One of the hallmarks of a younger generation with a sensitivity determined largely by internet discourse and a diminishing respect for authoritative speech is the remarkable ability to treat an aspect of culture with simultaneous reverence and irreverence. Young people are able to engage in a friendly conversation while constantly interrupting to break each other’s balls without even losing a step. And they’re also able to take a line like “I drink your milkshake!” from There Will Be Blood, turn it into an internet meme, remix it, make hay about its epicness, and still treat it with the seriousness it deserves. I feel like this is new (then again, I’m not old enough to know). And it seems reasonable to assume that making fun of something in a movie means you think it’s dreck, but that doesn’t have to be the case. Sometimes it’s a way of recognizing the absurd aspects of great art.
It’s fine to think the dinosaurs in The Tree of Life are nuts. Telling the story of the whole of human existence in a little sequence in the middle of a movie about a man reflecting on his family and growing up and how he became who he is and what everything means, it’s all a little ridiculous. There’s nothing wrong with admitting this. It’s crazy. There’s no need to deny the craziness in order to appreciate that it’s also kind of a beautiful way of looking at life, how everything is connected on a grand scale and every trivial individual’s story is a retelling of the story of all life on earth. Just because something is ripe for parody, and that parody of it can be as hilarious as Jim Carrey doing Black Swan on SNL, it doesn’t have to be ridiculous, just distinct, and usually ballsy. It seems more possible than ever to hold these seemingly oppositional views at the same time, and that’s totally cool.
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