The Human Show
November 30, 2014 10:18 PM Subscribe
That made me sad.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:38 PM on November 30, 2014 [8 favorites]
posted by BitterOldPunk at 10:38 PM on November 30, 2014 [8 favorites]
That was grotesque and stupid.
posted by clockzero at 10:47 PM on November 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by clockzero at 10:47 PM on November 30, 2014 [4 favorites]
So that was meh.
Sometimes you need slightly more than just an idea that sounds good stoned; the execution was all over the shop.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:47 PM on November 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
Sometimes you need slightly more than just an idea that sounds good stoned; the execution was all over the shop.
posted by MartinWisse at 10:47 PM on November 30, 2014 [2 favorites]
This reminded me of a hilarious-but-horrifying sequence in jscalzi's novel Old Man's War, where the human soldiers are briefed on an alien celebrity cooking show, with the secret ingredient of the episode being... human.
posted by infinitewindow at 10:50 PM on November 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by infinitewindow at 10:50 PM on November 30, 2014 [3 favorites]
Well, that was deeply upsetting.
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:13 PM on November 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
posted by His thoughts were red thoughts at 11:13 PM on November 30, 2014 [5 favorites]
I am not okay with any of this.
posted by Myca at 11:33 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Myca at 11:33 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]
Oh man, that hit me in such the wrong places.
posted by SpacemanStix at 11:54 PM on November 30, 2014
posted by SpacemanStix at 11:54 PM on November 30, 2014
Watching Overtime in 2004 (or earlier?) was a formative experience for me. I believe 240p is the best quality you can find, but please don't let that turn you off as it's fantastic.
posted by tychotesla at 12:07 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by tychotesla at 12:07 AM on December 1, 2014 [4 favorites]
Nevin: See, there's this thing called money...
posted by BiggerJ at 12:41 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by BiggerJ at 12:41 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
@infinitewindow: That Old Man's War sequence sounds rather like the To Serve Man episode of Twilight Zone.
posted by eatyourlunch at 12:55 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by eatyourlunch at 12:55 AM on December 1, 2014
Have not watched yet.. This is going to piss me off, isn't it.
Watched. Suspicions confirmed. I have been angered.
Look, if you are going to parody the Muppets (or Sesame Street, or Mr. Rogers for that matter, you IMBECILES) you had better do a DAMN good job. You need to know the show inside and out, you need to understand how satire works, and knowing how puppets are constructed also really helps.
Because Jim Henson was a fucking genius. He created a world that touched tens of millions of people all over the world and changed their lives. You might think, poppets, that The Muppet Show and Sesame Street are "lol kidshows" but they came from the perspective a compassionate counterculture - yeah Henson was a hippie, and he embodies the best of those ideals, with boundless creativity, great humor, and a powerful empathy that taught us we were important, but other people were important too, including people that were different from us.
There have definitely been well done parodies of the Henson style, that were constructed with thought and effort and care. Mostly, though, I see idiots making dirty puppets say bad words or tormenting the residents of the Neighborhood of Make Believe or doing other likewise mean spirited sloppy bullshit thinking they are being tough and cool and subversive, and they come off looking like bullies and assholes.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:43 AM on December 1, 2014 [17 favorites]
Watched. Suspicions confirmed. I have been angered.
Look, if you are going to parody the Muppets (or Sesame Street, or Mr. Rogers for that matter, you IMBECILES) you had better do a DAMN good job. You need to know the show inside and out, you need to understand how satire works, and knowing how puppets are constructed also really helps.
Because Jim Henson was a fucking genius. He created a world that touched tens of millions of people all over the world and changed their lives. You might think, poppets, that The Muppet Show and Sesame Street are "lol kidshows" but they came from the perspective a compassionate counterculture - yeah Henson was a hippie, and he embodies the best of those ideals, with boundless creativity, great humor, and a powerful empathy that taught us we were important, but other people were important too, including people that were different from us.
There have definitely been well done parodies of the Henson style, that were constructed with thought and effort and care. Mostly, though, I see idiots making dirty puppets say bad words or tormenting the residents of the Neighborhood of Make Believe or doing other likewise mean spirited sloppy bullshit thinking they are being tough and cool and subversive, and they come off looking like bullies and assholes.
posted by louche mustachio at 1:43 AM on December 1, 2014 [17 favorites]
The ending wasn't great but I enjoyed puppet corpse humans
posted by NoraReed at 1:46 AM on December 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by NoraReed at 1:46 AM on December 1, 2014 [3 favorites]
Louce_Mustachio - thanks. I was umhming and ah-ing about watching it, because (well meaning) friends keep sending me the links knowing that I am a muppets fan, but the title alone made me think this would be coming from a tone-deaf and mean spirited place.
