During the last two weeks, South Park creators Matt Stone and Trey Parker have been pushing some boundaries and provoking outrage among the Muslim community. Known for their willingness to make fun of and and all sacred cows, Stone and Parker's two most recent episode continues this trend by bringing back some story lines from earlier episodes (such as Mecha Streisand, Tom Cruise, and Scott Tenorman). They also attempted to depict the prophet Muhammad, but due to the Islamic communities problem with the image of Muhammad, were forced to censor his image or hide him in a bear suit. After the first episode in the two part series, the website revolutionmuslim.com posted this thinly veiled threat on its website:
"We have to warn Matt and Trey that what is they are doing is stupid and they will probably end up like Theo Van Gogh for airing this show. This is not a threat, but the warning of a reality of what will likely happen to them."
This has created a wellspring of internet talk regarding the limits and importance of the freedom of speech. The creator of revolutionmuslim.com claims that Stone and Parker may end up with a fate similar to that of Theo Van Gogh, the Dutch film maker who was killed after doing a documentary about Islam. Parker and Stone were not deterred and turned the second episode in the series in, complete with images of Muhammad, which were then censored by Comedy Central as a response to the above statement.
So the question is whether Comedy Central acted responsibly by editing the show? Or should they have let the show air as Stone and Parker intended it to? What does this censorship say about the state of the freedome of speech in our country at the moment?
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Sunday, April 18, 2010
13: PIXAR YAY!
Pixar has a relatively small output over the last 15 years but each of their films is as good as the last. Many get noticed for awards and earn them with their strong sense of ethics and entertainment that they lace each of their films with. In terms of contemporary animated film studios Pixar is the one that continues to put out great films that do not rely on typical genre motifs and break animation codes.
Remember Toy Story? That was awesome. The story of Buzz and Woody getting to know each other and learning more about themselves, becoming self aware is a theme that accentuates what Pixar is known for: creating stories that interest and educate the viewers.
Toy Story 2? The greatness continued as we see Buzz and Woody's relationship blossom overcome adversity. Pixar continues to produce films with these brilliant analyses of the human condition, such as Wall-E, Up and Monsters Inc. They probe the minds of the post modern audience.
Remember Toy Story? That was awesome. The story of Buzz and Woody getting to know each other and learning more about themselves, becoming self aware is a theme that accentuates what Pixar is known for: creating stories that interest and educate the viewers.
Toy Story 2? The greatness continued as we see Buzz and Woody's relationship blossom overcome adversity. Pixar continues to produce films with these brilliant analyses of the human condition, such as Wall-E, Up and Monsters Inc. They probe the minds of the post modern audience.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Sunday, April 4, 2010
9: Stop Motion Animation
In class we watched Nick Park's Creature Comforts, and although this short is rather genius in it's use of real interviews to voice the animals in the cages, it is not Park's most famous work. The Wallace and Gromit series, consisting of A Close Shave, The Wrong Trousers, and A Grand Day Out have gained world wide recognition and even led to Park's creation of a feature film: Wallace and Gromit; The Curse of the Were-Rabbit. These claymation works really emphasize the virtuosity of Park and his unique story telling ability involving Wallace's unique relation with his non-speaking, but nonetheless anthropomorphic dog, Gromit.
The whole series is very entertaining and I have loved them since I was a kid. Whether going to the moon to get cheese, confusing pants, or thwarting heists, Wallace and Gromit continually amuses and entertains. I have always been amazed that Gromit doesn't talk. In a Disney version of these stories Gromit most definitely would be a speaking dog, and the conversations between he and Wallace would have been inane at best.
A few years ago Park's studio burned down, losing many of the original sets that had been designed for the films, a tragic loss for stop motion animation. These miniatures were incredibly intricate and must have taken hours to make. Furthermore, the audiences of the shows could definitely tell that these sets were miniature, but due to the claymation animation, most could easily look past the less than perfect animation and use their imagination to look deeper within the cartoons for the essence underneath.
The whole series is very entertaining and I have loved them since I was a kid. Whether going to the moon to get cheese, confusing pants, or thwarting heists, Wallace and Gromit continually amuses and entertains. I have always been amazed that Gromit doesn't talk. In a Disney version of these stories Gromit most definitely would be a speaking dog, and the conversations between he and Wallace would have been inane at best.
A few years ago Park's studio burned down, losing many of the original sets that had been designed for the films, a tragic loss for stop motion animation. These miniatures were incredibly intricate and must have taken hours to make. Furthermore, the audiences of the shows could definitely tell that these sets were miniature, but due to the claymation animation, most could easily look past the less than perfect animation and use their imagination to look deeper within the cartoons for the essence underneath.
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