NEWS: If You Can't Stand the Heat

Al said:

First, can you point me towards a review by a professional critic that says Team America supports Bush and his foreign policy? I've never read one, and yes, I have actually read reviews of Team America.

Next, I don't see how you can say Team America didn't call criticism to Bush's foreign policy. Did you watch the first 10 minutes of the movie? Team America destroys Paris in order to foil The Terrorists and they're so happy that they stopped The Terrorists and got their WMD that they don't even care that they destroyed it. Does this sound supportive? Team America then goes to Cairo to, once again, foil The Terrorists. They kill a bunch of terrorists and then go back to their base where they celebrate, saying that they've made the world safe from The Terrorists. Because they're blinded by hubris and "bad intelligence", they don't realize that it's North Korea who is really running the show! OMFG! Team America is so fucking surprised that they didn't actually stop The Terrorists with a single action! Does THIS sound like support of Bush's foreign policy, or does it sound like they're making fun? Then there's the part where they make fun of Hollywood because they're pretty equal-opportunity with their roasting, and then Team America saves the day. Does them saving the day negate the whole rest of the movie, where Team America is set in a light that makes them look ridiculous?

Can someone please tell me how Team America could be taken to support Bush's policy? When I hear the words "America, fuck yeah, comin' again to save the motherfuckin' day, yeah" (first I laugh about it) there's no way I believe that someone could possibly take them seriously, seriously thinking that, oh yeah, all the world's problems are going to be solved by Team America, that that's what that song means.

You honestly didn't get the impression that Team America was making a mockery of Bush's foreign policy? I honestly don't believe it.

Al said:
First, can you point me towards a review by a professional critic that says Team America supports Bush and his foreign policy? I've never read one, and yes, I have actually read reviews of Team America.

Next, I don't see how you can say Team America didn't call criticism to Bush's foreign policy. Did you watch the first 10 minutes of the movie? Team America destroys Paris in order to foil The Terrorists and they're so happy that they stopped The Terrorists and got their WMD that they don't even care that they destroyed it. Does this sound supportive? Team America then goes to Cairo to, once again, foil The Terrorists. They kill a bunch of terrorists and then go back to their base where they celebrate, saying that they've made the world safe from The Terrorists. Because they're blinded by hubris and "bad intelligence", they don't realize that it's North Korea who is really running the show! OMFG! Team America is so fucking surprised that they didn't actually stop The Terrorists with a single action! Does THIS sound like support of Bush's foreign policy, or does it sound like they're making fun? Then there's the part where they make fun of Hollywood because they're pretty equal-opportunity with their roasting, and then Team America saves the day. Does them saving the day negate the whole rest of the movie, where Team America is set in a light that makes them look ridiculous?

Can someone please tell me how Team America could be taken to support Bush's policy? When I hear the words "America, fuck yeah, comin' again to save the motherfuckin' day, yeah" (first I laugh about it) there's no way I believe that someone could possibly take them seriously, seriously thinking that, oh yeah, all the world's problems are going to be solved by Team America, that that's what that song means.

You honestly didn't get the impression that Team America was making a mockery of Bush's foreign policy? I honestly don't believe it.

trilobyte said:
Apparently, if you add enough hyperlinks to an Associated Press news blurb that you grab from Yahoo, you can play it off as your own....

Schiele said:
Think what you will of george bush and alec baldwin, but at least they're both willing to stand up for what they believe in.

Al said:

So yeah, you're saying that since the movie ended with Team America saving the world it actually supported Bush's foreign policy? I don't know if you noticed, but Team America discovered the real plot to destroy the world by accident and then foiled the plot using an extreme amount of violence, cutting Helen Hunt in half, burning Tim Robbins to death and finally impaling Kim Jong Il on that German guy's helmet. Do you really think Parker and Stone condoned all that violence simply because the movie ended without the world blowing up? They saved the world, but at what cost? Was all that violence and destruction really necessary? I don't see how Parker and Stone could be seen as supporting the methods of Team America at the end, and even the speech Gary gave was totally ridiculous. You really think all of that was endorsing Bush's foreign policy?

Al said:
I don't see how Parker and Stone could be seen as supporting the methods of Team America at the end, and even the speech Gary gave was totally ridiculous. You really think all of that was endorsing Bush's foreign policy?

Schiele said:
Also, why does everyone think that making fun of everything equally is so clever? To me it just seems lazy - and the opposite extreme of kowtowing. It adds nothing constructive to the serious issues out there, and hinders anyone who wants to be constructive. Think what you will of george bush and alec baldwin, but at least they're both willing to stand up for what they believe in.

