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  • An Open Letter to Conservatives Pissed Off at Wall-E

    Mon Jun 30, 2008 at 08:58:04 AM

    By ALAN SCHERSTUHL


    New and old liberal symbols?

    Dear conservatives:

    Nice to finally meet you. Long time, first time and all that. Recently, I've enjoyed your blog posts, reviews, and message board postings and editorials about how Wall-E is an anti-corporate, environmental polemic crafted by Hollywood elitists to indoctrinate our kids.

    Like you, I don’t care for entertainment that gets too pushy with its political agenda-- Lord knows I'll never shove my way through a second Orson Scott Card novel. But, really, you're reaching here. The key “political” elements of Wall-E are so over-the-top satirical that they have little to do with the politics of 2008. Worse, when you assume that they do somehow reflect the current political garbagescape, you betray a self-image problem far more horrific than any binge-and-purger's.

    Spoilers follow after the jump:

    1. Your first bitch is that Wall-E imagines an earth covered with litter after centuries of rule and abandonment by a monopolistic corporation. Now, honestly, conservatives, can’t we all agree that dumping trash everywhere is, like, a bad thing? What exactly is liberal about this standard-issue sci-fi apocalypse? Do you want your movies and candidates to support littering? Or monopolies? Imagine if McCain were to promise tax incentives for great heaping trash cities too toxic for human habitation. Would that finally win you over to him?

    2. The second complaint is that the humans in Wall-E have, after centuries in space, tubbed up into helpless, obese cartoons. They're certainly intended to suggest the fat grown-ups with the jumbo soft drinks in the movie chairs around us. But please, conservatives, how is it liberal to suggest that people should not be unthinking gluttons? These humans place all their trust in a corporatist government that meets their every need even as it takes their every freedom. Whether you focus on the “corporatist” or focus on the “government,” there’s plenty here that’s anathema to liberals and conservatives alike.

    3. Finally, you all point out that future space president/CEO Fred Willard's promise “to stage the course” in the face of obvious disaster is a cheap Bush joke. I concede that this wasn’t sharp, funny, or revealing enough to have made the cut. (And that it’s disingenuous for Pixar or anyone else to pretend it wasn’t intended to suggest Bush.) Still, that line aims for grown-ups, not kids, and to act as if every joke about the president is somehow an assault on our values is to take selective offense. Every president of the modern era has been lampooned in the culture of his reign. Christ, "The Simpsons" had Clinton bragging that he'd slept with a pig.

    Please, I truly want to know: When you quail at a cartoon like this, are you just touchy, or do you truly consider it a grave affront against all that Americans hold dear?

    Thanks, conservatives.

    Your pal,

    Alan

    PS: Good luck with the war, the crumbling economy, and getting those pasties on strippers.

    Category: Media, Random Life

    9 Comments:

    gus says:

    whats touchier? wingnuts freaking out about it or libs getting touchy about the wingnut touchiness? try seeing movies made for adults why dont you.

    Trevor Cooke says:

    Trevor's open letter to Alan:

    Dear Alan,

    Loved your letter. I haven't enjoyed a good fiction piece in a while. In case you don't remember, a gentle reminder for you: you exist primarily because of the Hollywood machine. Hence, arguing that anything from Hollywood is other than liberal propaganda will fail as bad as lock boxes, swift boats, and defining "the".

