What I was driving at is that in Eeeee eee eeee, much like The Muppet Show, animals intermingle with humans as though it were nothing unusual. And it's delightful and cute, but then when you sit and watch humans talking to Muppets for a while, it starts to get super creepy. And awesome. And weird. And awesome.
Like, I have a huge crush on Miss Piggy but if she suddenly showed up in my living room I would flip the fuck out. I'm just saying.
7 comments:
The world of Muppets is the polar opposite of the EEE world. Miss Piggy lives in a colorful world filled with passion (a lot of it silly, of course), fun, joy, and mystery.
The world of EEE is colorless, bland, dead to everything but teenage angst and oh so clever posturing and pretentiousness.
Jim Henson was a great artist with a love for people that showed in his animal puppets. His generosity showed up in his work.
Tao Lin is a bored, angry kid who thinks he's smarter and funnier than anyone else. His cruelty shows up in his work, like the way the animals act.
I prefer Muppetville to EEE.
I think there's a lot of silliness similar to Muppets silliness in eeee eeeee eee. The animals never seem to have any malice in their activities, really. They're just...upset sometimes. Also, do you remember how often Miss Piggy beats the shit out of Kermie?
I can see why you prefer Muppetville; I'd live there over eeee eeeee eee-world if given a choice, too.
But, I wonder why there's such venom in the second to last paragraph of your post--not that I don't love me some venom.
Venom is almost always good when it's honest venom, don't you think?
I only deleted because I repeated.
I don't know Tao Lin, so I can't comment on what he's like as a person, although I don't see his characters as malicious. Bored, yes; lost, yes; but not cruel.
I don't really think of the EEE world as being bland, colorless, or dead, either. I think he creates a highly surreal world that emphasizes the less enticing qualities of this one--thereby making boredom and confusion really fucking interesting. It's a pretty accurate portrait of this universe, on some levels. You have to have an angle, after all--a unique way of looking at the world--if you're going to write a book that's of any interest.
How many times a day do I say I'm bored? Or confused? How many times a day do I think parts of the world are completely absurd? By drawing these qualities out and exploring them, he creates a world that's so like and unlike our own. In which someone can say, "A car passed with at least 4 bears in it," and nobdy, including the reader, flinches. Every minute shit happens in the real world that we can't explain--why not here?
It's territory that a lot of writers probably feel is too boring or confusing or absurd to tackle. I don't think it would be an easy task, and I think he does it gracefully.
Dishonest venom would be a good name for a band.
Post a Comment