PINEAPPLE EXPRESS?- Page 2

[TMarie]

Posted: 8/11/08 at 8:43pm

You make very valid points, Auggie. That was one of my chief problems with Knocked Up. For so long now, we have been able to dismiss certain films because they blatantly degraded women, but now there is a trend of the male characters you described. Also disturbing is that there is a certain element of "cool" that is established with these characters. Not only that, but people tend to not see what you see, Auggie. Rather, I've noticed that people don't really mind at all. Nobody is celebrating these characters, nor are they often pointing out what you're thinking.

But then again, would the situations these people get in be funny if they didn't have that "bum" basis to their character? I'm sure they could be, but it seems to me that if a comedy movie nowadays is not blatantly making fun of a stereotype, they are categorized as a sort of indie comedy flick.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 8:19am

You're right about the ridicule factor. We're invited to feel both vaguely superior to these "bum" stoners, and envious, too. They are subjected to the daily stresses of our lives, but in the world of these films, it's suggested that such stresses are still the realm of "adults," that the state of teenage, responsibility-free cool-ness can be sustained indefinitely. Yes, knocked up was about facing responsibilities, but its message was still tied to this new world order: unappealing do-nothing stoners can get the girl, and get a life without doing much more than being unfit, uneappealing stoners.

Sometimes I think the films are actually powerful commentary on these times, when too many young men feel helplessly disconnected from the world they're supposed to enter. After all, who wants to race out and invest in a lot of the downer-creating climate we live in (gas prices, job market, fill in the blanket). But the suggestion that holding onto the most indifference-centered part of adolescence is a grim fantasy. And the non-stop weed, rather than a ticket out of "adult" issues, plays out as a ticket out of one's own life.

There's a speech Eric Bogosian's SUBURBIA, written over a decade ago, that brings all of this into focus, as it centers on the ideal day in the life of one of these boy-men, with a pot haze, lots of bad TV, sex, and spending money you don't have. Bogosian wrote about the dead-end trip of holding onto being a chemicaly altered 17, not because he was wagging his finger like an "adult," but because the decidedly cool Mr. Bogosian was able to paint a picture of how empty it ultimately ends up. But who knew that such a restrictive, soul-killing fantasy existence would later be used as a definition of liberation and freedom -- doing nothing so purposefully would in and of itself be the ultimate cool?

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 9:01am

it's a freakin' stoner movie. did you people get this upset about cheech and chong's up in smoke or nice dreams or - god forbid - the corsican brothers? and where were you during the celebrations of awfulness and strerotypes that filled meatballs and up a creek and any number of other meaningless popcorn flicks that have filled the nation's metroplexes since the freakin' golddiggers of '39?

these films are a powerful commentary on our times? gimme a freakin' break. they're beavis and butthead live on the big screen. with drugs. even mentioning it in the same sentence with bogosian ought to get you waterboarded. it's mindless entertainment, fluff. remember that?

how dare they make films that do not uplift the human spirit or celebrate the very best in humanity! i demand a return of the censorship board to stop these films from destroying the fabric of our society. we will only be truly great as a people when we allow the "intelligent" among us to decide what we can and cannot watch or even make.

it's a freakin' stoner film. geezus.

[FindingNamo]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 10:22am

Golddiggers of '39. They don't make em like that anymore.

[TMarie]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 12:57pm

I'm not saying that these movies shouldn't be made. I didn't like Knocked Up, but as I mentioned before, I'm not opposed to these films. In my opinion, Pineapple Express was oddly violent, but yeah, I laughed. As hypocritical as it is, I would say that I only hope that the trend doesn't continue into all movies. I'm sure it won't, but after a few stoner flicks, audiences deserve something more intelligent, no? Although, it is true that if they were seeking intelligence in a movie, they probably wouldn't go see a stoner movie.

I think the only way to get around what you're saying, Auggie, is to look past the stoner aspect. I disagree, papa, that it is JUST a stoner movie. To me, it is just a stoner movie because the laughs are..I wouldn't say cheap, but they're certainly not what I would consider witty, and the whole "bum guy turned responsible member of society" plot didn't move me or anything.

As absurd as you found our comments, papa, I think Auggie is right about the reflection on society thing. That's why these movies really attract the people my age, more specifically the boys, because who wants to be an "adult"? So far, it doesn't look like any fun, so yeah, watching a guy who can be a grown up but still act like a care-free adolescent appeals to some people. That's not hard to understand.

And correct me if I'm wrong, but nobody said anything about "censoring" or even implied that you shouldn't watch this movie. A movie is made and the "message" it's trying to "convey" is decided by the individual audience member. (Unless of course, this movie is stuff-down-your-throat-this-message Crash)

[papalovesmambo]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 1:22pm

i would say that i only hope that the trend doesn't continue into all movies.

and i would say that i hope this trend of imbuing a freakin' stoner flick with this much importance doesn't continue into all aspects of life. i dread the chicken little posts decrying the damaging effects of the geico cavemen on society or those lamenting the dumbing down of professional bowling coverage as social commentary on the frayed quilt of american life. i pray that the 877-393-4448 commercials that currently plague the tri-state area don't give rise to a new era in which all commercials use semi-catchy jingles that simply repeat the same numbers or phrases over and over and over again as madison avenue sucks the last vestige of life from innocent motrons everywhere who are too stupid to realize what's being done to them.

i think you both need to either pack a bowl or put down the one you've been smoking.

[Auggie27]

Posted: 8/12/08 at 6:42pm

Point well taken. We censoring liberal wusses are indeed a pretentious lot, aren't we? Sipping our white wine and thumbing through the dog-eared thesaurus printed on recycled paper to find the mot juste for stoner fatigue. Until I find it, I'll just have to keep posting here in my longwinded humorless fashion.

[Cruel_Sandwich]

Posted: 8/25/08 at 12:32pm

This was way funnier than I thought it would be. I loved the meandering-ness. David Gordon Green is a genius!