Baby boomer humor’s big lie: “Ghostbusters” and “Caddyshack” really liberated Reagan and Wall Street
Baby boomer humors big lie: Ghostbusters and Caddyshack really liberated Reagan and Wall Street
Harold Ramis was a master of subversive comedy. But the politics of "Caddyshack" and rude gestures have backfired
I am going to start with three beloved movies of my childhood, and end with a suggestion of why liberals will probably never be able to come to grips with what they winningly call inequality. The three movies I have in mindNational Lampoons Animal House, Caddyshack, and Ghostbusterswere all written or directed, in whole or in part, by the great Harold Ramis, who died last week, and whose work was eulogized by President Obama as follows:
That seems about right, doesnt it? Each of the films I mentioned features some prudish or strait-laced patriarch who is spectacularly humiliated by a band of slobs or misfits or smart alecks. With their dick jokes and cruel insults, these movies represented, collectively, the righteous rising-up of a generation determined to get justice for the little guy. Thats why a group of prominent Democrats showed up at Ramis funeral. Its why articles about Ramis movies routinely speak of their liberating power.
So, the political equation is obvious, right? We of the left own the imagery of subversion and outsiderness. Its ours. Every time a stupid old white guy gets humiliated in a TV commercial for choosing Brand X, we know its because the people at Brand Y secretly support universal health insurance and a nice little pop in the minimum wage. Right?
Well, no. And with that acknowledgement, let me advance to my bold hypothesis: The dick joke is not always what it seems to be. The dick joke is not always your friend.
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Start with the first really great movie Ramis had a hand in writing, National Lampoons Animal House. Watching it again today, I didnt think so much of righteous defiance, or underdogs and outsiders; I thought of Wall Street. This particular iteration of Ramis martinet vs. slob theme pitsas everyone knowsa prissy, militaristic college fraternity against a fraternity where the boys like pleasure, which is to say, where they drink beer and throw parties and actually enjoy getting laid. If this basic formula doesnt strike you as particularly rebellious or even remarkable, thats because it isnt: in its simple anarchic assertion of appetite, its the philosophy of the people who rule us. Everyone is a fraud in this world; learning is a joke; sex objects are easily conned; Kennedy-style idealism is strictly for suckers; and in one telling moment, fratboy 1 remarks to fratboy 2, who is crying over the trashing of his borrowed automobile by fratboy 1 and company, You fucked up. You trusted us. What popped into my mind when I heard that line was that other great triumph of the boomer generation: the time-bomb investments of 2008; Goldman Sachs peddling its shitty deals to the naive and the credulous.
MORE AT:
http://www.salon.com/2014/03/02/baby_boomer_humors_big_lie_ghostbusters_and_caddyshack_really_liberated_reagan_and_wall_street/
tularetom
(23,664 posts)But so what? They were kids. Shame on them for wanting to drink and get laid. When in life are you supposed to act like a kid? When you're 40 and have teenage kids?
Who doesn't enjoy seeing a bunch of stuffed shirts put in their place? Just because Greg and Doug and the other wimpy country club republicans were actually pretty ineffectual, doesnt mean the Deltas all turned out to be tea partiers.
Somebody is reading waaay too much into these movies.
OnyxCollie
(9,958 posts)Bluto smashes a guy's guitar.
"Sorry about that."
Here's what's left of your guitar, buddy. Ha ha ha! I took it from you and ruined it. Too fucking bad. Go buy another.