Wednesday, May 27, 2009

How my friend learned to stop worrying and love Dr Strangelove

Film forum is showing Dr Strangelove through Thursday.  I'll wait here while you go see it. 

Anyway, I went with two female associates, one of whom had never seen it.  I think it was a great experience for all of us, because sometimes I love something and wonder if I still love it because it's nostalgic, or because it's truly good.  I, of course, laughed a great deal during the film.  My friend was in hysterics.  This reassured me that I wasn't just agreeing with the elite or succumbing to nostalgia in still loving this great film.

This, of course, lead me to thinking: what other things that I've loved have stood the test of time?  What has not?

Things that have not stood the test of time:
1> Jokes
Not comedy, but jokes.  Knock-Knock jokes don't make me laugh anymore.  Nor do most traditional set up jokes.  

2> Superhero Cartoons

I dare you to watch the marvel cartoons from the 70's.  Now, I dare you to show them to a kid nowadays.  He or she wouldn't sit through it.  The animation is shit, the drawing was mostly shit.  There are exceptions, of course, like the old Superman cartoon.  There is also an inverse to this in that the cartoons now suck compared to the late 90's (Anime Batman looks nowhere near as good at Batman the Animated Series Batman)


3> Fashion
Hipsters can take offense to this all they like, but nothing in the late 70's or early 80's, fashion wise, stood up over time.  Shoulder pads for women?  Big hair?  Pegged pants?  high flattops?  Teased hair on men?  Cockbroom moustaches with the aforementioned hair?  


Things that held up over the years:
1> NES
Girls, and old gamers still love old school NES games.  Games today aren't nearly as hard as they were when I was a kid, to the point where GAME REVIEWERS will put a big minus if a game is too challenging.  Also, the game characters were cuter.  They had to be with that sort of graphical limitation.  I remember about 10 years ago I used to hang out with a girl whose apartment got robbed, and her biggest lament was they stole her NES.  I got her a new one for her birthday, ands she acted like I got her diamonds.  Sure, the graphics look like crap next to some ultra next gen game, but the newer games don't require nearly as much dedication or reflexive skill.

2> Music
80's music seems almost like it's more popular now than in the 80's. Even I listen to more of it now than I did then.  I think it's because the quality of pop music has fallen to shit in the past decade.  I'm by no means an advocate of pop music, but if I have to be forced to listen to a radio I'd prefer Tears for Fears to whatever crap they're pushing today.

3> Cartoons
I'm talking about Tom and Jerry, and Looney Tunes.  They never go out of style, and they never cease to amuse me, or my younger cousins.  And nobody, absolutely nobody, can catch El Magnifico!  Still.  To this day.   I'd also like to add in The Three Stooges here.  They were sort of like a living cartoon.  I don't even get why they want to "remake" them, since they were actual people, and not so much a story.


Got anything to add?  Don't agree with what I am saying?  Want to call me a cunt?  We have a comment section for that.  

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