#and then it's spanish and I have some aphorisms. Nice.

[denimbex1986]

'Honestly, I had no interest in seeing this movie originally, simply by virtue of the billboard featuring an explosion. This implied that the film would be an action movie, about the nuclear bomb, as told by the American side. It seemed like poor taste. I imagined Nolan being his usual anti-special effects self and opting for a real nuclear bomb to be built and dropped on Japan again. Then he could shoot the impact and fallout in his favorite high-quality film stock and make it look cool. I really wasn't interested, but I went to the matinée anyway. Imagine my surprise when it went an entirely different route, but in equally bad taste.

Oppenheimer begins in cliché. There's a large traumatic event- an explosion of some sort, followed by a sweaty character waking up, or coming back from PTSD-enforced mediation. This is our first introduction to Cillian Murphy's blank face that we'll see using the same expression throughout the rest of the film. Have a good memory for faces? No? Fine, you don't need to. A nice chunk of this film cuts between poorly written quip and Cillian looking blank to quip and Cillian looking blankly at something else with his mouth slightly agape. Reader, I hope we've brushed up on Soviet montage theory recently, as you should know when you're being manipulated. Naturally, if a film's opening shot is cliché, there's absolutely no chance that it'll take a wild turn towards originality in later minutes. The entirety of the film is a series of empty aphorisms, contrived metaphors and visual analogies that first-graders, let alone theoretical physicists, would find condescending. Marbles in a fishbowl? I felt patronized. Proving genius by scrawling wildly on a chalkboard? Shame on you.

Oppenheimer's political wavering might have stabilized had he read his contemporary, Orwell, on matters like the Spanish Civil War. Nolan's use of dying metaphors and the like might similarly have improved had he read Orwell as well. Oppenheimer is rife with "metaphors which have lost all evocative power and are merely used because they save people the trouble of inventing phrases for themselves." One phrase that Orwell mentions, "toe the line," is even used verbatim in the film. I doubt that Nolan wrote this line with knowledge of the phrase's meaning, which is, as Orwell would phrase it, a "sure sign that the writer is not interested in what he is saying".

We are told repeatedly that Oppenheimer is, at least early in his career, a communist. Short of him telling us that he has some interest in the professors unionizing, there's no substantive understanding of what his politics were, or why. Considering that his history of leftist involvement is what gets him a good ole fashioned kangaroo McCarthy court, and is the central dramatic device for the whole film, Nolan might have done well to explain the philosophy behind Oppenheimer's beliefs, beyond family proximity and a desire to get laid. Instead, exposition is drowned out by music. It's too loud. Subtitled audiences are at an advantage against those of us who were subjected to the whims of the sound mixer. Every time a truly dramatic or thoughtful scene came on, the score would bump up and up, drowning out something politically nuanced or robustly scientific. The actors might have done well to yell over the music, at least it would have forced them to emote more. The bits of Science™ that we do get to hear are pop science, a stoner's understanding of the golden ratio, but for particle physics.

Nothing in the film is aided by the editing, either, which seems to have taken its pacing from Rick and Morty's Interdimensional Cable Quick Mystery segment, as hastily realized by the editor from Battlefield Earth.

As a character study, it fails. The writing for every character is the same. One of them drinks more, one of them throws flowers in the trash, one of them has an accent that makes some question his loyalty to the project. Everyone says Oppenheimer is an asshole. We only know this because we're told that he is. Yes, he's curt, but so is his lover who throws his flowers away. This botanical quirk could have easily been applied to our protagonist, his wife, his colleagues, even his brother. Nothing anyone does is particular to their character as individuals. However, only a true asshole would look at New Mexico and think, "we should bomb this."

I ran into a friend who had just come back from seeing the movie before I had watched it. I asked him if "the line" was said in the film. You know, "I am become death." Yes, he told me, but he wouldn't tell me how. This is by far the best scene in the movie and played completely seriously, à la Leslie Nielsen in Airplane. For this scene alone, I recommend watching this piece of comedy. Following my friend's lead, I also won't divulge the particulars of this segment. Once he says, "destroyer of worlds," you can leave the theater.

