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Thursday, May 7, 2009

What a Fabulous Date Movie!

Do you like satire? It tends to be a more sophisticated form of humor. It is one of those things that some people just don't get. (Of course, I suppose that can be said about just about any form of humor.)

I can remember reading Janathan Swift's "A Modest Proposal" in high school. The majority of the class, even in AP English lit, were just sitting there with befuddled looks on their faces. (Many because they could not negotiate the outdated English verbage.) Two of us were chuckling the whole time. When the teacher asked what the class thought, most stayed quiet. Some said they thought it was "horrible!" And two of us said it was hilarious. If you haven't read it, do.

Anyway, satire. It is sometimes very subtle. Like sarcasm, it can be lost on the audience. The writer of satire needs to be very talented, or else it is misunderstood, either as "making fun" (which it is, but in a higher form) "sarcasm" (which is less delicate) or as an endorsement of what was meant to be satired. "Happy Together" by the Turtles is an example of this. It was written because the songwriters was tired of sappy-happy love songs and wrote the supreme, ultimate sappy-happy love song to make fun of them. And, it was so enjoyed by people who love sappy-happy love songs that it joined their list of favorites.

Back to today's real prize. I love this. Understanding it does require a basic understanding of 20th century cinema and western culture. Well, not really, but you do have to know something about what "The Shining" by Steven King is about.

Shining

DH's opinion of the clip...
I generally dislike youtube because a vast majority of its stuff is brain-numbing bile, but every so often you come across a gem like this, where someone creative has made a small, possibly satirical, masterpiece.


DD10 built a card house neighborhood.

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