I wonder if this brouhaha is a sample of where conservative talk is going since the election. Into Telly Tubby mode. Gee, I hope so.
I noticed a few telling tales in all this. First the list of the conservative propagandists in moving their crap into mainstream attention has grown. It is not just Limbaugh and Hannity any longer, it now includes Michael Medved, Bill O’Reilly, Neil Caputo, Glen Beck and all of Fox News. A well rounded GOP propaganda machine with radio now taking a back seat to television.
The issue itself is hard to phantom. Especially in regard to Medved who has been driven to the edge of insanity over this movie. How could anyone get so angry to make clowns of themselves condemning an animated movie that tells children its best we stop crapping in our own nest. I mean, even real animals know that. Are these creeps all paid by the Oil, Timber and Fishery industries? Yes they are, through the advertising that supports them. Do they believe global warning is a lie concocted by liberal socialists to destroy capitalism? Yes they do! Are they so shallow that they can’t look forward far enough to see what environmental degradation will cause generations to come? Yes, they are! Or is it just that they hate liberals so much that they would rather see the world come to an end than admit a liberal cause is correct. Damn right they would.
Listen to them for a few minutes on the radio, its what they are most about. If you are not sure, or have lost track as to just how horrible they are, next time you are in the car give it a listen. Every time they use the terms Liberal, liberal Democrat, Marxist liberal, Democrat Socialists or Hollywood elitists, substitute the words JEW or JUDEN. And there you have it. Just as they have always been throughout all of history.
And to add insult to injury, that very same group of reactionary pissants have created a news cycle decrying propaganda in an hour and a half movie, while they do nothing other than push their own propaganda 24 hours a day, seven days a week, through the very air we breath.
I had no idea of the many dark things
they've found in this frolic about
tap dancing penguins.
After all, what teen hasn't had a discussion with their parents about letting him or her be who they really are?
After taking your advice and giving the
naysayers a look, this critique by
Medved seems to sum it all up for him
and like minded individuals.
Seems to me, after reading what are
supposed to be the BAD parts of the
movie, they've made me MORE interested. It seems they've made some excellent points about the environment, and the
influence of questionable religious
institutions and figures!
For an example of the angst, this critique
by Michael Medved scares the tailfeathers
offa ya!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Don't Be Misled by "Crappy Feet"!
Posted by: Michael Medved at 2:16 AM
Hollywood produces plenty of lousy movies but the releases that bother me most are those that feature false and misleading advertising. The new animated extravaganza “Happy Feet†features some of the most dishonest marketing of 2006, and deserves special condemnation for it mendacious mediocrity.
The film features the voices of A-list Hollywood stars --- Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams—and the trailers and TV ads suggest a fun-for-the-whole-family romp with some of the awe-inspiring, wonder-of-creation views of penguin peculiarities that made “March of the Penguins†one of the top grossing documentaries in history.
While the computer-generated animation often fills the screen with visually spectacular Antarctic vistas, the story and characters will irritate most potential viewers for several reasons:
1) This may be the darkest, most disturbing feature length animated film ever offered by a major studio. At least 80% of the film’s running time shows its penguin characters in pain or danger. Scenes of terrifying leopard seals and killer whales trying to devour the protagonist and his friends are so intense as to guarantee nightmares; the PG rating is a joke since the film is wildly inappropriate for young viewers under seven (and their parents). Rather than sending you out of the theatre with a song in your heart (there’s a big focus in the script on “heart songsâ€) the movie produces feelings of fright, discomfort, even guilt. The title “Happy Feet,†suggesting a feel-good frolic, could hardly be more deceptive for a deeply ill-considered project that will make most audience members feel gloomier and more depressed than they did when they entered the theatre.
2) The propagandistic theme suggests that the biggest menace for the lovable penguins is the human race --- stealing the fish on which the birds depend, or ruining planet earth through pollution and global warming. There’s also scenes of a penguin captured for a zoo and tormented to the point of mental incapacity by unfeeling people Many classic animated films (even “Bambiâ€, or the recent “Open Season†and “Over the Hedge)†featured the equation animals=good/humans=bad but no movie for kids has gone so far in trying to induce guilt for membership in species homo sapiens.
3) There’s also a bizarre anti-religious bias operating unmistakably and gratuitously in the film. The penguin protagonist (known as “Mumbles Happy Feetâ€) finds himself harshly treated by the aged leaders of the flock, who worship a false God called “the Great Wind†and decry and persecute anyone who dares to challenge their “sacred†traditions. The voice of Robin Williams (in one of his two parts) also portrays a great religious guru and sage who turns out to be a complete phony, with no special knowledge of any kind. When intrepid penguins finally make contact with the “aliens†(otherwise known as humans) the first menacing structure they see is a church.
4) As in so many other recent films, there’s a subtext that appears to plead for endorsement of gay identity. Mumbles (the voice of Elijah Wood) displeases his parents and the leaders of his community because he’s born different, and makes an impassioned plea that he can’t possibly change – and they should accept him as he is.
Aside from all the politically correct messages, the movie remains singularly depressing, frustrating, scary and disturbing. An ardent love affair is frustrated for no apparent reason, with the main character’s inamorata choosing a crude, fat penguin she cares nothing about and producing many progeny. The movie’s conclusion – with tap=dancing penguins somehow persuading humankind to go to the U.N. (the United Nations Building even makes an appearance) to protect the Antarctic food chain-- makes no sense at either the emotional or plot-coherence level.
