Identifying The Stigma

The British (but widely-exported) TV show Top Gear has been in the news this week. Host Jeremy Clarkson has been suspended after his latest incident of bad behaviour.  That's been followed by an on-line campaign from fans to have him returned.  Clarkson appears to be following the same cycle of public offence and forgiveness as Don Cherry and Rush Limbaugh.  Each is fuelled by a fan following in their respective countries that loves their idol more than they're willing to admit, and a public that has a short memory.

It's reminded me that I've been meaning to revive my lapsed attempt at a regular feature, Things I Should Like, But Don't, examining things that seem to be right down my pop-cultural avenue, but that I somehow don't appreciate.

I Should Like:
Top Gear 
 
Why should I like it?
Cars, sarcasm, British humour: there haven't been three things I like this much in one TV show since Sex, Toys, and Chocolate. (Which I didn't like either.)

Why don't I like it?
The problem is that Clarkson and friends don't understand the Jon Stewart Principal of Televised Snark:

• If you're going to be very critical of people and things, you'd better back it up with evidence.
• Being widely critical is easier to take if it's served up with a big dose of self-deprication. 

Dry British sarcastic humour rides a knife edge: when combined with a righteous cause, it can be highly cathartic. But when applied arbitrarily, it comes off as sadistic. And that's my problem with Top Gear. Rather than being interesting or informative, it just seems like three guys being jerks because they can. What could be a fun skewering of the absurdities of modern cars devolves into Simon Cowell Goes Driving.

Things I Should Like #2

I Should Like
Futurama

Why should I like it?
A fish-out-of-water sci-fi comedy, it's basically The Simpsons meets The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a combination of my two favourite humour franchises of the twentieth century.

Why don't I like it?
It's really just too goofy. While the Simpsons and the Hitchhiker's Guide usually had a societal commentary just beneath their surreal surfaces, Futurama always comes across as just a bunch of silliness. There's nothing wrong with that (hello, Family Guy) but it's just not what you would expect given its pedigree and following. And although I know it is a favourite of the geek community, it always seems like it's more broadly focussed. It's less a clever spoof of sci-fi than a broad spoof of what normal people think sci-fi consists of.

And then there's Fry. I've never really liked the dumb-protagonist kind of comedy, but it particularly doesn't work when you have a silly guy in a silly world; Fry seems more at home in the future than he does in his home time. But speaking of silliness, it's always interesting how many characters in the Simpsons aren't that funny (quick, think of a funny line from Marge.) That show seems to understand the value of The Straight Man. In Futurama, all the characters act as clowns, with no one to bounce off of.

Things I Should Like But Don't

I often fit neatly into stereotypes of subcultures, most notably geek and hipster, as I've referred to before.  Yet, there are times I don't even fit into the stereotypical expectations of a person like me.  In this new semi-regular feature, I'll explore people, places, and things that a person like me should like, but I don't.  I don't usually hate these things, I just don't like them.

I Should Like:

Will Ferrell

Why should I like him?

He takes a more understated approach to comedy than the goofy, mean-spirited clowning that's become the norm.

Why don't I like him?

I'm not entirely sure.  For one thing, people who never drop their persona have always creeped me out (Jack Black and Bill Murray could make the list too.)  But I think a big part of it is that he has somehow set himself up with such a reputation for being funny that he doesn't really have to do anything any more.  Just going through the motions of appearances is enough to make audiences laugh hysterically.  Good for him, but I just don't enjoy watching it.

So This is Halloween

I suppose I should like Halloween.  It's like the dark counter-weight to Christmas: less uptight, no relentless pressure to be having a good time, and ultimately with more giving.  And yet, I don't seem to get it.

See, whenever I hear an adult reminisce about their wonderful memories about childhood, they always emphasise how great it was to pretend.  For this one day, a child can be anything they want.  And to that I say, isn't that pretty much every day for children.  If, as a child, I wanted to pretend I was something I wasn't, I just did it.  I didn't wait for one day a year to get all my imaginary stuff in at once.

If anything, Halloween seemed to be a curtailing of a child's imagination, since you have this vague limitation on what you could choose to be.  You were encouraged to be something scary.  But not something really scary, just scary-flavoured.  You could be a ghost or a witch or one of a number of other things children never voluntarily pretend to be.  But if you want to pretend you're a three-armed alien from Alpha Centauri, people will look at you funny.  Save that for, well, tomorrow.