December
23rd – In the spirit of the times I’d like to begin with a quiz…well
not so much a quiz as a question. Before the end of this piece (don’t look at
the bottom) name the band, the movie and the speakers:
The official explanation was, he choked
on vomit. He passed away.
Yeah. It was actually someone else’s
vomit.
There
seems to be no end to the inventiveness of man when it comes to exploiting
something in order to wring yet another ten cents out of what was a good thing
when it first started. I think that’s why I like literature so much, the
written word. It seems to represent the purest form of intercommunication we
have. Reading a piece of poetry or prose or ploughing one’s way through a novel
means different things to different people. That’s why, when we’ve read a novel
and it gets turned into a TV series or a film, as the lead actor or central
place of action comes into camera we all internally, sometimes externally, say;
She/he/the house looks nothing like that!
And
that’s because there is no greater set designer, no better character creator
than the human mind. It can transport you anywhere with anyone; its only
downfall is that each person’s destination and companion looks different to
anyone else’s. The film or play or musical of that wonderful book you read so
often fails to live up to what you saw in your mind as you read it and that’s
because, with a film or series, you’re looking at someone else’s imagining,
someone else’s construction of that tale. Unlike a story in a book, once it’s
there, on stage or screen and with those fully-formed characters it can’t be
altered; nothing you can do will change it. The most annoying thing about this
whole process is, in the main, the reason it’s done that way is just to make/save
money.
No,
OK, I know, sometimes there are worthy efforts that breathe life into what are
seen by film makers as one-dimensional set pieces, but that’s exactly what they
aren’t. To each reader they are three-dimensional characters in a complete
landscape of places, events and possibilities. But, you see, if they remain in
that format there’s no money to be made, so they make movies of best-sellers ’cos
it’s one way of the highly nervous film industry partially guaranteeing an
audience and nothing makes a film exec. sleep more soundly than a guaranteed
audience. But when the movie’s done what then? Well, a DVD? A sound recording
of the music? a musical maybe? A stage play? A cut-out-and-keep picture book?
An interactive game? Fancy-dress in the style of? The franchise possibilities
are endless and often more profitable, and they’re prepared to exploit these
money-making gimmicks to the bitter end…and beyond, the franchise outlets often
making more than the original adaptation, certainly more than the book.
However, these things can sometimes defy the book-to-film conundrum; remember James Bond?
If
a film creation becomes significantly embedded into the nation’s consciousness,
like for instance Withnail and I,
then it reverses the flow (I await the musical) but for me the outcome is still
the same. What is created firstly as a film welds characters
and environments to the action and it’s very hard to dislodge those
set-in-celluloid creations, but James
Bond/Ian Flemming bucked that trend. Remember the difficulties faced when
Sean Connery quit being Bond? I mean,
who amongst us rated George Lazenby? Honest now. Thought not. That’s not a
reflection on the abilities of an Aussie model, I’m sure he’s a very capable
performer, just not in that role. And that was because we’d already got our Bond and Mr. Connery probably fitted the
character the vast majority of readers had in their heads. My guess is the only
reason Roger Moore was so easily accepted in the role was because of his
earlier work in The Saint, a ‘60’s’
TV spy series.
OK,
time for a helping hand; another quote from the same movie I opened with;
These go to 11.
Got
it now, I guess. When This is Spinal Tap
was first released in 1984 I figure no one had any idea just how well it was
going to do, how it would become part of rock history, and all from a mainly
ad-libbed mockumentory that sought, and succeeded, in sending up the rock/heavy
metal world of music, nor could they have foreseen that the characters would be
treated as real. It’s a widely known fact that Spinal Tap’s bass player, Derek Smalls, was born on this day in
1943. Many of the film’s quotes have passed into everyday parlance and the
characters are now a staple of every take on the music industry. It has made
millions for all involved in DVD sales and on regular screenings…but, as you
well know by now those millions are never quite enough; there’s always another
ten cents can be squeezed out of it. To that end they took this fictional band out
on tour to heavy metal festivals around the world. Piss-poor shows involving
four actors playing at being rock stars doesn’t cut it and the whole franchise,
imho, took a nosedive and lost its magic; but that was secondary to making a
buck.
Such
a shame. As in so many endeavours of an artistic kind it never seems to be
enough to have created something of worth, something that will endure in the
nation’s artistic DNA. Think I’ll leave the last words to Spinal Tap; You can’t really
dust for vomit.
6) Dead Cell – Papa Roach – From the album Infest – Recorded 2000 – Lead
Vocal/Jacoby Shaddix – Lead Guitar & BV/Jerry Horton – Bass Guitar &
BV/Tobin Esperance – Drums/Dave Buckner
A track that reminds me of my demonstrating days past,
present and future and to never resort to tears when it comes to serious
disagreements with government. Reminds me how government views the majority of
its population, of how I need to be secure of my facts when discussing their
actions and to use simple, descriptive language when calling their bluff.
Reminds me never to be afraid of the consequences as long as I tell the truth
and of how to know when turning the other cheek will result in a blow from
behind. My revolutionary days are still very much with me.
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