The Simpsons Movie

[Ghoulish Delight]

I must clarify, I wasn't looking for over-the-line edginess. Although I think that while Bart's doodle is edgy relative to early episodes, I don't think it (or anything in the movie) represents the same edginess relative to society that the early episodes did. But that's a whole other discussion.

What I mean by "more than just an episode" has more to do with actually creating something that matches the scale of the big screen on the whole. Boundary pushing is part of that, but only a small fraction.

To illustrate, I'll say that I think my favorite part was the opening bit. Not the Itchy & Scratchy cartoon itself per-se, but the self aware bit with Homer in the theater afterwards. That, far beyond anything else in the whole movie, showed a keen understanding of how to take the characters from the small screen and do something befitting the big screen. It used the medium in that beautifully self-aware, self-effacing way that The Simpsons once used television. But it peeked in the first 5 minutes and never returned to that. Boo-hiss I say.

That's not to say I wanted 90 minutes of Bart talking into the camera. But that opening got me all excited that they truly did something more than a 90 minute episode. So perhaps that's part of my perspective. In its first hit, it soared well beyond my expectations, and then very quickly plummeted back down to mediocre.

[AllyOops!]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Boo-hiss I say.

Don't you mean Boo-urns?

As LSPoorEeyorick said, to each his own. Opinion is merely that and nothing more- opinion.

I thought the movie was very cute. I'm going to go see it with my Boyfriend tonight (I saw it with my Grandma last night), so I'm hoping I enjoy it much more the second time! I, too, was expecting a little more. I'm somebody who has enjoyed absolutely every season of the Simpsons. Southpark, while funny on television, apalled me on the bigscreen. Again, to each his own.

Some scenes had me giggling, but not as hard as I laugh when watching The Simpsons on TV. Maybe it's because we've waited 18 years and expected something major that we hadn't seen before? Maybe there wasn't just enough time on the big screen to feature every character? All I know is...I was kinda dissapointed. Something was just..off. I fall over howling when I watch the Simpsons on TV & DVD. In the theater, I giggled outloud, but never fell over howling.

Hopefully tonight will be much more fun! Maybe it was my hormones acting wonky and the fact that I was juggling an Icee and a Soda and the people walking in front of me stopped abrubtly, thus causing me to stop too short and dump the soda all over the floor. Maybe it was the fact that I was so pissed off by the frigging soda debacle that when I finally did cool down, some wad spilled and kicked their soda down the aisle, flowing right into my purse.

Boy, I'm a DVD gal.

[xharryb]

Originally Posted by Ghoulish Delight

Although I think that while Bart's doodle is edgy relative to early episodes, I don't think it (or anything in the movie) represents the same edginess relative to society that the early episodes did. But that's a whole other discussion.

Could that perhaps be more about the changing perspective of edginess in society compared to early Simpsons? Sure, Simpsons was considered edgy and a threat to family values by certain conservative folks in it's early days. However in the time since then it has actually been much more accepted as a depiction of a strong family bond. They may be disfunctional at times, but ultimately they have great love for one another. The characters haven't really changed, just people's perspectives of them.

We now live in a world full of things like South Park, Family Guy & the Adult Swim block on Cartoon Network. Many of these shows are edgy for the sake of being edgy. They actually try to be offensive to get their point across, if they even have one (SP usually does, FG not so much). I don't think Simpsons needs to adapt to fit in their world. If they did, they wouldn't be the Simpsons anymore.

I gladly concede that the movie was nearly as "great" as it could have been, but it was deffinitely "good" and very true to the characters. There were funny moments as well as some very touching family moments. It would have been nice to see some musical numbers though, because those are often my favorite episode moments.

[Ghoulish Delight]

Originally Posted by xharryb

Could that perhaps be more about the changing perspective of edginess in society compared to early Simpsons? Sure, Simpsons was considered edgy and a threat to family values by certain conservative folks in it's early days. However in the time since then it has actually been much more accepted as a depiction of a strong family bond. They may be disfunctional at times, but ultimately they have great love for one another. The characters haven't really changed, just people's perspectives of them.

Yes, that's exactly my point. When it started, they pushed boundaries, and as a result woke the nation up to some screwed up preconceived notions about family. But while as a nation we've certainly improved our perspective, it's a long way from being completely fixed. Just because the boundary has moved doesn't mean it can't be pushed further. The Simpsons are no longer doing that pushing. It may not even really be their place to anymore, but that to me is a definite detraction from my enjoyment of the show. It's an element that is glaringly missing and has lead to major stagnation of the characters.

I gladly concede that the movie was nearly as "great" as it could have been, but it was deffinitely "good" and very true to the characters. There were funny moments as well as some very touching family moments. It would have been nice to see some musical numbers though, because those are often my favorite episode moments.

I'll reiterate that I didn't think it was "bad". But I'm disappointed that after 18 years, with no TV budget restrictions, no deadlines, and a whole new media format to work with, they failed to muster the creative energy to come up with anything more than, "phew, that didn't suck." Baldercrap.