I don’t really know what to say about today’s strip. I wish I had a big rant ready for you, but my batteries are kind of low.
All I know is, when I heard Darkness Falls was the number one movie last weekend, I was very, very disappointed.
I mean, this is different than Kangaroo Jack taking the top spot. KJ had some serious advertising muscle behind it. Meanwhile the makers of Darkness Falls send three commercials to MTV, and it’s number one. I’ve come to the conclusion that Americans are not the pawns of agressive advertising, but rather, the victims of their own poor choices. You have no one to blame but yourself, people!
I don’t think I can count on one hand the number of people excited to see this movie, much less know what it’s even about. There are no name actors. No well-known director or screenwriters attached. It’s only pedigree is that Stan Winston (and Academy Award winner for Jurassic Park, Terminator 2 and Aliens) did the special effects. What’s the fuss about?
I guess the stat that really floored me is that this movie only cost $11 million to make. That’s steal by Hollywood standards. How much did it rake in it’s first weekend? $12 million. By all intents and purposes, this movie should have been released DIRECTLY to the bargain bin at Blockbuster. Go figure.
Industry annalists said the strong turn-out may have been due to the film’s PG-13 rating which in turn admitted more teenagers. They say the disposable cash teens bring to the box office make tracking results unpredictable on weekends when there are no movies worth seeing. Basically the theory is they will watch anything.
It’s my strong feeling that parents are not doing enough to keep their kids away from poor film making. Drugs and gangs, sure. But where are the child safety locks on something like Just Married?
Why can’t people give some of the better films a second pass? Sure, the buzz has faded on films like Adaptation or About Schmidt since they got their big push for Oscar contention in December. But a lot of these films are just now releasing wide across the country! Go see one of those! God, ANYTHING but Darkness Falls. What does that say about our culture?!
I’m trying to decide if this is the most controversial comic I’ve ever done or not. Some people really got up in arms about the Fahrenheit 9/11 comic from a while back, but I think this one may have trumped it. People tend to take religion pretty seriously.
Well, hopefully you all know how to take a joke and realize that I’m not implying Jesus was gay or anything like that. I’m just having fun with all of the ridiculous comparisons the media has been making to Superman now that Superman Returns is in theaters.
By in large, you hear more about the gay thing and the Christ thing more than the immigrant thing – but it all applies. Intrinsically, that’s the appeal of Superman. He’s the EVERYman. As a superhero, since he can DO anything, so he can BE everything to everyone. The fact that only certain facets of what Superman can potentially represent are being talked up in the media in order to stir up controversy I think is really lame.
After all, for every gay man living in the closet who identifies with Clark Kent and the dual life he leads, there is a 5 year-old kid out there who is just as enamored with The Man of Steel for the amazing feats of strength he performs – wishing someday he could grow up to be like him. I know that was certainly the case for me when I was growing up.
But no one talks about the aspirational qualities of Superman. It’s far more interesting to point out the gay thing or the religion thing or the immigrant thing because those are all hot-button topics in the “real world.” Was anyone talking about this kind of stuff when the original Superman movie came out back in 1978? Or even when he came back to television in Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman? Of course not.
You don’t need to associate the latest controversy de-jour to make Superman relevant. He’s always been relevant and always will be all on his own.
I know a lot of you have already seen Superman Returns. I haven’t be able to make it out to the theaters since it arrived on Wednesday and it’s killing me. But Cami and I are going to see it in IMAX on Saturday afternoon and it’s going to be great. I’m chomping at the bit to see the “bulletproof eyeball” sequence on a 70 foot tall screen. I’ll tell you if the Big Blue Boy Scout flinches!
When Michael Moore’s Sicko was in theaters earlier in the year, it had a hard time connecting with audiences and $24 million take at the box office was considered a “failure” in comparison $120 million take of Fahrenheit 9/11 only three years prior.
Maybe people weren’t interested in the controversy Sicko generated. Maybe they had grown tired of the conservative vs. liberal debate that nearly every pressing issue has devolved into. More likely than not, they probably felt so overwhelmed and powerless in the face of the medical systems, they didn’t have much hope that a documentary could unravel its riddle.
There is no question that Moore had his work cut out for him when making Sicko. But he approached the concept of the broken American health care system in a very democratic way. Soliciting for personal stories from visitors to his web site, Moore gathered over 25,000 e-mails detailing the frustration and hopelessness this small sample of American citizens faced when trying to acquire reasonable health care.
Now Moore was faced with the problem of telling 25,000 stories.
