Unsolicited Opinion Time

And now for the part that everyone loves about blogging: unsolicited opinions! Everyone's got opinions, and rarely do people care about what other people's are. But hey, it's free, so I might as well "express" myself, right?

Well, anyway, I somehow got the thought into my head that I would write about why I don't love Avatar: The Last Airbender. No, I don't hate it. But I should love it. Why? I suppose because everyone else seems to, but also because Avatar seems like something that would be precisely the kind of thing that I love. And I have tried hard to love it, but all I come out with is a resounding "eh, it's pretty good".

I suppose a bit of backstory is necessary for those uninitiated. It's a show on Nickelodeon, but not like the other cartoons. It's a dramatic fantasy serial about a land where people have the ability to manipulate the basic elements, kind of like Pyro or Iceman from X-Men. And the big Dalai Lama type figure is called the Avatar. He's reincarnated and has the power to use all the elements, whereas most other people can only manipulate one.

The show is in a "sort of" anime style, and features heavy use of Chinese (no, not Japanese) and eastern cultural aspects throughout. Which is what first turned me off from the show. However, I have to admit on having watched for a decent amount of time that despite the co-opting of culture, it's done in a tasteful fashion. So that mark against it can be wiped away, albeit not forgotten entirely.

Now, the main villains of the show are the Fire Nation, who apparently went all Napoleon on the world and are trying to conquer the whole thing. Each element has its own nation, water, air, fire, earth, etc. Now the Avatar is supposed to be the great prophet that is able to bring balance to the force-- er, to the elements.

The problem is that the Avatar is only 12 years old, didn't receive proper training, and was frozen in a block of ice while all the conquering happened. So he's gotta learn all the elements while at the same time fight back the evil empire.

Now, I'm sure as you're able to tell, this is a lot different than most of the shows Nickelodeon has put forth before. It's serial, it's an action-adventure, it's molded in the same fashion as, say, Dragonball Z or Naruto. However, it's better than those two. Despite being anime-like, it doesn't always fall back on the usual shorthand of silly faces and sweatdrops and fanservice. The characters are all treated with some degree of respect, even those who serve for comic relief. And the plots are remarkably mature; last night I watched an episode about an Orwellian city where the denizens are prohibited from talking about the looming war outside their walls.

And even though there are a few disabled characters, they are treated as actual people rather than simply as their ailments. One character in particular, the blind girl, isn't presented as the nicest girl on earth who has overcome her adversity. She's a rich, spoiled brat, who's actually got some degree of depth. There was some episode with a kid in a wheelchair (and yes, I know it sounds cheesy), but it too was handled quite well and maturely, rather than the "very special episode" style you'd find in, say, Transformers and whatever kid was in that show with a wheelchair. Or that kid in the Burger King Kids Club that had the wheelchair. You'll note that I can't remember their names, because all they were was their wheelchair. They were token additions. Now, the reason I can't remember blind girl's name is something entirely different, I assure you! It's because I'm bad with names.

Anyway, the show reminds me of adventure serials like Tintin, the films of Miyazaki, and epic adventure trilogies like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, etc. But the thing is, it always feels, to me at least, very "inspired by". I see all these elements which I've described and which I really like, but the impact of the show seems to be wanting. There are all these great aspects to the show that would look like a great list of features if I were to put them down on paper, but they somehow fail to gel into something great. It is merely something good. I can list plenty of shows that it is better than, and reasons why, but I just can't seem to bring myself to bring a complete damn about it. I certainly respect what the creators are doing, and the impeccable choice in inspirations that they've chosen, but when it comes to the finished product it lacks punch.

Of course, that's a very vague thing to say, and I need to actually identify what about the show it is that lacks such punch. I want to like the show very badly! But for some reason, my attention is always pulled away when watching. It doesn't grab me as much as it should. So that's what I'll chat about next time.

