Juno and my opinions on the American public in regards to cinema and beyond

Here's my first movie review. ever. For no other reason besides I got the soundtrack for my birthday over a month ago and I'm listening to it for the first time right now. The first thing that comes to mind is GILMORE FUCKING GIRLS.

I HATE THAT SHOW. With every fiber in my body. In all truth, it's definitely not the WORST show out there (see Surreal Life, Deal or no Deal, Dog the Bounty Hunter, and most anything on the WB). But the dialogue in Juno reminds me a lot of that show. I guess it's just replicating that trademark quick quip way of speaking.

I'm sure a lot of people out there are big fans of not being able to follow such an unnatural way of speech that makes your head spin and threatens to make your brain explode with frustration overload, but I'm not one of them. It's weird and creepy. Anyway, the point is, Juno isn't QUITE as bad as that shit storm of a show, but it's definitely toeing the line. It was funny but a little "too" quirky for me. Accidental teenage pregnancy is always a barrel of laughs, and Ellen Page is pretty cool. I liked her in "Hard Candy" (which I also had high hopes for that were sort of dashed), but she did a good job and I hope to see her in more things. She has a cute face that I would like to see more of in movies to come.

I hate the Hollywood idea of cashing in on a good idea by shoving it down our throats again and again as fast as they can until the public decides that they're tired of seeing Will Ferrell or that weird fat guy who became the "Magic Man" in sports comedies with a rotating supporting cast, or now the new Michael Cera or that other fat guy with the curly hair duo. The American public in general depresses the crap out of me in terms of accepting and embracing such obvious uncreativity and trash. Everything has to be quick, easy, microwaveable and flashing neon to become a part of society. Whatever happened to anything from honest and simple stories or even unbelievable fictions of such imagination trips, just stories that were concocted with honesty from the heart and mind? Revelations of true life beyond the McDonaldization of the world or exploration of the human psyche?

I suppose the argument that "everything has already been done" has some validation, but then why would anyone even still try to accomplish anything in a creative realm? It's going back to Eastern religious philosophies of achieving Nirvana, or even Western ideas of Christianity. Just because the "answers" are not attainable in life doesn't mean you shouldn't STRIVE for them regardless. I suppose we're all guilty of being lazy and leaving the responsibility of presenting ideas to the world to someone else.

Back to Juno. It wasn't a bad movie. I liked it. I laughed at some parts. And for the most part, I'm enjoying the soundtrack. It's very easy listening, and I like the director's notes in the CD booklet. He describes it as "a patchwork of homemade sounds made by teenagers whose senses of humor and honesty rang through the crappy tape recorder they used to capture their chicken-scratch lyrics." I think that's a pretty appropriate description for this very heavy Kimya Dawson (of the Moldy Peaches) CD, along with Sonic Youth, Buddy Holly, the Velvet Underground, etc. Also it definitely makes me want to fulfill my dream of getting a keyboard and starting a surf-themed vampire band called Fang Loose.

One day it will happen. Until then, I'll leave the patchwork teenage music to someone else.