One On One Interview

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Actors always say comedy's much harder than drama, and I agree, at least when it comes to writing a review. I think I complain about it every time I try to write a review of a comedy actually (I'm nothing if not oppressively redundant) - I don't know what it is that makes me extra-special self-conscious about what makes me laugh versus what makes me cry, but it seems like such a precise and individual thing, laughing, I never know what'll work on one person to the next. So yeah, Seth Rogen's North Korean comedy The Interview made me laugh, it made me laugh a ton. Will it make you laugh? How the fuck should I know? 

I will say this though - I've been having a crisis of offensiveness (a crisis of consciencelessness?) as of late. I think it was right around the time that the John Waters retrospective happened here in NYC and in one of the Q&As that I saw him do John expressed... well, regret might be too strong a word for it, but he did seem to think that here and there he might've gone too far (I think specifically he was referring to some of his jokes about real-life serial killers, or maybe it was the whole "make light of the Kennedy Assassination only a couple years after it happened" thing). And he seemed, in tone and body language, to maybe be expressing a tinge of apology, and it made me want to, to borrow a turn of his phrasing, puke. 

I don't want to live in a world where John Waters ever steps back anything horrible he made jokes about! Seeing that it made me realize that John Waters could never ever ever have happened if he was making movies today. Can you imagine the moral indignation and Tumblr outrage he would inspire? I'm so tired of people apologizing I could, yes, puke and never stop puking. I mean, even I, little pointless me, got some bullshit in my American Horror Story post for expressing the less-than-PC thoughts that seeing a bloodied Matt Bomer and Finn Wittrock in their tighty-whities inspired in me, and yes, countless others. But heaven forbid such things ever get said on the internet. I might as well have murdered somebody.

That's my long way around to getting at that I think The Interview is probably going to get some outrage aimed at it for some of its humor about Asian (and maybe gay) stereotypes, but I actually think the film plays that stuff smartly. We'll see how it goes when it comes; I'm clearly not the audience for being outraged so what do I know? And I get that it's not really a white dude's place to judge what crosses the line and what doesn't when it comes to jokes about dogs being dinner or whatever. I can however, coming straight to you from the cocksucker residence, comment on the gay stuff, and I continue to think Rogen & Franco are incredibly good at spinning those jokes around in fun new and interesting ways. But even if there is offense being taken... well good. Offense changes the world, you guys. 

Extra Extra: I saw this movie at a super-early screening last Monday and Seth Rogen was there! In fact he actually invited everybody via Twitter, and I lucked out making it onto the list. While I waited in line for the movie this happened...

@JAMNPP @sunshine_cinema I'll be there homey
— Seth Rogen (@Sethrogen) November 10, 2014

SETH ROGEN CALLED ME HOMEY. Once we got in there was free beer and Seth showed up and stood in the lobby and greeted everybody personally - I shook his hand! - for what must've been forty minutes or so. It seemed terrifying. The crowd closing in on him, everybody thrusting something at him - besides shaking hands I saw him sign somebody's palm and also (perfectly) somebody's vaporizer. (He wasn't taking pictures though, so I didn't get one, boo.) Watching the spectacle of it, I did gain a ton of respect for Seth - he was chatty and friendly with every single person. I did have a momentary laugh thinking of that scene in Soapdish where Sally Field goes to the mall in Paramus to sneakily greet her fans and get some self-worth back, but it wasn't like that at all; he seemed incredibly genuine. And he made a very funny movie. Although he did get me drunk, so...

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