Strangers with Candy: The Movie

[vexin_g]

Strangers with Candy shares many of the same qualities as Napoleon Dynamite, but a quality which made Lisa and I hate the latter, and reaaaally hate the ensuing Napoleon Dynamite pop cultural CRAZE, is thankfully lacking in Strangers with Candy

Comments

[vexin_g]

Before I respond...isn't it cute how the Canadians and the Americans on this page are both spelling "humo(u)r" in their own, special ways?

Kat, you're a delightful LJ correspondent, and you are ever-vigilant when it comes to upholding your end of the social contract, even if it just means posting when someone posts to you :)

Diana, I agree about Napoleon Dynamite's abuse of its central characters. That's really what I am talking about when I say "mean humor". I guess I think of mean humor in very specific terms. Unlike you, Kat, I do not consider John Stewart and his band of acid-tongued writers mean humor. Even if he were a red-state Conservative pundit, I don't think I would. I somehow find it meaner to create a character just to tear her down than to tear down real people in the real world.

I suppose I think of it this way. You would never purchase a puppy and then put on a clog and kick it repeatedly. If you did, you'd be horrible, because that puppy depends on you for food, safety, socialization, toenail-clipping, walks, and rubdowns.

But, if you put on a clog to kick Rush Limbaugh somewhere delicate, I would probably fall down laughing.

I suppose I think of fictive characters as dependent on their creators. Without you, they wouldn't be anything. (I am aware a child is a more apt metaphor, but I didn't want to write about kicking a child with a clog on your foot). So why create them just to punish them? And to write or act characters in such a way that they exist only to be punished or to make us into chuckling voyeurs, well. I'm really not into that.

Moving away from humor for a second, as far as I'm concerned (and Lisa agrees), Larry Clark is the worst perpetrator of the MEAN MOVIE. His work is revolting on every level, but you can sum it up pretty accurately as mean filmmaking. He's so good at creating a torture chamber for his adolescent casts that he actually has the power to transfer that guilt to the viewer. Watching Larry Clark makes ME feel like a predator.

[twinphish]

Just curious..Have you seen 'Wassup Rockers'? I somewhat enjoy Larry Clark's work purely for the fact it's a peek into a certain subculture. Although 'Wassup Rockers' wasn't really all that insightful I enjoyed a couple laughs..but yeah he does tend towards "creating a torture chamber for his adolescent casts".

[vexin_g]

I haven't seen "Wassup Rockers", and if the name is any indication, I'll probably avoid it like the clap. I'm just so grossed out by him. Even if he weren't a "mean" filmmaker, I find it yecchy to the nth degree how he loves lingering over the nubile flesh of the children (yes, teenagers are children. I'm stodgy.) in his movies.

Nevertheless, I regard you very highly and respect your right to enjoy a peek into a subculture. I remember how influential "KIDS" was to actual kids, when I was a kid. That was a bad thing, but it had an undeniable power. Just don't peek too hard, because the FBI might be knocking down your door for possession of child pornography.

[twinphish]

ah yes you bring up a good point... in fact now that I think of it, the photo exhibition of his I saw at the ICP was largely nude or semi-nude teenage boys. hrm how did i overlook the pervitude!?