The Simpsons invade...

Simpsons the movie is hitting the theaters today and I have been counting down the days. And hopefully this weekend or sometime very soon I will go see it. It looks awesome.

Well, the thing I want to talk about is more the leading up to the week of the movie's release. I mean, Fox really made an effort to have every corporate tie in that the marketing department could think of. I thought Transformers marketing was bad!

First I saw Homer at Kwik Mart, formerly known as Seven Eleven. Then at Springfield Airline, formerly known as Jet Blue. And then I read about Ben & Jerry's new beer and honut ice cream called Duff & D'oh-Nuts. Just when I thought I felt maximally abused by Homer humor, the most unbelievable happened. Bazaar Magazine had a mock photo shoot with Marge and Homer. What the hell? I mean, I understand that they are trying to promote the movie but could you please stay within your target audience? Or do you really think that practically everyone is your target audience?

Well, maybe everyone does love the Simpsons but cool off the advertising will ya? I mean I have been watching the Simpsons since I was ten. I have determined over the past 20 years that I am into them and been waiting for this movie since South Park the movie came out... Now that Fox is trying soooo hard to push it down our throat, I can't help but speculate whether Simpsons have gone too Hollywood. Maybe this is why Matt Groening was hesitant to make this a movie, knew that the line between essential promotion and pimping out Homer is blurry...

Village Voice's commentary about the movie is encouraging. It is a well done Simpsons episode without pushing it too far. If only they had done the same thing with the marketing... I think we have entered a new era of Movie promotions. Corporate tie ins are becoming more and more acceptable. I would say watch out. If you do it too much, the audience will tune out the ads, like we do on TV.

Addicted to reality...

Reality TV took a big spin since Big Brother circa 2000. Before Big Brother, the innocent documentaries, home videos and game shows were the sincere form of unscripted reality. They were a nice break from the Hollywood life. Since Big Brother though, the entire world started tuning in on cameras in people's homes, watching people tangled in emotions, the more embarrassing the better. Advent of reality TV makes it legitimate to laugh at people. Unstaged or pretending to be unstaged, reality TV is one of the best inventions of the TV masterminds.

And ever since I bought a big ass TV, I am completely addicted to all kinds of shows that don't necessarily have me as their target audience. Oh the more junk the better. I don't know why the addiction. Is it the appeal of the unknown world of Heiresses of the Simple Life, the cat fights in Charm School or the teenage drama queens of The Hills? Or is it their characters' vulnerability that makes our life just feel better? Why are we drawn to people humiliating themselves in so many ways when it is on TV? I mean who does not know Chicken of the Sea joke? Is it tuna or chicken?

Currently, my favorite junk reality addictions are The Simple Life and Rock of Love (oh this is the new Charm School and maybe even better). Scott Baio "is 45 and really wanting to get married" drama also seems pretty promising. Summer season of reality TV has been a little slow. No need for despair nevertheless! The new season is kicking off pretty soon and I am sure channel executives will feed us even juicier dramas that will make my years of reality tv exposure look blend. Oh good old days when we thought Jerry Springer was bad. Oh goody! Celebrity Fit Club or Surreal Life would kick Jerry's ass any day... Sad? Hardly... It is my remote and my choice.

What's going on with South Park and Family Guy?

It is sad to admit that my ten year high school reunion is coming up... As a high school senior, I thought that by my tenth high school reunion, I would be pretty old. Well, now I feel like I was pretty young back then. So perspectives change as we get older right? Don't know really...

Well you might wonder why the title of my post is South Park and here I am blabbering about my tenth high school reunion. So, I was watching the latest South Park: Night of the Living Homeless, after a year long break due to my crappy no brand TV exploding and my refusing to replace it. My facial impressions while watching the show were waivering between a grimace and a faint smile. And I could not help but think why I was not laughing my @ss off. South Park, especially during college (+/- 2 years) has been my absolute favorite TV past time (along with Family Guy). So then I caught a new episode of Family Guy as well and yeah, same thing. I was just not laughing!

Oh my god, I thought to myself. Am I too old to appreciate South Park and Family Guy? Yikes! Then of course I had to consult with my BF on the ramifications of not finding these shows funny. BF and I both agree that our sense of humor is still impeccable. It is South Park and Family Guy that has just gotten mainstream and mundane. They just lost their edge. South Park, although as gory as before, does not tickle you with its caustic sense of humor. And with Family Guy, I am dissapointed by the writers' replacing political and cultural satire by Peter Griffin's sex life.

Then I thought again... I remembered my conversations with dad as a teenager listening to Nirvana. He, as an avid fan of Rolling Stones, Led Zepplin etc, was talking about how modern rock just was not worth listening. He called it mundane and mainstream. (Do you see the striking resemblance between my reaction to new Southpark to his reaction to new rock????) So am I getting too old to appreciate South Park or is South Park coming close to its jubile but refusing to admit? Oh chicken and egg problem...