Damn it feels good to be a gangster

Just a warning- this is a post about some questions I have.  I don’t think there will be any answers, mostly just thinking aloud.

I was thinking about this scene from Office Space today

Because I was listing to Waka Flocka Flame at my desk.  With my headphones on.

I like this song.  It’s got a palpable sense of anger and dread hanging over it.  It’s not something I listen to every day, but for whatever reason I was in the mood for it.

But I was listening to it with headphones on.  Frankly, I might feel a bit like Michael Bolton from Office Space if someone heard me listening to it.  Why though?  I mean, it’s just music, right?

…

I think there are two jokes in that scene- one is the ridiculousness of a nerdy white dude rapping and the other is when he sees a black man selling flowers he not only rolls up his windows, but he locks his door.  The implication is obvious – if he had just rolled up his window we could assume he just didn’t want to be hassled.  But locking the door means he’s actually afraid of that man.  He’s rapping to scary black music, but he’s afraid of black people!

…

I found this scene funny when I saw it, but there’s something deeper to it that I’m trying to pick apart.  I mean, why can’t this dude sing along to some rap music?  I have a cousin who refers to herself as a “country chick” but she’s spent her whole life in Orange County, living within a five minute drive of the Pacific Ocean.  It wasn’t until about a minute ago when I was trying to think of an example of someone I know whose musical taste is way outside of their life that it even occurred to me that there’s anything unusual about that.  Actually, I don’t think it’s that weird.  Country music is as much suburban people music as it is music for rural people.  If she were claiming she could drive a tractor that would be weird.

The other thing is that the guy who made the movie is a white man- Mike Judge in a movie directed at a white audience.  We’re all supposed to look at this and laugh.  Because we’d all know that a white man listening to rap is weird.

…

I’m going to skip discussion of whether singing along to rap music by white people is OK, if a certain word is used.  My opinion on that subject isn’t really all that interesting.

…

I was young in the 90s so I was around for the big freakout about “gangster rap”.  But in the end, part of the appeal of gangster rap for white people is that they’re living vicariously by listening to it.  It’s exciting to identify, if only in the most abstract sense, with someone bravely looking at a world of constant danger and fighting against it.  Even conquering it.  I’m not saying there’s nothing ethically questionable there- for some of these rappers this is their real life, and sometimes that music has real life consequences for people.

But I always thought it was odd that right around the time people were freaking out about gangster rap, one of the most critically acclaimed and popular movies was this:

Gangster MOVIES!  FREAK OUT EVERYONE!

But seriously, what’s the difference?  I’m no more Italian than I am black.  Just like I’d probably have no luck moving to the ghetto and joining a gang, I’d never make it as a mobster.  But for some reason, listening to music is taken as an endorsement of something, but watching a movie is not.  If someone walked into the room and I was rocking out to Waka Flocka Flame, I might turn it down and be a little bit embarrassed.  But I wouldn’t hastily try to change the channel if I were watching The Godfather.

What is a good movie?

Marilyn’s comment got me thinking- I admit to liking a lot of bad movies, but never really define what a good movie is.  I probably do the same with music.  I’m not a huge movie buff or all that knowledgeable about film (that would be my rarely seen co-blogger), but I would guess that a good movie would have to include the following:

• A plot that has a noticeable arc, is internally logical and has a satisfying ending
• Is well shot
• Has characters with depth

That’s pretty much it, right?  I was going to say is original but I don’t actually believe this.

How much I like a movie is independent of these things.  For instance, lots of people cite Shawshank Redemption as a great film that they love.  I agree it’s a great film.  I don’t love it though.  It’s OK.  It just doesn’t speak to me.  But plenty of movies that I love are definitely NOT great films.  Here’s a few I’ve seen recently that I love

• Starship Troopers- wooden acting, not really clear to most viewers if it’s fascist propaganda or satire*
• Rock and Roll High School- bad acting, dumb jokes
• The Harry Potter series- my dad asked me after watching it why Snape went through everything he did.  I don’t know.  It still doesn’t make sense to me.  Also, the only really good actor of the kids in the first few movies was Rupert Grint.  The other two are not that great.

So what are some movies I have seen recently that I liked and also think are great films?  First- recently means “in the last few years” because I don’t watch that many movies.

The Kid

I LOVE Charlie Chaplin movies.  We were on a kick of watching them for months, me and my son.  This is my favorite.  Chaplin was a genius and a brilliant actor and while silent films tended to have some overacting, when the authorities come for Charlies adopted son it looks real.  Chaplin had his own difficult childhood and it seems like he was drawing on that.  I really love this film.

