Many moons ago, I was called a racist for saying that subtitled comedies typically are not a fun experience.
True story.
It was in an online forum, and there was a general back-and-forth over comedy films. Clearly, one of the persons in the room was very well acquainted with some Korean flicks -- a few of which I'd seen -- and I explained that something can get lost in translation when an import gets subtitled as opposed to dubbed. Whammo! Someone -- I forget who -- immediately played the race card, trying to imply that I had something against the great Korean people.
Now -- because it's in my nature -- I tried to slow that roll down, you know? I restated what I had originally said -- copied and pasted it, even -- and then I asked, "Where oh where did I ever say or even suggest Korean people aren't funny?" As carefully and as cautiously as I could, I further explained that watching a joke performed versus reading a joke (as one would have to do in most cases with a subtitled movie) are two very different experiences; one is organic, and one is a learned process. Naturally, I couldn't talk any sense into this person, and he or she inevitably left the chatroom, encouraging others to follow the lead.
Again -- and stop me if this doesn't make perfect sense -- humor on the written page tickles a completely different kind of fancy than watching a performance does. They are two separate entities, both founded on either the absurd or the sublime, and it's difficult to make a seamless transition between the eyes and the ears. Yes, both instances might be funny, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the delivery is going to produce the desired response. It can happen, of course ... but it's a delicate balance.
That's the spirit in which I'm sharing this trailer that was passed along to me via an email for the Norwegian SciFi/Comedy Blasted. It looks to hit the streaming behemoth Netflix on June 28th, and it's a winning enough combination of performances and ideas that I felt a post here would be a nice gesture. Again -- bear in mind that if you don't speak Norwegian that you may be reading some of the jokes ... and try not to call folks 'racist' just because you think it's the trendy thing to do.
Here's the film's premise as provided by IMDB.com:
"When a former childhood friend crashes Sebastian's bachelor party and makes it all about himself, only an alien invasion can make them put aside their bad blood and reunite as the kick-ass laser-tag duo they once were."
True story.
It was in an online forum, and there was a general back-and-forth over comedy films. Clearly, one of the persons in the room was very well acquainted with some Korean flicks -- a few of which I'd seen -- and I explained that something can get lost in translation when an import gets subtitled as opposed to dubbed. Whammo! Someone -- I forget who -- immediately played the race card, trying to imply that I had something against the great Korean people.
Now -- because it's in my nature -- I tried to slow that roll down, you know? I restated what I had originally said -- copied and pasted it, even -- and then I asked, "Where oh where did I ever say or even suggest Korean people aren't funny?" As carefully and as cautiously as I could, I further explained that watching a joke performed versus reading a joke (as one would have to do in most cases with a subtitled movie) are two very different experiences; one is organic, and one is a learned process. Naturally, I couldn't talk any sense into this person, and he or she inevitably left the chatroom, encouraging others to follow the lead.
Again -- and stop me if this doesn't make perfect sense -- humor on the written page tickles a completely different kind of fancy than watching a performance does. They are two separate entities, both founded on either the absurd or the sublime, and it's difficult to make a seamless transition between the eyes and the ears. Yes, both instances might be funny, but that doesn't necessarily mean that the delivery is going to produce the desired response. It can happen, of course ... but it's a delicate balance.
That's the spirit in which I'm sharing this trailer that was passed along to me via an email for the Norwegian SciFi/Comedy Blasted. It looks to hit the streaming behemoth Netflix on June 28th, and it's a winning enough combination of performances and ideas that I felt a post here would be a nice gesture. Again -- bear in mind that if you don't speak Norwegian that you may be reading some of the jokes ... and try not to call folks 'racist' just because you think it's the trendy thing to do.
Here's the film's premise as provided by IMDB.com:
"When a former childhood friend crashes Sebastian's bachelor party and makes it all about himself, only an alien invasion can make them put aside their bad blood and reunite as the kick-ass laser-tag duo they once were."
As always, thanks for reading ... and live long and prosper!
-- EZ
-- EZ
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