Some stories serve for a laugh. One man who sought to provide his daughter with an ear implant was denied coverage, but found his insurance provider willing to change their stance on the issue by merely bringing Moore’s name into the conversation. “Has your CEO ever been in a film before?” he asked. His daughter got the implants.
Another woman told the story of being charged by her insurance company for being taken to the hospital in an ambulance after a car accident because the ambulance ride was not pre-approved. “I don’t know when exactly I was supposed to have it pre-approved,” she says. “Was it after I regained conciousness in the car and before I was placed in the ambulance?”
Some stories serve to shock. Moore talks to individuals who worked within the health care industry who were hired to turn sick people away. An investigator that would go through ever record imaginable to find out if you failed to disclose a pre-existing condition. A call center worker giving quotes to sick people over the phone, but knows they’ll be denied due to medical history – bound from saying anything to prospective customers. A medical reviewer who reveals she was instructed to maintain a 10% denial rate and that doctors with the highest rate of denials would actually receive a bonus.
Time and time again, Moore serves to us examples of a health care industry run amok and the political powers that be that have allowed it. Neither Democrats or Republicans get off lightly in his expose. Hillary Clinton, for example, once the greatest proponent for universal health care in the early 90’s is now the second largest recipient of campaign donations from the health care industry.
But Moore isn’t simply finger pointing in this movie. There is plenty of blame to go around. From the insurers to the pharmaceutical companies, to the lawyers, lobbyists and the politicians. Everyone is taking their cut.
Moore wanders into dangerous territory when he starts to travel abroad. Comparing the American health care system to those of Canada, England and France, he’s been chastising for making them look like some kind of utopia.
If I could editorialize for a minute, this is where Moore’s critics get it all wrong. Assuredly, he is only showing a piece of the whole picture. But he’s doing it to incite a specific emotional response not unlike any other filmmaker or any other documentarian for that matter. It’s not journalism. It’s whistle blowing – and it’s two different things.
Granted, things start to step out of line when Moore takes three Ground Zero rescue workers to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba for medical attention. Captured enemy combatants – terrorists, he claims – get better health care than the men and women who risk their lives after 9/11.
But once he arrived in Cuba to seek medical treatment from the country’s free health care system, the footage speaks for itself.
The rescue workers were asked for the names and nothing more. A full battery of tests were performed on each of them. Thorough diagnoses and health plans to follow when the returned home were given to them. For one woman with respiratory problems, she was given inhalers for free that would have cost over $120 in the United States.
The point, Moore states, is that even in the supposedly “worst” countries like communist Cuba – if they can take care of the sick, an “enemy” no less, without thought or question to who will pay for it, then why isn’t that something American policy makers can adopt?
I think regardless of where your personal politics lie or even what you think of Moore as a filmmaker (or muckraker, whatever you prefer) most people can agree that the American health care system is not the best it can be. For your own education, Sicko is an easy an access point to understanding a complex issue that you’re likely to come across. Even if you don’t agree with it, maybe it’ll prompt you to do your own research. A few more voices asking questions never hurt.
“If we see a good idea,” says Moore. “We take it. If they build a better car, we drive it. If they make a better wine we drink it. So if they’ve found a better way to take care of their sick, to teach their kids, to take care of their babies… then what’s our problem? Why can’t we do that?”
The logic is hard to refute.
I hope everyone had a chance to listen to The Triple Feature talkcast last night. If not, it was a good show. We covered a lot ground talking about American Gangster, Bee Movie and Shia LaBeouf being arrested in Chicago. Good times.
Something else I touched on quickly was the release of Michael Moore’s Sicko out on DVD today. In addendum to the review posted above, I have one copy to give away, so I’m running a little contest.
Download last night’s episode of The Triple Feature from our profile page and listen for the first half of a clue. Combine it with the second half of the clue (that I’m going to give to you in a second) and e-mail the compelted clue to theaterhopper@hotmail.com with your name and address. Make sure the subject line of your e-mail is “SICKO” so I’ll know you’re entering the drawing. One winner will be chosen at random. If you don’t want to download the show from TalkShoe, we’re also available on iTunes. Sign up for our podcast and have the latest epsiode sent to your computer every week!
Anyway, without further delay, the second half of the code is “YOU.”
Send in the complete phrase for your chance to win!
GOOD LUCK!
Related Posts ¬
Oct 20, 2003 | OH, BY THE WAY… |
Oct 1, 2007 | MY CONTESTS ARE GREAT! |
Feb 10, 2006 | INCREDIBLE |
Jul 9, 2009 | MORE BRUNO |
Sorry for the delay on this week’s comic, but hopefully you’ll find the comic being double-sized worth it. I was excited to put this comic together, but it kind of kept growing on me. At first, I said to myself that it would be the typical four-panel. Then I thought of another joke and made it six. Then I thought of a fun reversal and made it eight.