Rango

I watch a lot of kid’s movies and this was one that I would even watch on my own.  I’m not actually sure it is a kid’s movie.  I get sooooo tired of kids movies that try to pander to me with snarky, ironic humor.  I appreciate that in movies made for adults, but in a kid film it just makes me feel like an asshole for laughing.  Also- toilet humor.  I love toilet humor, but in kids films it is rote and not funny half the time.  Rango is pretty sparing with that.  The depictions of the desert are beautiful and the story it tells is engaging and timely.

Land of the Dead

Yeah, it’s very left-leaning, bordering on heavy-handed.  If you can get past that it’s a great film.  The characters have different motives, and everyone besides Dennis Hopper’s asshole HOA president has different, realistic motivations.  Asia Argento is a badass actress.

Karate Kid

I don’t care what anyone says, this is a great film.  The best part is the relationship between characters- Daniel and Mr Miyagi, Daniel and his mom, Daniel and Ali.  OK, the crane is the most telegraphed kick ever invented, but when he wins at the end, WOW, it still feels so good.

Some other movies that I haven’t seen in a while but I remember being really good quality films-

The Wild Bunch, Spirited Away (more animation), Pretty in Pink, Duck Soup.  The Shining.  Hmm, drawing a blank now, you see I’m really not a film buff.

I’d probably have a long list if I went with movies I enjoy, but wouldn’t say are good films.

What do you think is a good movie?

*It’s very clearly satire to me.  It’s also AWESOME

Film and Television

Hall Pass
Directed by: Bobby Farrelly and Peter Farrelly

Why?  Becuase I had time to kill and I like Jason Sudeikis.  Result?  It wasn’t funny.  Also, Owen Wilson really delivered some Owen Wilson (which is to say he sucked).  This movie is fucking stupid, captured most clearly by the big black dick/small white dick visual gag toward the end of the movie.  The Farrelly brother’s seem to have missed the gross mark on this one as well which makes me want to go back and watch Kingpin to see if I have changed or if they have.

Off the top of my head I would say they should stick to films where the relationship isn’t the main subject of the film.  They do just fine with it when it is ancillary to Jim Carrey’s split personality as Charlie Bailygates/Hank Evans, or Jack Black’s shallowness in Shallow Hal, mostly because the character’s are the joke.  In Hall Pass Owen Wilson and Jenna Fischer have too real of a relationship, leaving the Farely Brothers to make jokes around them rather than of them.

While the film does a good job of making single life look worse than married life, the writing of each is a caricature at best.  Ultimately the Farely Brothers are better at making caricatures of people than caricatures of life, and when they try to make caricatures of life the base, sophomoric, and insincere nature of their comedy is hard to watch… and I like fart jokes.

Film and Television

Circo
Directed by Aaron Schock

This is a simple film about a mexican Circus family and their struggle to persist as they travel across Mexico.  It isn’t just the compelling story of the family that you get to watch but also an opportunity to see a Mexico apart from images we are more familiar with through television and advertising.  The Circus travels a circuit of small towns and villages exposing the viewer to life in Mexico outside of the resort and away from the border.  This thin slice of Mexican culture you get to see isn’t diluted with tequila shooters and all you can eat breakfast buffets or buried under the violence of drug and human trafficking.

Having grown up near the border I am somewhat familiar with the stark division in wealth between the two countries, but bearing witness (albeit a framed and edited witness) was an eye opening experience for me.  The things that we take for granted in this country are many and more.  It is worth noting.

Children’s Movie Review: Toy Story

By SatanicPanic

Toy Story is a deeply cynical movie and you should feel bad about liking it.
Let’s start with Woody.  Woody is a world-weary, middle-aged Cowboy who spends his day watching over a toybox full of dumbasses.
Buzz Lightyear is a narcissistic astronaut with a wildly overinflated sense of self who believes he can do things that he obviously can’t and imagines all his gadgets actually work.  Buzz is both hero and comic relief.
Now those of you that are parents, stop for a minute and think.
Who do you know who is world-weary from spending their days watching people who can’t take care of themselves?  Any thoughts?
Now who do you know who believes they are the center of the universe, likes to pretend their toys actually work, and wants to be an astronaut?
You see where I’m going with this, right?  Woody is you, Buzz Lightyear is your child, and the whole movie, you are laughing at your own child and their dreams and their imagination.  You should be ashamed of yourself.