Tuesday, February 5, 2008

what a rush!

Last week on a plane to Paris HF had the pleasure of experiencing the pure cinematic joy that is Rush Hour 3. In this gripping third installment of wise-cracking, butt-kicking genius, Detectives Lee and Carter decipher a string of intensely esoteric clues that lead them to a crime syndicate/secret society in Paris, France. Not unlike what HF was doing at that very moment! Crime syndicate, fashion trade show... While the detectives were forced to choose between talking or fighting, HF was forced to choose between chicken with rice or beef with pasta. ("No!" you say. Ja wohl.) So relatable was it, in fact, that we almost used the personal remote/video game controller/credit card-activated phone to call home and make sure the top-secret HF diaries/memoirs (working title: A Fuzzed Life) were secure.

However, all blissful enjoyment of this fine comedic artistry and even finer martial artistry was put on pause with the introduction of Georges, a lovable taxi driver who picks up our heroes at the airport. Georges is an average French blue-collar Joe. He drives a taxi. He smells. He speaks nasal English. He hates Americans. He will not drive them! He will not drive Carter's kind! Gasp!

Now wait just a minute. An artistic masterpiece of the Chris Tucker/Jackie Chan school of brilliance is resorting to cheap cultural stereotypes?! No! (Ja wohl.) But, but, but... we thought these sort of generalizations were no longer fashionable! Have we been misled? Have we been unknowingly living a life of fuzz?

But then after picking up his foreign passengers Georges is dragged into a volatile car chase involving guns, motorcycles, torn-off doors and and a good bout of car window acrobatics by ageless Detective Lee. How exciting! Now he loves Americans! He wants to be a cool American spy! Look, he has spent all day drinking delicious magical Starbucks!

Ohhh, how sneaky! Just when we thought this movie couldn't get any smarter... it's not a stereotype at all--but a brilliant satire disguised as a stereotype! A sardonic comment on the gluttony and corporate globalization of the American people! How clever! So clever we almost missed it! (Not to mention the uncanny connection that we were repeatedly served coffee on the plane! And they mention coffee in the movie! So true to life!)

Kind of like this!






Oh ho! Another cleverly hidden message! Could it be an ironic comment that Americans are loud and obnoxious and must wear giant shapeless tents because we're so obese and our veins run fizzy with Coca-Cola product? How subtle! So subtle we almost missed it!






Well shucks, everyone knows that models are cokeheads. That's not clever at all!



Not like Rush Hour 3, anyway.




2 comments:

Monika said...

wow, your blog is awesomeness!

Anonymous said...

you are a genius, tam. HAHA!