Sunday, December 29, 2013

Sunday movie: Zoolander

I've decided I've got to organize more leisure time into my schedule. Watching more movies and generally enjoying more great storytelling sounds appealing.

When you think "great storytelling," you probably don't think "Zoolander," but that was at the top of Netflix's suggestions when I clicked "cult movies." And I did want to see the origin of the famous GIF that's been modified a million ways. (It was so, so worth it to see that in context.)

I do think there's an issue of do-gooders' winkiness here (in which the perpetrators know there's a problem, know they're a part of it, and base jokes on their complicity, a syndrome well-captured by this headline: SNL Does A Skit About Having No Black Women, But Will They Hire One?). Zoolander is jam-packed with various cameo artists communicating "We know! Sweatshops that fuel our industry are bad!" It's mostly funny, but I could understand if audiences in Malaysia rolled their eyes at the parade of apparent back-patting.

That said, baby steps. There's a lot of unapologetic ridiculousness that we're loving. There are some actually interesting visuals (Zoolander's art hanging in his apartment was surprisingly fascinating). And there are more than enough clever laughs that we want to finish it. We're only halfway through but I think there's probably not much more that I'd want to add to this.  It's been around since 2001, but if you're like me and haven't watched it yet (and haven't been GIF-curious enough to do so yet), I recommend it.