That Mithchell and Webb Look

Despite my intentions when I started this blog, I've only written one movie review thus far, nothing on books or TV shows. Really, this speaks to my habit of only sharing things that I think are worthy and possibly a bit overlooked. Why would I set myself up on a soap box, just to echo pop-trends and group-think? With that in mind, I present this clip from That Mitchell and Webb Look, which is both thematically relevant and representative of the better aspects of British Comedy.

Search Amazon.com for Mitchell and Webb

Search Amazon.com for That Mitchell and Webb Look

Religious satire of this sort, is generally lacking from US television, a victim of political correctness. Not that there's a real dearth of such content, but the reality is that, religion and irreligion are both marginalized in throughout the mainstream pop-culture, altho there remains a pro-Christian bias. Essentially, a sort of secular compromise has been made, which I think undermines the national dialog.

I think we've lost much to political correctness and a lack of intelligence in the media. Yes, the geek & nerd subculture has gone mainstream, but the american mainstream doesn't celebrate critical thought, and intelligence is unfortunately equated with the recitation of trivia. (I think Jon Stewart has been so wildly successful, because he bucks the trend.)

Anyway, my points are ─ That Mitchell and Webb Look is definitely worth a look ─ and we, Americans, need to learn to be tolerant of others exercising their right to speech, with the understanding we can always change the channel, if we want to have some truly world-class television.

Review: The Invention of Lying

The Invention of Lying has the feel of a British comedy, led by Ricky Gervais but supported by an altogether American cast. Perhaps because Gervais was co-writer & director, the supporting actors somehow have a fish-out-water feel, meanwhile the lone Brit is the only character that seems solid within the movie's alternate reality.

Within that reality, the human race lacks the ability for creative abstraction- lying. Most strikingly, this means there's no religion and no concept of fiction. That's as far as the concept is taken, because ultimately, the film isn't about our ability to imagine or tell lies. Taken to a fully literal and logical end, you'd have to wonder at the fact the human race was able to spread and develop to the same technological level we have, without the ability to first imagine something that doesn't presently exist.