Botox Culture

"That said, there are a lot of awfully talented people around. I'm more inpressed with what I see today in mainstream comics than what I saw during my Lampoon days. They do tend to look alike, but the level of quality in draftsmanship is way up there. This is what I call the 'botoxing of America'. It's like music. The work is all a little better than the work from years ago, but none of it is great. There's no one that stands out, because there's too much of it. It's true in movies, true in literature, true in books, true in publishing, true in music. There's too many comics. There's too many good guys."


-from Comic Book Artist magazine, April 2003- interview with National Lampoon art director Michael Gross (1970-75)


...Which sums up my attitude to most mainstream entertainment today. Because there's so much money tied up in the production of a movie, or a music alblum or a t.v. show, the suits feel that they absolutely MUST have a hit. As a result, the commercial process becomes even more ruthlessly Darwinian- Executives become even more pusilaminous, and creative types, either out of cowardice or sheer economic neccesity, conform to what's more of 'the next big thing'. As a result, you get work that has it's low points filled in, but has it's high points filed down. Thus the reference by Mr. Gross to 'Botoxing'.


I'm gonna go out on a limb here and point my stubby little finger at two specific reasons why a lot of stuff coming out of the pipeline these days is so bland. One is the prevalence of 'market research' for entertainment like movies, t.v. , and well, music. ("What did you like best about the movie?" "When the hero got the girl?" "What did you like least?" "Um, when the hero lost the girl?" ...oh, bugger...) By pandering to a market that tells it, somewhat sheepishly, what that market would like to see or hear, the entertainment industry shoots itself in the foot. People don't know what they want to see until they've seen it. Otherwise, we wouldn't keep getting all these flops like "Evan Almighty" and that new Lindsey Lohan movie coming out, wouldn't we?


The second reason is CGI. Hear me out. Traditionally, the craft of filmmaking is the craft of solving problems. The lead actress cut off her long, red hair halfway through the movie, throwing the continuity off and we've got no time to get a wig? Film a scene where she just came out of the shower, and her hair's in a towel. Harrison Ford's too sick to shoot an elaborate fight scene with a sword-wielding maniac? Just have him groan in exasperation and shoot the fellow. You get the idea.


When you 'go to the CG people' for a shot, however, you're short-circuiting the whole process of story-telling. There's no wit, no craft, no pleasure in seeing a movie that's heavy on the CGI. It's like you're being bullied into enjoying yourself. "Dammit, we had an army of CGI studios work on this background of Civil-war Atlanta burning to the ground for eight months! You, the audience, are going to sit there in your seats and watch this three minute-long scene that essentially stops the movie dead in its tracks, or so help me, WE'LL TURN THIS CAR AROUND!!"


It makes directors sloppy and lazy, hamstrings the editors, and most importantly, turns the movie into a ride at Disneyland, instead of an engaging story. The upside, I guess, is that some spotty nerd who got a two-year certificate at some 'media training center' gets a job, at least...("Hey, ya know the embers flickering off the torches in the background there in that one shot?" "Eeyeah..?" "Our studio worked on those! Man, the procedurals on those were a bitch!" "Oookay, then...")





Which is why Transformers (D) stunk. Okay, I bitched about this movie before, but in my defense a) I was in another city without anything to do, and b) it was hot out and the theater was air-conditioned. Wait, what am I saying? I have no defense. Well, it was my twelve dollars and not yours. Anyway, I fell asleep halfway through the movie, woke up three-quarters of the way in, (really.) and didn't think I missed a single thing. That's how dreary it was. Autobots fight Decepticons, Shia LeBoeuf macks on Megan Fox, Micheal Bay mixes his usual visual bombast with an early 80's teen sex comedy, references are made to the 'Transformers' t.v. show...and we're done.





The Simpsons Movie (C+) What's going on here is the beginning of the end. The t.v. show's been on for so long now that it's hit critical mass a long time ago in terms of its being surprising and entertaining. Well, it's still entertaining, but in the same way that old chestnuts like the comic strip 'Garfield' are. The people involved in the Simpsons realized this a long time ago and are on the horns of a dilemma. If they stick with the show, they've all got big, fat paychecks for the forseeable future. In the entertainment industry, that's never a bad thing. However, if they all walk away from the Simpsons, they are free to head out for new territories, without the financial uncertainties that people in their position usually have. In this case, the answer seems to be thusly:


"If the movie is a smash hit (and it certainly looks that way.), we all can stop doing the show now and re-unite every few years to crap out a sequel every so often to satisfy Fox's coffers, and to be honest, our own. For both us, and the Fox network, this is a win-win situation."


The only question is, when will Fox drop the Simpsons? I'd like to think this upcoming season is it's last, but considering that in Fox's accounting ledgers, the Simpsons is the only consistent money-maker it's got on the shelf.


As for the movie itself, eh, not bad. It's an episode drawn out to movie-length meant more to reassure than to astonish. The only gag that stuck in my mind was Bart's nude skateboard run, and the controversy it ignited ruined the gag before I saw it. Let it die, fellas. Let it die.




Smoking Aces (C-) What we have here is a case of an American director (Joe Carnahan) trying to do what Guy Richie and Matthew Vaughn do so well and falling on his face. It's a 'gangster' pic where several different 'hitmen' try to take out one oily Vegas magician at the same time. Meanwhile, he's being protected by his own hired hands and the FBI, who want to have him name names. The only way this could work is as a farce, but Carnahan chooses to play it straight. Since he also wrote the script, it's really strange to see a director who fights his own work. Any quirks in the movie are tangential, and don't add up to anything. (The aggressive kid with a boner, and Jason Bateman as a depressed lawyer-I honestly thought his character was going to tie in later...)





Extras: the T.V. Series (B) Ricky Gervias occupies a unique space in the contemporary comedy firmament. The 'comedy of embarassment', if you will. It originated in England, where a sense of propriety is held in higher regard than over here in the colonies. However, with the relative success of 'Borat', the american version of 'The Office', and Larry David's 'Curb Your Enthusiasm', the 'comedy of embarassment' seems to be taking hold over here as well. It's humour based on characters without the willpower or common sense they require to achieve their goals constantly making social gaffes. It's both painful and funny at the same time.


Gervais' character in this one is a struggling actor, 'Andy Millman' who spends the first season trying to ingratiate himself with the rich and powerful in hopes of getting his own t.v. series off the ground. Season two has Andy's series getting made, however, since he's too weak-willed at his core to stand up to the B.B.C. producers, it turns into an insipid run-of-the-mill sitcom which "relies on silly wigs and stupid catch-phrases" to get a laugh. Naturally, it becomes quite popular with most people, while reviled by the cultural elite.


The following clip with David Bowie perfectly sums up the series in a nutshell: Andy trying to rub shoulders with the high priests of the current landscape, and immediately getting shot down for his troubles. Enjoy...