's see, we've got Swingers, Run Lola Run, Amelie, El Mariachi, Clerks, Pi...the list goes on and on. Sounds like it has a lot of potential, right?
Well, the result falls woefully flat. My Big Fat Independent Movie is basically just a bunch of references thrown together, with no actual JOKES to flesh out the concept and make the film worth watching. Two hitmen, mimicking John Travolta and Samuel Jackson's characters from Pulp Fiction, have to travel across the country for some reason. Along the way, they stumble across a variety of personalities and situations lifted from popular independent films. The fourth wall is virtually nonexistent in this picture, as wink-wink-nudge-nudge moments arise so regularly one could set his watch to them.
I would have thought a script written by Chris Gore would be smarter than this. Most of the humor is of the locker room variety, and blatant criticisms of much, much better films are par for the course. I kept thinking, Chris, are you SERIOUS? You make a stinkbomb this bad, and you're using it to lampoon OTHER movies? DUDE!
As implied above, the plot of My Big Fat Independent Movie makes almost no sense. It's not exactly clear why these men are driving across the country, since fine tuning the story to the point of coherence would have apparently made it impossible to include so many references to other films. And the spoofs themselves aren't really that funny to begin with. For example, the women who plays Amelie looks nothing like the real deal, rendering the joke all the weaker. Same goes for the guys who played the Pulp Fiction characters, now that I think of it....
Really, I'm sad to say that Scary Movie, Epic Movie, even Date Movie, are funnier than My Big Fat Independent Movie (and that speaks volumes). Simply reenacting bits of other films isn't enough to make an effective parody. Even if you include some noteworthy cameos, it's got to have some content of its own. Sorry, Chris.
1 out of 5.
b.
I'm almost certain that, all other things equal, breaking the fourth wall is directly proportionate to the level of suck in any given movie.
ReplyDeleteAlso: All these years, I thought I was the only one who liked the cell shading in Wind Waker. Toon Link is one of my favorite Nintendo characters; I'm really glad they're still writing DS Zelda games around him.
Breaking the fourth wall only works if it's done REALLY well...and that's pretty much never.
ReplyDeleteAnd I always thought the cell shading was beautiful Some say it's a cheap technique, but it's never been done so well as in Wind Waker.