An especially strange component of the film is its entire plot, which focuses on Oppenheimer's McCarthy era hearings and the events leading up to it. There are all of two minutes total dealing with the actual effects of the atom bomb, which, let's face it, is why the audience is sitting in the theater in the first place. The box office can thank the billboard. Instead, we're treated to three hours of a man who willingly worked the US military apparatus getting told that he's going to lose his security clearance. Who cares? This might make an interesting chapter in his biography, but it's definitely not important enough to warrant an entire biopic. Clearance or no clearance, this man can spend the rest of his life in a mansion situated next to a conveniently sage Einstein. And what's this clearance for, anyway? Should we be cheering on another chapter of bigger, better bomb development? Are the Japanese a moot footnote in the larger picture of American military imperialism? That Oppenheimer focuses on his "martyrdom" and the McCarthy era's targeting of Real® Patriotic ™ Americans© despite their contributions to the military industrial complex is at best a mistake and at worst, deeply conservative filmmaking.'

[mcrmadness]

Misheard DÄ lyrics thread

Okay so me starting this might be bit weird for you all because my native language is Finnish so there’s plenty of explaining I need to do in order to make people understand what it’s all about, and I don’t know if it will still make any sense, let alone funny. But I will try. Maybe you all will laugh me out of court but in that case... no can do.

And also - I am still learning German and with most lyrics I have absolutely no clue what is going on in the song. So of course my mind will look for the closest Finnish words I can find because that German does not exist in my head yet. And lots of these I have heard during my first years of being the fan when I yet didn’t speak any German at all.

I’ll start:

Goldenes Handwerk Right: Als meiner Mutter klar wurde Wrong: ...mutakakku... Explanation: A chocolate cake, literally a “mud cake” but in English Wikipedia uses the Swedish name which is “Kladdkaka” which alone is already hilarious because “kaka” is very close to how you say “poo” in Finnish. So me and my siblings still today laugh at any Swedish translations of cake names. Nazareth Right: Mein Nasenkotelett macht garantiert nicht fett Wrong: ...makkaratikku... Explanation: lit. a sausage stick which you use to grill sausages over an open fire. Very common in Finland. N48.3 Right: (Ach) Ist der Papst katolisch und schon waren wir bei ihr Wrong: ARGH PASKA TULEE!!! Explanation: lit. ARGH SHIT IS COMING / meaning: I’M GONNA SHIT, the shout before this part really is the cherry on the cake. Dos Corazones Right: Hablas con alguien, el esta aquí Wrong: Alasko näkee, edestä tulee Explanation: “When one sees down, it comes from the front”, “alasko” is “alas kun” in some Finnish dialect(s).

Sommer, Palmen, Sonnenschein Right: Sommer, Palmen, Sonnenschein, was kann schöner sein? Wrong: Sommer, Palmen, Sonnenschein, PASSSSKA... Explanation: Shit. Because apparently that’s all I have in my head.

That’s all for now, at least the ones I can remember - feel free to add your own and don’t worry about the language. I’ll reblog this with more stuff once I remember them.

[fountainpenguin]

The most problematic faves are HERE! They’re doing amazing and I love them. I know I’ve said this a million times, but reading their deleted scenes always has me dying. Let them ditch their man-eating ball pit and run away to Mexico with Imaginary Gary. It’s what they want. Curse you, unmoistened squids!

GARRETT JUANDISSIMO TUCKFIELD CABRERA

Heritage

All of the above; let’s just say he comes from a mixed background, and leave it at that. If pressed, he’ll default to human. I mean, Spanish-Italian-Indian-Filipino... Native American... Uh... Something or other. Does it matter?

Overview

A child of divorced parents, and always bounced back and forth between them. Spending years on a miniature golf course didn’t help him make lasting friends, either. Has some abandonment issues, but mostly doesn’t think about it and just tries to stuff the holes in his heart with as many close relationships as possible. Aggressively friendly. Be nice to him.

Taken under Pixie wings as a child, Gary grew up with one foot in the magical world. Even during his time on Earth, he grew used to being monitored, to the point where he’ll still accidentally do things without thinking about them, like drop glass objects and expect them to float... or throw babies who don’t bounce.

Clueless, innocent, and bumbling, Gary likes to be a part of things and always tries to lend a helping hand wherever possible. While he does have a curious nature, he’s well-trained and won’t go wandering off to poke his nose where it doesn’t belong... mostly. 