Truth be told, I have another throw away joke in mind using the set up from this comic that I might post as a bonus strip tomorrow. We’ll see.
Anyway, the big reason the comic is late is because I spent the weekend with my Dad in Chicago. A couple of years ago, my Dad won a contest where he won two tickets to sit on top of one of the row houses behind Wrigley Field for a Chicago Cubs game and he took me with him. It was a rare treat and we had a blast. As we sat there watching the game, I told him “You know, we should come back every year and make a tradition out of it.” So we did!
Actually, we didn’t go last year because I was unemployed and it didn’t feel right. But we made up for it this year and went to TWO game.
By the way, we’re not hanging out on the Wrigley rooftops. That’s not the tradition. Those buildings are all now privately owned and it’s crazy expensive to get access. Naw. We bought tickets and watched the game from The Friendly Confines this time out. It was fantastic.
Not to go on and on about sports (because frankly, I know nothing about the subject), even if you don’t like baseball, you *have* to go to Wrigley Field once in your life. A game at Wrigley is what you imagine baseball to be. I’ve been to a couple of other baseball stadiums in my lifetime and nothing competes. There’s a friendly, neighborhood vibe and people still have fun even when the Cubs suck.
For the record, the Cubs won both of the games we saw last weekend against the Astros. 4 – 2 on Friday and 5 – 1 on Saturday. As a matter of fact, Chicago Cubs outfielder Marlon Byrd hit a home run into the bleachers we were sitting in on Saturday about two rows back and two people to the right of where we were sitting. We were close enough to high-five the woman who claimed the ball. So that was pretty exciting!
Anyway, that’s our tradition and one day we hope to bring Henry into the fold with us. Maybe when he’s a little older. I’m certainly looking forward to it.
Of course, being in Chicago meant that I wasn’t able to make it to Captain America: The First Avenger. I hope to get caught up with it this week. I’ve been hearing good things. Everyone says the same things, too. It’s a long movie, but it moves fast. It’s fun, it’s entertaining, it’s light. It’s a great comic book movie. Some say it’s the best Marvel movie since Iron Man and I don’t doubt them.
As you may or may not know, Captain America: The First Avenger was directed by Joe Johnston who also directed one of my favorite movies – The Rocketeer. It seems like Joe has a talent for lensing sepia-toned adventure movies set around World War II. It’s kind of weird to me that he hasn’t gotten more work. He only has 8 features to his credit. But, hey… The Rocketeer was awesome and that’s good enough for me!
If I get a chance to see the film this week, I’ll be sure to let you know what I think.
In the meantime, I’m getting ready for Wizard World Chicago in a couple of weeks. August 11 – 14, as a matter of fact. I hope you’ll come out to see me. I’ve been going to Wizard World Chicago since 2004, but opted out last year to try C2E2 on for size. C2E2 was a great show, but hella expensive. Too rich for my blood. I’m setting up shop again in the Rosemont Convention Center this year and I’m looking forward to revisiting my old stomping grounds.
As a matter of fact, I just received my table assignment in Artist Alley. You can find me at table #3314. I’ll be right next to Gordon McAlpin from Multiplex, as a matter of fact. Very much looking forward to seeing him again. It’ll be a good time. If you need a copy of the convention floor map, you can find one here.
Of course I will have my new shirt at the convention, but if you want to get yours now, I’m actually placing the order with the printer TODAY. Ordering yours now guarantees that we’ll have your size available as part of the first print run.
Reaction to this shirt has been positive, but I’m only doing a small run at first. After all, I can only take so many shirts with me to Chicago! So if you don’t want to take the risk that we’ve sold out of your size after Wizard World Chicago, I’d be placing your order now!
That’s all I’ve got for today. Thanks again for your patience. I hope you enjoyed today’s extra-large comic. I might post that run-off gag tomorrow if I have time to draw an extra or panel or two. Keep your eyes peeled for that and I’ll talk to you soon!
This was a comic that I had intended to publish shortly after last week’s Captain America comic went live. Unfortunately, I’ve been preparing for Wizard World Chicago next week, and time got away from me.
I still liked the joke, though. I thought it was a fun, alternate take on the other comic. It’s a nice bit of characterization on Victor’s part and I think it serves as a funny juxtaposition against the eight-panel complexity of its predecessor.
So, anyway. I hope you enjoy this throw away joke and I’ll leave it at that!