Pixel art is alive and well

Mario in blue and white chalk on brick

Song analysis- "I'm Impressed"

For illustration.

I'm Impressed is the first track on They Might Be Giants' new album, The Else. I didn't terribly care for it when I first heard it, but on further listening I've grown to really like it. What I didn't quite get from my first listen was the anti-war rhetoric that's included. It's not terribly overt, so I don't think it was a big miss on my part to interpret it very literally; I thought it was about a guy who was impressed by a film he was watching with terrifying special effects. However, the song has some decidedly military notes to it- the idea of a "Torpedo in a vest" barking orders, for example, is of course intended as some sort of member of military brass. And Generalissimo is, of course, very obvious.

"I find that my head's nodding yes though my legs are not following"- this I saw as the idea of a chickenhawk, someone who urges a nation towards going to a war without willing to participate or having participated himself. "I'm inspired by events to remember the exits in back of me" reminds me of those democratic senators who first voted for the war, but now wish to get some kind of exit plan.

"On the one hand he'll give you five good reasons to follow him." This is a message of coercion, the "five good reasons" are the fingers of the Generalissimo curled up into a fist.

"On the other hand you see nobody leaving the stadium"- this line I admit has been colored by my viewing of the video. The idea that, if you do follow the Generalissimo's orders, you're going to wind up dead anyway. It's the damned if you do, damned if you don't situation. Or the idea that if you go off to war, you're going to stay there for a while, perhaps permanently.

"When that torpedo from the west crushes buildings I'm impressed"- this line I see as having to do with the Shock and Awe campaign at the beginning of the Iraq War, the idea that the military is so impressive it's like a force of nature. But a tornado is also unguided, and destroys everything in it's path. Similar thought goes with the "Godzilla" line.

Then there's the "Torpedo in a vest barks his orders" line. This is the embodiment of a weapon in human form, a person who's so military that he has become like himself a weapon, with little other purpose in life. It's an alarming thought.

And of course, attention must be paid to the song's title. "I'm Impressed" has a double meaning. To be impressed means to be forced into military service, like the British navy did in ports in the 17th century. The song's lyrics are about being manipulated by propaganda into military service, through impressive and frightening images. So, while there's no actual draft for this war, the message remains the same: that coercion remains the primary motivator for instigating a war and driving the people to fight, and I don't think it's unfair at all to say that this song was likely inspired by recent events.

Near the end is a military drum cadence, which reinforces the militaristic theme.

And now for a few comments about the video. (Damn, it's hard not to say I'm impressed now that the phrase is stuck in my head.) I think it's damn good, particularly because it doesn't take the lyrics too literally and put them on screen. It's an interpretation of the text, and really, what is a better image of militarism than the Romans? Roman robots with tanks and airplanes, I love it. The robots I think are there to give the video the necessary ironic distance that They Might Be Giants provide to their material, and also helps us distance ourselves from the bloodshed occurring. But we still don't expect the blood, heaps of it, mounds of it, coming from robots. I think that's what makes the video so disturbing, we expect that robots will simply be chopped up like machines into metal shavings, but there's just so much blood and gore.

I've watched it many times, and I still think it's absolutely perfect for the song. It doesn't try too hard to relate to the current war, but instead delves into the past (and the future) in order to create a world that's different yet similar to ours, in order to show how little has changed. Today's military conflicts are like the gladiatorial combats of old, and one who propagates this violence will find it returned to their selves, as the generalissimo receives at the end of the video. And one can't help but think of Julius Caesar's assassination.

The one boggling thing to me is the generalissimo's wife. She appears for just about half a second, and seems to be something used to pacify the populace. It's an awkward little scene, as she looks back and sees the pile of gore on the arena floor, and the crowd suddenly stops cheering. I'm not quite sure what to make of it.

Then again, maybe Garfield is depressing enough by itself

Garfield randomizer fun!











For some reason, I was drawn to make the most depressing Garfields ever. And for some reason, I find this hilarious.