Sunday, April 1, 2012

Being Elmo (Film #9)


Kevin Clash created a character whose sole function in life is to love you. Whether you want the furry bastard to or not.

It's bizarre - for Elmo, it is never about "me" - a point that Clash reiterates when remarking upon the emergence of "Tickle-Me Elmo" and one that I hadn't really ever considered.


My three-year-old loved Elmo; and, I predict, my one-year-old will soon start to hear the siren call of the wily wee red monster. I never really got it before, mostly because I find Elmo to be cloyingly grating to the senses.

But I get why he would appeal to children.

He is them, in many way: gentle, curious, silly, lovable, funny, inquisitive, huggable, and joyful.

But he also provides them, selflessly, the one thing they crave the most: love.

And what a market there is for that commodity in this shabby world we live in.

I honestly don't think Clash cares about the hype or the commercialism behind the Elmo machine. He loves puppetry, loves puppets, and loves entertaining. He is gifted both as a performer and as observer of human nature and human necessity. And that has made him profoundly successful in his chosen career.


But this film is not all happiness and rainbows. Clash's success as a puppeteer has come at the expense of his role as a father and husband; his regret at times in palpable. Also, the audience relives the life and death of Jim Henson, which, while profoundly sad for many, has particular poignancy for me.


He died on my birthday when I was ten or eleven.

Still, the saddest, most-heart-wrenching moments stem from the final gift that Elmo/Clash has given to numerous Make-a-Wish children. The generosity of spirit that makes those visits, that time, possible comes, I feel, primarily from Clash himself. It's a generosity that, despite the commercial juggernaut of the whole shebang, feels entirely altruistic and genuine.

And to be entirely honest...

It made me love Elmo back.

The Hunger Games (Movie #8)

Let me just get one thing straight before we commence:

Nobody in this film looks near hungry enough to merit the title.

Figure One: Lawrence has never met a squirrel she couldn't capture, kill, skin, and eat on camera.

Jennifer Lawrence, as all my male students who have seen the film assure me, is an Amazon-esque tigress with her too-puffy pace and her sturdy shoulders. They approve. When I imagined Katniss, I'll be honest, I imagined Kristen Stewart. Not the..ahem...too stoic acting bit. But the "I need about seven cheeseburgers and some milkshakes" bit.

Lawrence is a better choice.

Nobody doubts that she's skinned a squirrel before. And nobody doubts this girl's survival instincts. Stewart's Bella Swan would have lasted about seven seconds into the cornucopia (admittedly her odds would have improved if Edward were there to save her).

Lawrence's Katniss had me convinced, like Peeta's mom, that District 12 would finally have a winner.

Also working in the film's favor is Stanley Tucci, who can do very little wrong in my book.
Figure Two: Tucci is the "Host on Fire"

He humanizes a character that I didn't realize had more than one dimension. The man is genius here.

Also working for me: Rue (blessedly not played by a Pinkett or a Smith).
Figure Three: Oh, I didn't see Rue there.

I read the books, knew what was coming, and still bawled uncontrollably. When Katniss salutes District 11, I wanted to be right there with her. Not even joking.

But Tim would have mocked me endlessly.

The bad guys here are also deliciously depicted.
Keifer Sutherland is like Colonel Sanders met Roderigo Borgia. Wes Bentley has finally given up the drugs and turned himself on to some nifty facial hair clippers. Both capture the essence of their characters and remind the audience of the corruption and swift injustice of an overly controlling government and its media.
Figure Four: Sometimes there is so much beauty in the world; I just have to put it in a computer generated arena and force it to kill itself.

Less effective to me were the male leads, played by Miley Cirus's boytoy and some kid from those movies starring The Rock. The film succeeds at portraying Peeta's darker side, blurring the lines between the game and love.
Figure Five: Peeta, Peeta, Baker's Son.

In the emotional game, he's a better victor.
In terms of looks, it's not hard to see why so many girls are Team Gale.

The other uncomfortable casting decision comes in the form of Lenny Kravitz as Cinna. In every scene he's in, I felt that he was hitting on Katniss. Blech.

But whatever. It's a solid interpretation. It's not a slave to the text; it cuts some essential bits for the sake of time and flow and moves some moments from the next book for continuity and clarity sake.

I didn't have a big problem with either; but, then, I read the books when they came out and not when I heard it was being turned into a huge blockbuster that all my friends would want to see.