Pixies and working at the Learn-A-Torium is all Gary really knows, and he has no intention of getting a higher education. His heart is always in the right place, even if he did grow up with less than stellar role models.

Notes

> His Deadly Sin is Greed and his Heavenly Virtue is Charity. It’s complicated.

> He’ll spellcheck your speech balloons. HE KNOWS.

> The “cold anger” type.

> Small spaces make him uncomfortable and locks give him serious anxiety. If he knows he’s locked in a room, he will freak immediately.

> So no, he did not like Flappy’s briefcase.

> As loyal as a starry-eyed puppy to the point that it’s kind of... pathetic.

> Has no sense of delayed gratification and gets frustrated with long tasks.

> Tends to use magical aphorisms even in non-magical company.

> His genetics are their own ecosystem. Ask him about his chromosomes. He’ll love that.

> An all around good boy whose flaws tend to be virtues pushed to a fault.

> Help him.

Strengths: Loyalty, enthusiasm, sensitivity, creativity, altruistic, productive, basic homemaking and childcare skills, singing and coordination abilities... That’s about it. Except, he’s also fluent in four languages (H.P. insisted).

Weaknesses: Claustrophobia, can’t swim, limited education, struggles to keep his mouth shut, extremely poor liar, socially awkward, big pushover, reluctant to stand up for himself, stubbornly resistant to self-improvement, holds grudges, skewed sense of ethics, jealous, obsessively grammar-happy... List goes on.

ELIZABETH ARICA LOVELL

Heritage

Half-mermaid isn’t an answer? Darn.

Born and raised in Kansas on an apple orchard and horse farm. Her ancestry can be traced back to Sweden. Her parents were self-taught examiners of the supernatural before her father lost his memories after an encounter with Jorgen.

Overview

Betty’s relationship with the Pixies has always been rough, to put it mildly. Whereas Gary came from an unstable home and found security in his new life, Betty was uprooted from a happy childhood, and never quite connected with H.P. and Sanderson, seeing them instead as her boss and her boss’s boss instead of surrogate parental figures like Gary. But, it’s not like she could go anywhere, so... all aboard!

Betty’s sense of judgement and her awareness of the world are more refined than Gary’s, so while he tends to get very concerned about anything that could be problematic, she better understands what she’s doing and then does it anyway. “I do what I want to get what I need”, so to speak. Pretty much the only one of her colleagues keeping things under control, and often has to be the bad guy by putting an end to playtime.

She’s doggedly persistent in any task she’s given, as she doesn’t trust H.P. too much and tends to believe that her immediate survival depends on doing a good job at whatever she’s been assigned to. She definitely doesn’t like taking risks, and this is compared to Gary. While normally she would draw the line way before killing, if it really came down to her life or her target’s, there wouldn’t be much hesitation.

Despite that, Betty has a kind demeanor and a curious mind. She’s passionate about learning, and was always determined to be self-sufficient should the Pixies ever lose interest in her and toss her aside. She’s a little older than Gary and is currently attending community college.

Notes

> Not dating a polar bear.

> Clever and mathematical, but not good at selling herself to people.

> The “hot anger” type; her temper often gets the best of her.

> Actually a big goofy butterball when she lets her guard down.

> Basically a huge dork.

> More than a little gullible.

> Dealing with a lot of anxiety ‘cuz being raised by pixies was... not... great.

> HE’S NOT A POLAR BEAR HE’S A HUMAN PERSON GARY STOP 

> Easily exhausted by bouncing from task to task too quickly.

> Actually tired all the time probably.

> Singing is fun, but she’s more interested in instruments.

> Tends to keep her emotions bottled up until they blubber sadly out.

> Her little brother Kenny is the Burger World employee.

> GARY NO

Strengths: Good with numbers, energetic, can keep a secret, charismatic, decent homemaking and childcare skills, can manage money, plans ahead, great singer, avid reader, laser focused, observant, good memory, can play a variety of musical instruments, generally good at board and card games

Weaknesses: Her temper, her paranoia, her crippling anxiety, her pride, her addiction to gambling, not great with crafts, a little too obsessive on the safety factor, doesn’t communicate her thoughts and feelings well, pushes herself too hard, has limited social skills and struggles to make many friends beyond Gary

Tag on this blog: Gary and Betty