You've saved me from being unable to un-see it with your comment which confirms my suspicions.
The only people I've seen do this well are the Avenue Q group, but even then the puppet sex references are uncomfortable for me because it's - well it's such a context mash-up.
I do think that there is a resurgence of the 'People think this is cool let's DESTROY IT' school of satire which is sad and cynical.
It's not new, but it does seem much more pervasive. But then again it's always been much easier to destroy/undermine something that brings people joy than it is to create that thing in the first place.
posted by Faintdreams at 2:54 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
You've saved me from being unable to un-see it with your comment which confirms my suspicions.
The only people I've seen do this well are the Avenue Q group, but even then the puppet sex references are uncomfortable for me because it's - well it's such a context mash-up.
I do think that there is a resurgence of the 'People think this is cool let's DESTROY IT' school of satire which is sad and cynical.
It's not new, but it does seem much more pervasive. But then again it's always been much easier to destroy/undermine something that brings people joy than it is to create that thing in the first place.
posted by Faintdreams at 2:54 AM on December 1, 2014 [2 favorites]
Ha, this is great.
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:23 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by FAMOUS MONSTER at 8:23 AM on December 1, 2014
Reminds me of a very old George R. R. Martin short story ...
posted by doctor tough love at 10:11 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by doctor tough love at 10:11 AM on December 1, 2014
This reminds me of some Calvin and Hobbes animated thing that someone made a few years back. Don't remember if it was parody, satire, or tribute, but that was similarly upsetting.
posted by not_on_display at 10:30 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by not_on_display at 10:30 AM on December 1, 2014
This was okay, but I wanted to like it so much more. The concept is perfectly, wonderfully horrifying, but the actors didn't observe the line between "acting like dead puppeted cadavers" and "acting like they're dressed up and heading for Zombie Pub Crawl Day."
I adore Henson, so if you're going to step to the man, you better bring your damn best.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:03 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I adore Henson, so if you're going to step to the man, you better bring your damn best.
posted by Countess Elena at 11:03 AM on December 1, 2014 [1 favorite]
I don't know. I suspect that the guy who produced a mostly non-bowdlerized Sapsorrow along with the horrors of Dark Crystal probably would get a chuckle out of human puppets.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:56 AM on December 1, 2014
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:56 AM on December 1, 2014
Bwithh: I feel the need to correct you in case there's anyone who is looking for or might someday look for actors - Craigslist is supremely hit-and-miss and there's other, better ways of finding actors, such as putting up flyers around local universities and community colleges. Unfortunely I'm no expert, but people should do research into this sort of instead of assuming that Craigslist, while certainly still an option, is the be-all and end-all.
I admit that one of the reasons I posted this was this reddit post: "So I just posted an ad on craigslist for a casting call for an upcoming independent short film. Within 5 minutes some guy emailed me a picture of his asshole. (I'm assuming it was his but who can really be sure) That's when I realized just how difficult this process might be."
posted by BiggerJ at 11:58 PM on December 1, 2014
I admit that one of the reasons I posted this was this reddit post: "So I just posted an ad on craigslist for a casting call for an upcoming independent short film. Within 5 minutes some guy emailed me a picture of his asshole. (I'm assuming it was his but who can really be sure) That's when I realized just how difficult this process might be."
posted by BiggerJ at 11:58 PM on December 1, 2014
Tough crowd. Everyone would probably be doing themselves a grand favor by passing on Wonder Showzen or Peter Jackson's Meet The Feebles! (Actually this is sound advice for most pre-LotR Jackson.)
posted by dgaicun at 1:48 AM on December 2, 2014
posted by dgaicun at 1:48 AM on December 2, 2014
This ain't in the same league as Meet the Feebles.
posted by rifflesby at 1:24 PM on December 2, 2014
posted by rifflesby at 1:24 PM on December 2, 2014
fuck, this was my 200th post.
posted by boo_radley at 9:53 AM on December 3, 2014
posted by boo_radley at 9:53 AM on December 3, 2014
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posted by Nevin at 10:32 PM on November 30, 2014 [1 favorite]