Vanity: The "Meet the Fockers" Dilemma

Fishface | 11/09/2004 | Fishface

[Fishface]

I am conflicted about the upcoming film "Meet the Fockers." While I really enjoyed "Meet the Parents" and eagerly awaited the sequel, discovering that Barbara Streisand has been cast as Gaylord Focker's mother has sickened me in such a way that I will refuse to see it.

As the cultural war has intensified and the battle lines etched deeper, I find myself incapable of getting past my disdain of these America hating, liberal celebrities. I just can't do it anymore.

As a result, I won't see a film I was really looking forward to. Laura Ingraham is a good example of someone who can put her personal feelings about celebrities aside and still enjoy their creative output. For instance, she wrote an entire book castigating loud mouthed celebrities, but she remains a devoted fan of Pearl Jam and Eddie Vetter.

As for me, I cannot differentiate any longer, and sadly, my list of "Never Again" entertainers grows by the day. I am interested in hearing how other freepers handle this dilemma. Can you put aside your disdain aside and enjoy the entertainment for what it is or are you, like me, incapable of differentiating anymore?

[Dont Mention the War]

Find some liberal to take you out on a date to see the movie. Let them pay. Them dump them the next day.

[Tijeras_Slim]

Howdy neighbor! Put your flag on your profile page so you can bitc# about Fat Billy with the rest of us!

[BreitbartSentMe]

Well, as my sister 'The Sister' says, "you can offer it up!" Thanks for taking one for the team!

My husband and I didn't go to the Jimmy Buffet concert in San Diego that we had been looking forward to all year, just because it said in the ads that $1 from every ticket would go to Vote for Change. We also heard later that the concert was full of campaign rhetoric, so we made the right decision. STFU & SING

[Tijeras_Slim]

I won't mention remakes again... but politcally correct westerns drive me crazy.

[Spiff]

My anniversary is tomorrow night. My wife and I are going out to a movie after dinner. She wants to see "Shall we Dance". If it wasn't our anniversary, there's no way I'd go see a movie with Richard Gere, Jennifer Lopez, and Susan Sarandon - but a husband has got to do what a husband has got to do. I'll even have to refrain from making nasty comments about the actors and say I liked the movie when it is done. But, my wife is worth it. She gets what she wants.

[GoodWithBarbarians JustForKaos]

I wholeheartedly agree! I now see past their talent and am sickened to the worst degree. I can't even stand Springsteen anymore - I can hear the Liberalism in his voice. When one of these idiots comes on TV I change the channel ASAP to avoid thowing up.

[Dont Mention the War]

I'd also point out that there has only been ONE sequel in the whole history of movie-making that was worth any damn thing at all: Aliens. Every single other sequel has sucked.

Obviously you are not familiar with the classic cinematic achievement known as Cannonball Run II.

Philistine.

[Tijeras_Slim]

You're a good man Spiff.

[Xenalyte]

Dude, for making you sit through that hideousness, your wife had best put out like nobody's bidness.

[LatinaGOP]

Slim, how do I flag my profile? I've been reading FR for years, but hardly ever post. I'd love to be on the Billy bashing list. Are they ever gonna call NM for Bush or is Billy still trying to "deliver" NM for Kerry?

Sorry to get off topic everyone.

[EllaMinnow]

Just because we have chiseled abs and stunning features, it doesn't mean that we too can't not die in a freak gasoline fight accident.

[Xenalyte]

I stand corrected. How on earth could I have overlooked the depth and pathos of Reynolds' star turn? And let us never forget that Jackie Chan reprised his unforgettable role as a Mitsubishi engineer, satisfying all of us who clamored for More Engineer!

[Tijeras_Slim]

Click on your name at the bottom of one of your posts and you'll get your profile page. Click on "you can edit this page" and go from there. When someone posts to the state board, it will show up on your browse page.

Billy is trying to deliver NM for Billy 2008... Kerry is just the tool.

[Kiss Me Hardy]

But we would get a nice statue to honor our memories and contributions to a better, nicer world.

[Dont Mention the War]

I say enjoy the art while dismissing the artist (as I'll generously call actors). Why should you deny yourself entertainment because of the perversity of the actors who are but a vehicle for the story? Music lovers have long since resolved their adoration for Wagner's operas with their contempt for his worldview. On a much lower artistic level, we can surely ignore an actor's supine philosophy while enjoying a flick.

The difference is that Wagner is dead and will not profit in any way from our enjoyment of his creations. Babs, on the other hand, will profit directly from every ticket we buy, especially if she's got points on the back end (which she probably does).

[EllaMinnow]

Did you think I'd be too stupid to know what a eugoogoly was?

[Question Liberal Authority]

The question isn't whether The Godfather Part II is superior to The Godfather Part I. Your contention was that every single sequel in the whole history of movie-making was not worth any damn thing at all. It seems to me that Godfather Part II is at least a passable movie.

The same could be said for Star Trek II, IV and VI.

[HitmanLV]

A little sense of humor goes a long way, I think. You can still like Dubya and find some ribbing funny - the Cady Huffman 'love scene' where Larry loses the loving feeling because she has a particularly starry eyed picture of President Bush in her dressing room is very funny, whether we are GOPers, Dems, or not.

There are plenty of themes I don't care for that creep into all sorts of dramas and comedies - adultery, drug use, alcoholism, promiscuity, etc. That's not to say that those things can't be funny in the right context. When something crosses the line (entirely a judgment call that I make unilaterally), I get alienated, though never angry.

A good example is 'Pleasantville,' which is a terrible psychological bloodletting for its creators. Adultery adds 'color' to a housewife's life. A heavy handed and clumsy methaphor for segregation. Etc. I turned off the film after 40 minutes - it was AWFUL entirely on its own merits. The themes were handle terribly.

Another example are some Cheech & Chong films, which while certainly crude do get a lot of laughs and mileage by making fun of drug and alcohol abuse, larceny, etc. They don't particularly offend me, but that's not to say I endorse any of that behavior.

So I know what you mean, though - as the ribbing becomes increasingly condescending it becomes alienating. When the themes explored become pervasive and obnoxious, it is alienating too. The creative types who have pushed that far are people I normally didn't support anyway.

So just cut some slack - life is a lot easier that way, I find.

[LatinaGOP]

I figured it out. Thanks, Slim!

[beezdotcom]

I really had a hard time watching Finding Nemo with my kids, thanks to Ellen Degeneres doing the voice of one of the characters. I had an even harder time explaining why I was having a hard time watching it. Thankfully, she didn't get the opportunity to turn comedy into activism in the movie (i.e., she didn't get the chance to ruin it, like she did her TV sitcom.)