In short, “Happy Feet†comprises a strikingly downbeat evening (or afternoon) at the multiplex – an appalling waste of both time and money for patrons who will expect a far more cheerful, cold-climate-but-warm-hearted experience. The last time a major studio launched a comparably misleading ad campaign, they tried to sell Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby†as a Rocky-in-sports-bra/noble underdog boxing movie--- deliberately hiding its intense assisted suicide theme. For “Happy Feet,†they seem to hide the movie’s darker, dysfunctional messages and to ignore its questionable elements for innocent kids.
With this posting, consider yourself warned: “Happy Feet†deserves designation as “Crappy Feet†and counts as one of the biggest disappointment of the onrushing holiday season.
It so reminds of Jerry Falwell calling the tely tubies queers.
But the bigger issue is that these epeople have now moved into primetime television on all cable news networks.
they've found in this frolic about
tap dancing penguins.
After all, what teen hasn't had a discussion with their parents about letting him or her be who they really are?
After taking your advice and giving the
naysayers a look, this critique by
Medved seems to sum it all up for him
and like minded individuals.
Seems to me, after reading what are
supposed to be the BAD parts of the
movie, they've made me MORE interested. It seems they've made some excellent points about the environment, and the
influence of questionable religious
institutions and figures!
For an example of the angst, this critique
by Michael Medved scares the tailfeathers
offa ya!
Friday, November 17, 2006
Don't Be Misled by "Crappy Feet"!
Posted by: Michael Medved at 2:16 AM
Hollywood produces plenty of lousy movies but the releases that bother me most are those that feature false and misleading advertising. The new animated extravaganza “Happy Feet†features some of the most dishonest marketing of 2006, and deserves special condemnation for it mendacious mediocrity.
The film features the voices of A-list Hollywood stars --- Nicole Kidman, Hugh Jackman, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams—and the trailers and TV ads suggest a fun-for-the-whole-family romp with some of the awe-inspiring, wonder-of-creation views of penguin peculiarities that made “March of the Penguins†one of the top grossing documentaries in history.
While the computer-generated animation often fills the screen with visually spectacular Antarctic vistas, the story and characters will irritate most potential viewers for several reasons:
1) This may be the darkest, most disturbing feature length animated film ever offered by a major studio. At least 80% of the film’s running time shows its penguin characters in pain or danger. Scenes of terrifying leopard seals and killer whales trying to devour the protagonist and his friends are so intense as to guarantee nightmares; the PG rating is a joke since the film is wildly inappropriate for young viewers under seven (and their parents). Rather than sending you out of the theatre with a song in your heart (there’s a big focus in the script on “heart songsâ€) the movie produces feelings of fright, discomfort, even guilt. The title “Happy Feet,†suggesting a feel-good frolic, could hardly be more deceptive for a deeply ill-considered project that will make most audience members feel gloomier and more depressed than they did when they entered the theatre.
2) The propagandistic theme suggests that the biggest menace for the lovable penguins is the human race --- stealing the fish on which the birds depend, or ruining planet earth through pollution and global warming. There’s also scenes of a penguin captured for a zoo and tormented to the point of mental incapacity by unfeeling people Many classic animated films (even “Bambiâ€, or the recent “Open Season†and “Over the Hedge)†featured the equation animals=good/humans=bad but no movie for kids has gone so far in trying to induce guilt for membership in species homo sapiens.
3) There’s also a bizarre anti-religious bias operating unmistakably and gratuitously in the film. The penguin protagonist (known as “Mumbles Happy Feetâ€) finds himself harshly treated by the aged leaders of the flock, who worship a false God called “the Great Wind†and decry and persecute anyone who dares to challenge their “sacred†traditions. The voice of Robin Williams (in one of his two parts) also portrays a great religious guru and sage who turns out to be a complete phony, with no special knowledge of any kind. When intrepid penguins finally make contact with the “aliens†(otherwise known as humans) the first menacing structure they see is a church.
4) As in so many other recent films, there’s a subtext that appears to plead for endorsement of gay identity. Mumbles (the voice of Elijah Wood) displeases his parents and the leaders of his community because he’s born different, and makes an impassioned plea that he can’t possibly change – and they should accept him as he is.
Aside from all the politically correct messages, the movie remains singularly depressing, frustrating, scary and disturbing. An ardent love affair is frustrated for no apparent reason, with the main character’s inamorata choosing a crude, fat penguin she cares nothing about and producing many progeny. The movie’s conclusion – with tap=dancing penguins somehow persuading humankind to go to the U.N. (the United Nations Building even makes an appearance) to protect the Antarctic food chain-- makes no sense at either the emotional or plot-coherence level.
In short, “Happy Feet†comprises a strikingly downbeat evening (or afternoon) at the multiplex – an appalling waste of both time and money for patrons who will expect a far more cheerful, cold-climate-but-warm-hearted experience. The last time a major studio launched a comparably misleading ad campaign, they tried to sell Clint Eastwood’s “Million Dollar Baby†as a Rocky-in-sports-bra/noble underdog boxing movie--- deliberately hiding its intense assisted suicide theme. For “Happy Feet,†they seem to hide the movie’s darker, dysfunctional messages and to ignore its questionable elements for innocent kids.
With this posting, consider yourself warned: “Happy Feet†deserves designation as “Crappy Feet†and counts as one of the biggest disappointment of the onrushing holiday season.
But the bigger issue is that these epeople have now moved into primetime television on all cable news networks.
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