Posted by Darth Dobbin at 234.11.pool.outpost.com on February 10, 2000 at 13:58:13:
In Reply to: Crappy Crap, crap cray posted by BrianLynch on February 10, 2000 at 12:38:52:
just because something is cheesy or schmalty, or obvious, does not invalidate it as a candidate for being something that "speaks to you."
You could understand, on a theoretical and analytical level, precisely why and how and given piece of film, or book, or whatever, may be derivative, or inelegantly executed. However, the odd quirks and contours of the human spirit are such that one man's utter crap is another's epiphany. One need only look so far as a certain "M" movie to see this dread principle in action.
Personally, I weep like a baby at the end of the admittedly dreadful BEST OF THE BEST, with Eric Roberts and James Earl Jones. I understand full well that it is *not* a good movie. But, for whatever reason, that scene, like the doctor's hammer on my knee, always illicts the same response. We are all wired (or programmed, maybe) with certain aesthetics, that may or may not contain a vulnrability to certain flavors of cheese.
Lynch,you, like me, are a sucker for anything Muppet- they speak to a sense of wonder and innocence, mixed with the right amount of "magic" to be something meaningful. I have friends who think the muppets are, and I quote, "gay as fuck." Similarly, I have a friend who is so into ANY Disney ANYTHING that it is almost a religion. I personally feel that Bugs Bunny could kick the ass of every character in the Disney Pantheon without breaking a sweat.
It all boils down to figuring out what kind of a cheese you are, and undertanding that whatever schmaltzy thing that gets to you might not get to others.
I even know people who think that CLERKS was awful, and MALLRATS sucked. But, honestly, *they* are just assholes.