In the original book, he kills the cricket with a hammer immediately.

January 20, 2024 4:13 PM

Pinocchio is a Story About Art and God [45m] is Jacob Geller's latest video. It draws from a great number of the popular Pinocchio depictions from the original novel to the Lies Of P. I think the title is pretty self-explanatory. I hope you watch and enjoy.
posted by hippybear (21 comments total)

I read the book around 12 years ago. I was shocked by the portrayal of the little wooden boy’s behavior. He’s a jerk. Consistently. And yes, Jiminy Cricket gets offed at his first appearance, but sort of reappears as a ghost here and there. It’s a great book!
posted by njohnson23 at 4:49 PM on January 20 [5 favorites]

Now having watched this film, it’s a quite good analysis. And worth watching. But… I really wish all these people who insist on holding a mic while they talk would just grow up, lose the prop and it’s supposed semantics of authenticity, and just sit there and talk to the camera, meaning us.

And now I have to go track down the Del Toro film…
posted by njohnson23 at 5:38 PM on January 20 [6 favorites]

There's been a post about Dropout TV, but they get it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtlbtkhtbFY

Also, Lou Wilson's Pinocchio in Neverafter is one of the funniest characters on any internet series.
posted by MengerSponge at 6:41 PM on January 20 [1 favorite]

The hand held mic is to fight the flat affect of AI deepfake voices. The dips and pulses in volume that handheld mics offe are to make them sound human.
posted by MonsieurPEB at 8:34 PM on January 20 [2 favorites]

Mod note: A couple deleted. The policy of Metafilter is that people who make posts do not "own" the thread and police how people comment or what their reactions are. If someone is derailing or otherwise disrupting a discussion, please flag or contact mods. Thanks.
posted by taz (staff) at 9:14 PM on January 20 [12 favorites]

I've seen this video posted in a few different places, always mentioning the creator, what should I seek out from Jacob Geller?
posted by macrael at 10:04 PM on January 20

Recently got into Pinocchio myself thanks to the kc green comic adaptation of the original fairytale, and yeah hadn't checked out the del toro version but now even more interested than I already was.

Also for other good work by Jacob, really just sampling any of his videos is sure to be a good time but can recommend his "fear of x" videos where he talks about a variety of media that all circulate around and have different takes on a given theme.
posted by tealNoise at 10:38 PM on January 20 [3 favorites]

Related: the strangely beautiful I Watched Every Pinocchio Movie.
posted by BiggerJ at 12:35 AM on January 21

That was long but wonderful, thanks for sharing! And, hey, don’t let anybody tell you that Goldilocks and The Three Bears is unworthy of a deep dive.
posted by rongorongo at 1:48 AM on January 21

When I realized why the name of the cricket in Lies of P, Gemini, was pronounced "Jem-ih-nee" I groaned out loud.
posted by Pope Guilty at 7:30 AM on January 21 [3 favorites]

YouTube has an edited link to The Erotic Adventures of Pinocchio, which I remember from its appearance in the original Golden Turkey Awards book. I believe the original tagline was, "It's not his nose that grows!"
posted by jonp72 at 2:15 PM on January 21

I've seen this video posted in a few different places, always mentioning the creator, what should I seek out from Jacob Geller?

His videos are primarily video games criticism, although they often end up focusing on wider artistic or cultural subjects. If you are interested in games I would just look through his channel and start with some videos covering games that you are already interested in. Otherwise here are a few that I like.

Fear of Big Things Underwater

The Best Simpsons Intro Is About Losing Everything You Love

Who’s Afraid of Modern Art: Vandalism, Video Games, and Fascism
posted by St. Sorryass at 6:35 PM on January 21 [2 favorites]

Odd to see theory about Pinocchio and not one mention of Frankenstein. They are both takes on the same thing - an artificial creature and a story about being or desiring to become human. Both Geppetto and Victor Frankenstein are gods to their respective creations. Del Toro is explicit about this in the interviews he gives about his film. Pinocchio and Frankenstein's monster are both malicious, selfish beings.

But Pinocchio finds love and acceptance, he is redeemed and becomes human. By becoming a boy he ceases to be a created thing. This is a big twist on Frankenstein of course:

I am malicious because I am miserable. Am I not shunned and hated by all mankind? You, my creator, would tear me to pieces and triumph; remember that, and tell me why I should pity man more than he pities me? You would not call it murder if you could precipitate me into one of those ice-rifts and destroy my frame, the work of your own hands. Shall I respect man when he condemns me? Let him live with me in the interchange of kindness, and instead of injury I would bestow every benefit upon him with tears of gratitude at his acceptance. But that cannot be; the human senses are insurmountable barriers to our union.

posted by vacapinta at 9:18 AM on January 22 [2 favorites]

I kinda think "Star Trek: The Next Generation's" Data is a Pinocchio story. It really comes thru in the episode, "The Offspring", where Data creates his daughter, Lal, gently guided her, watched her grow, achieving a loving parent's ultimate dream, and then lost her. Excellent all round episode of Star Trek and a heart breaker. The ending never fails to make me tear up.
posted by kmartino at 12:39 PM on January 23

Data is an interesting point to bring up, given that he only once ever met his maker and it was then that it was revealed that he hadn't been given his emotion chip. Like, his Blue Fairy died in his arms even while revealing why he could never be a Real Boy.
posted by hippybear at 3:44 PM on January 23 [1 favorite]

And, really, all the Star Treks seem to have a Pinocchio character -- Spock, Data, That Hologram Doctor, Odo in Deep Space Nine... Always a quest to become human and being held back from it somehow.

That Star Trek holds "someone wants to be human but cannot" as one of its core tenets is a very very humanocentric view of the universe, actually is human-supremacist.

I don't know exactly how to process all of that. I think the device is meant to display how humanity is diminished if it loses some part of itself. But the message ends up being "humans are best and everyone wants to be one".
posted by hippybear at 3:46 PM on January 23 [1 favorite]

@hippybear - yeah, you're right, every Star Trek has this character to one degree or another!

And there is a bit of human-supremacist there too, faced up to in "Undiscovered Country" in the main plot, and subtle moments like this (YouTube clip).
posted by kmartino at 4:54 PM on January 23

I think I should add that Spock, specifically, does not want to become human, he embraces his Vulcan identity over his human half, and that Odo choose to merge with the "Great Link", over continuing to seek a human existence - but their identity struggles did serve as a mirror for the audience.

Another great scene from TNG: Spock and Data discussing their journey and perspective.

With this, I think I'm derailing the thread with too much Star Trek.. can chat some other place, some other time about it :)

This was a great video essay, thanks for sharing it!
posted by kmartino at 5:53 PM on January 23

It just occurred to me - Barbie might be considered a Pinocchio movie too!
posted by kmartino at 9:13 PM on January 23

The Foot Clan headquarters in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990) is a place of recreation, gambling, and free tobacco to which young men are lured before being taken from it and put to work for a sinister master. That's obviously Pleasure Island, making TMNT (1990) a Pinocchio move.
posted by Pope Guilty at 9:03 AM on January 24 [2 favorites]

I love the old Disney movie and it was my favorite for the longest time.

@Pope Guilty, maybe figuring out if a movie is a Pinocchio movie is similar to figuring out if a movie is a Christmas one.

The video essay goes as far to ask if the Bible just a big Pinocchio story.
posted by kmartino at 5:14 AM on January 25