MAN #1: Hey, you got your peanut butter on my monkey!
MAN #2: Hey, you got your monkey in my peanut butter!
BOTH: Hmmm...
ANNOUNCER: Try Rhesus Peanut Butter Cups.
Friday, December 22, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Just Look At The Title
Everyone discusses how George Lucas' recently-completed Star Wars prequels are a commentary on George W. Bush's Presidency. (Well, for a given value of "everyone" and "recently-completed", that is. And "discusses", come to think of it.) Palpatine manufactures a war, then uses it as an excuse to claim dictatorial powers, et cetera, et cetera.
But recently, it struck me that 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' is a far more incisive, and indeed prescient commentary on Dubya's two terms. Jones, the protagonist who serves as an analogy to George W. Bush, is a man who has a somewhat shaky reputation in his chosen field, and who lives in the shadow of his famous, emotionally distant father (who named his son after himself.) Encouraged by a group of major figures in the field who are closer in age to his father (many characters in the film, including Brody and the Grail Knight at the end, serve as metaphors for Bush Senior's contemporaries in government), he embarks on a quest for the legendary Holy Grail that eluded his father his entire career (in this case, peace in the Middle East and a stable, democratic Iraq.)
Indy/Bush goes to Europe, and romances the same beautiful, bewitching, treacherous siren that seduced his father (presumably, this is a metaphor for the Presidency and the American people, unless we someday discover something about Barbara Bush that I, personally, never ever ever ever want to know.) He is both helped and hindered in his quest for the Grail by various Middle Eastern powers, and finally winds up leading his forces to the heart of the desert land himself. After a series of battles in which he vanquishes a military power, he finds himself involved in a series of more complex tests. Eventually, he finds the Grail, reconciles himself with his father, and seems poised for victory...
But he winds up screwing up, lets the beautiful woman and the Holy Grail plummet into a bottomless, murky pit for all eternity, needs to be rescued by his dad, and winds up devastating the entire region while an old guy glares at him disapprovingly. Then, seemingly oblivious to his total failure, he rides off into the sunset like he's accomplished the mission he set for himself.
It's downright eerie.
But recently, it struck me that 'Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade' is a far more incisive, and indeed prescient commentary on Dubya's two terms. Jones, the protagonist who serves as an analogy to George W. Bush, is a man who has a somewhat shaky reputation in his chosen field, and who lives in the shadow of his famous, emotionally distant father (who named his son after himself.) Encouraged by a group of major figures in the field who are closer in age to his father (many characters in the film, including Brody and the Grail Knight at the end, serve as metaphors for Bush Senior's contemporaries in government), he embarks on a quest for the legendary Holy Grail that eluded his father his entire career (in this case, peace in the Middle East and a stable, democratic Iraq.)
Indy/Bush goes to Europe, and romances the same beautiful, bewitching, treacherous siren that seduced his father (presumably, this is a metaphor for the Presidency and the American people, unless we someday discover something about Barbara Bush that I, personally, never ever ever ever want to know.) He is both helped and hindered in his quest for the Grail by various Middle Eastern powers, and finally winds up leading his forces to the heart of the desert land himself. After a series of battles in which he vanquishes a military power, he finds himself involved in a series of more complex tests. Eventually, he finds the Grail, reconciles himself with his father, and seems poised for victory...
But he winds up screwing up, lets the beautiful woman and the Holy Grail plummet into a bottomless, murky pit for all eternity, needs to be rescued by his dad, and winds up devastating the entire region while an old guy glares at him disapprovingly. Then, seemingly oblivious to his total failure, he rides off into the sunset like he's accomplished the mission he set for himself.
It's downright eerie.
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
I Wish It Was Real
(Int. Hospital Room. A PATIENT is lying on the bed, very near to death, attended by a DOCTOR.)
DOCTOR: I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid...there's nothing more we can do. What religion are you?
PATIENT: I'm...a strict Calvinist, sir.
DOCTOR: I'll send the priest in immediately.
(The DOCTOR leaves. After a moment, a PRIEST enters.)
PRIEST: It is time, my son. Have you led a virtuous life?
PATIENT: Yes, Father.
PRIEST: Have you fought the temptations of evil?
PATIENT: Yes, Father.
PRIEST: Have you touched all seventeen bases while holding the Calvinball and hopping on one foot?
PATIENT: Seventeen? There were only sixteen bases!
PRIEST: You forgot about the super-secret base, then? Oh, dear. I'm afraid that means you're going to be damned to Hell for all eternity.
PATIENT: But you forgot to sing all the verses of the Tiger song, so that means that today is Opposite Day! Which means I'm really going to Heaven!
PRIEST (relieved): Then go, my child.
(The PATIENT closes his eyes, and expires. After a moment, his spirit rises ethereally from his body, moving up through the ceiling of the room to where an anthropomorphic TIGER is waiting next to a cardboard box turned on its side. Through the cardboard box, a light can be seen.)
TIGER: Step into the light, my child, for it is the transcendent and ethereal passage to Heaven and all the wonders within.
PATIENT: But I thought that this was the Celestial Chariot, in which the Great Prophets traveled to Earth to deliver their tidings of hope and joy?
TIGER: That was when it was right side up. Now it's on its side.
PATIENT: Oh.
(He passes through the arch. For a moment, he hesitates...but the TIGER pounces on him, sending him tumbling through.)
ANNOUNCER: Won't you consider the Church of Calvin? We believe in virtue, hope, truth, and not eating gross stuff at dinner.
The Church of Calvin: Now allowing girls!*
*Except for Susie Jenkins.
DOCTOR: I'm sorry, sir, but I'm afraid...there's nothing more we can do. What religion are you?
PATIENT: I'm...a strict Calvinist, sir.
DOCTOR: I'll send the priest in immediately.
(The DOCTOR leaves. After a moment, a PRIEST enters.)
PRIEST: It is time, my son. Have you led a virtuous life?
PATIENT: Yes, Father.
PRIEST: Have you fought the temptations of evil?
PATIENT: Yes, Father.
PRIEST: Have you touched all seventeen bases while holding the Calvinball and hopping on one foot?
PATIENT: Seventeen? There were only sixteen bases!
PRIEST: You forgot about the super-secret base, then? Oh, dear. I'm afraid that means you're going to be damned to Hell for all eternity.
PATIENT: But you forgot to sing all the verses of the Tiger song, so that means that today is Opposite Day! Which means I'm really going to Heaven!
PRIEST (relieved): Then go, my child.
(The PATIENT closes his eyes, and expires. After a moment, his spirit rises ethereally from his body, moving up through the ceiling of the room to where an anthropomorphic TIGER is waiting next to a cardboard box turned on its side. Through the cardboard box, a light can be seen.)
TIGER: Step into the light, my child, for it is the transcendent and ethereal passage to Heaven and all the wonders within.
PATIENT: But I thought that this was the Celestial Chariot, in which the Great Prophets traveled to Earth to deliver their tidings of hope and joy?
TIGER: That was when it was right side up. Now it's on its side.
PATIENT: Oh.
(He passes through the arch. For a moment, he hesitates...but the TIGER pounces on him, sending him tumbling through.)
ANNOUNCER: Won't you consider the Church of Calvin? We believe in virtue, hope, truth, and not eating gross stuff at dinner.
The Church of Calvin: Now allowing girls!*
*Except for Susie Jenkins.
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