    Debunking your points follows:
    The garbage argument is a beautiful example of your ability to make a mountain out a mole hill. Let me ask you, have you ever seen a mountain of trash (besides on a "documentary")? Every day in multiple locations? Do you see a slew of trash trucks on the streets bustling hither and fro the factories that dot our landscapes? No? To all of the questions? Thought so. Like most of your focus, it is misdirected on a non-issue. As much as it sucks for you to admit, it was under President Bush that the United States first recognized greenhouse gas, mobilized the EPA, established Federal investigations into the matter, and took action. Also, again under President Bush, the EPA has established many records for enforcement both in criminal and civil court for violators of the environmental law. Yeah, I know this hurts...we try not to bring this up so as not to hurt your feelings...we know you like to call yourself the "environmental stewards". Unfortunately, someone needs to actually DO the work and not get so caught up in claiming credit in "documentaries". Plus, this way, you keep those smelly hippies that we really do not want.
    If you truly believe being fat and unthinking is a bad thing, why do you primarily use your machine to promote it? How are people going to know they are fat if they don't tune into the thought box to learn how they are supposed to think? We try to allow you to continue this because if it ends there would absolutely be nothing attractive about your party, but I tell you, the bicyclists are on our last nerve. Because you told them they were fat, you created fat-Spandex-covered people punishing bicycle seats, violating traffic rules, and increasing greenhouse gas as motorists have to slow and speed up to pass them. This pisses us off, so cut out the fat shit so we can get the bicyclists off the fucking roads and out of the way.
    We know you like to think you are witty and make comments about our leaders. Hell, you do it very well in fact. Bugs Bunny was LOADED with good ones. But, please keep in mind, you are good at ACTING and not ACTION. I know they have the same root, but for all intents and purposes the former is pretending to do the later. Unfortunately in the real world outside of your machine, there is no ability to real time edit / frame / inject comments after the fact. You guys have a special ability to go back, look at an event that occurred, and bring it forward in a framed manner that best suits a good story rather than focusing on the reality. Editing is your strongpoint. So, please leave the action to us as we leave the acting to you.
    Unfortunately, some of the neo-republicans have a tendency to try and use your methods and usually fail horridly. Dim wits such as Limbaugh, O'Reilly, and others that claim to represent us, but thrive within your world are necessarily corrupted by it and make excellent pinatas. Which, I do admit, you do a very good job at decimating. Alas, methinks you may have become lax in your thinking. For, despite your beliefs, these dim wits do not represent us that really know you. Nor do they effectively argue the counterpoints that you will face.

    XOXOXOX,
    Trevy

    P.S. Good luck trying to win for a change...more importantly, if you do indeed win, good luck at not self destructing in to a Carter-esque ball of laughs.

    Peter says:

    Dear Trevor,

    Regarding you problem with bikes: first, what the hell does that have to do with anything? Second, it is people like you that make moderates, like me, swing left with your complete myopia on such issues.

    Also, I don't know where you get your stats but the EPA and DOE have had record cuts in their enforcement powers under the current administration. John McCain, the Republican candidate, has spoken out against those cuts continuously over the last 8 years. So maybe it is time for you to get to know your candidate.

    The truth is this movie could have come out anytime in the last 15 years and it would garnered the same reaction. The far left touting it as a documentary truth and the far right dismissing it out of hand as a Hollywood attack on America while those of us in the middle enjoy it for the good movie that it was and maybe take a moment to think about the more allegorical message contained within.

    You people on the extremes make the rest of us look bad.

    Dear Plog:

    Nice post. I may have to start taking you guys seriously.

    Sincerely,
    Gregg

    Trevor says:

    Hi, Pete.

    Glad to know that I can make you swing, brother. Unfortunately, it is the folks like you that swing so willy-nilly that make your opinion meaningless since it will just change 5 minutes from now.

    While you are swinging, you may want to do some research besides figuring out who the Republican nominee is going to be. The EPAs recent record enforcements include the largest single environmental settlement in history against American Electric Power, referring a record number of civil cases to the Department of Justice, and slapping out over 150 years in prison to violators. So, I would be interested in which blog / "documentary" you used to research your "record cuts". But, I cannot deny your Kojak-like detective abilities to determine John McCain as the Republican candidate.

    Alas, I do agree on your take of the response if the movie came out in the last 15 years. It is precisely as I said with the Bugs Bunny analogy. Wait, does this mean you agree with me? YIKES! Better swing your opinion some more to punish me.

    See you in the funny papers….tha tha tha that’s all folks!

    Chris Packham says:

    Jesus fucking Christ, Trevvy, could you, like, highlight the interesting part for me? Be a real time-saver.

    An Apalled Reader says:

    Trevy,

    Exactly what is your role in the Republican Party? Besides over the top participant that is?? You spesk in tearms of "us" and "we" as if executive party decisions are only made after a lengthy chat with you. You completely ignore the missteps made by your president and his administration. To top it off you "out" people like Limbaugh and O'Reilly who are on the whole respected as representing your asinine point of view. I need you to get a life. No...the one lived in your head does not count. You are not a politician. You are a part of a dying point of view. You enjoy your little soapbox here on the plog for as long as you can because come November Trevy...America is embracing change...go Obama!

    Trevor says:

    Come on, guys! You are bumming me out! Can't we get someone from The Pitch to bring some clever retorts? Or maybe at least edit the attempts of the others to achieve "functionally retarded" status?

    So far this is easier than shooting endangered fish...in a barrel...with my machine gun...using armor piercing tracer first amendment rounds...in my second amendment armament.

    gus says:

    trevor's pretty much wrong about everything but he's funnier than the rest of you.

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