Westley said:
Viewing the film as pro-Bush sounds an awful lot like code for "you're either with us or against us".
[Edited on Mar 15, 2006 12:39PM]

Westley said:

This is the same delusional critique Roger Ebert puked out when the movie was released. I don't mean to be too dismissive here, but if you are looking for the Michael Bay movie parody/puppet movie to take a firm stand that either affirms or contrasts your own on global issues, you really need to step back and gain some perspective. Not all of us ascribe to a binary either/or belief system, and recognizing that just about everyone is almost completely full of shit, or at least easy fodder for ridicule even when they are right (or on the right track), in my perception, is one of the great joys of life.


[Edited on Mar 15, 2006 12:39PM]

Al said:
They saved the world, but at what cost? Was all that violence and destruction really necessary? I don't see how Parker and Stone could be seen as supporting the methods of Team America at the end, and even the speech Gary gave was totally ridiculous. You really think all of that was endorsing Bush's foreign policy?

Schiele said:

I certainly don't take a binary view of life, but the rest of your commentary depresses me - do you truly find EVERYONE full of shit? Is there NOTHING you feel strongly about? Ridiculing everything for the sake of ridicule is not an outlook, people - it's a copout, just as the "you're either with us or against us" viewpoint is a copout.

Al said:

So yeah, you're saying that since the movie ended with Team America saving the world it actually supported Bush's foreign policy? I don't know if you noticed, but Team America discovered the real plot to destroy the world by accident and then foiled the plot using an extreme amount of violence, cutting Helen Hunt in half, burning Tim Robbins to death and finally impaling Kim Jong Il on that German guy's helmet. Do you really think Parker and Stone condoned all that violence simply because the movie ended without the world blowing up? They saved the world, but at what cost? Was all that violence and destruction really necessary? I don't see how Parker and Stone could be seen as supporting the methods of Team America at the end, and even the speech Gary gave was totally ridiculous. You really think all of that was endorsing Bush's foreign policy?

Westley said:

The problem here is that you may not have a binary viewpoint on life, but you certainly are holding the film to one. The fact that Team America wins by taking up a method completely disparate from anything Bush has bothered with(an appeal to the reason of the entire world, or at least, it's representatives in the crowd) seems completely lost on you. As such, I can't help but feel that you are viewing the film in a way that it is pro-Bush solely because it is not thoroughly and solely anti-Bush.

Please re-read my comment, because you are only responding to part of what I said.

"recognizing that just about everyone is almost completely full of shit, or at least easy fodder for ridicule even when they are right (or on the right track), "

When not paraphrased into "everyone is..... completely full of shit", the comment has an entirely different meaning. I was (like South Park & Team America) referring to the bombast and pretension that surrounds pretty much everything everyone says damn near all of the time(I include myself in that, especially right now), especially when it comes to something that evokes great passion, such as politics and war.

I ask again, Why are you expecting the Michael Bay parody/puppet film to be subjective in it's ridicule? Why do we need puppet movies to make a stand? Do you really think F.A.G. is meant to represent all liberals as they are and Team America is meant to represent all conservatives as they are? I think they represent absurd extremes that each would dream up of the other...... and the audience is supposed to chortle at how full of shit those extremes are.

No stand. Not a polemic. More like a hearty "Get a fucking grip, all of you."


[Edited on Mar 15, 2006 7:26PM]

Al said:

First, can you point me towards a review by a professional critic that says Team America supports Bush and his foreign policy? I've never read one, and yes, I have actually read reviews of Team America.

J.R. Jones said:
Matt Stone and Trey Parker delivered one of the most lacerating social satires of the 90s with their animated feature South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut. But as pundits and politicians never tire of pointing out, 9/11 changed everything, and this eagerly awaited follow-up, a marionette adventure like the old Thunderbirds TV show, could have been scripted by Donald Rumsfeld... Stone and Parker try to dish it out left, right, and center, though the genuine subversion of Bigger, Longer & Uncut has given way to a cheap militaristic fatalism. You can't count on anyone these days.

Mick LaSalle said:
There's nothing honestly observed or politically astute about any of this. It's all just a mess, with scenes of Susan Sarandon shooting a machine gun at Special Forces guys and soldiers laying waste to everything. At a certain point, it seems that Stone and Parker may actually have a message to impart, and that's when it gets real scary -- something about there being three kinds of people in the world, etc.

A.O. Scott said:
"Without question the finest R-rated puppet action-musical of the past decade...there are plenty of profane, catchy songs and giddily offensive jokes to keep you amused. But like any good satire, this film has a distinct moral point of view. The members of Team America, the square-jawed action heroes who take on Kim and his supporting cast of left-wing Hollywood stooges, may blow up a lot of stuff, but they do it by accident, not by design. And while the movie is happy to mock American bluster, it also expresses a blunt, uncynical patriotism.

Next, I don't see how you can say Team America didn't call criticism to Bush's foreign policy. Did you watch the first 10 minutes of the movie? Team America destroys Paris in order to foil The Terrorists and they're so happy that they stopped The Terrorists and got their WMD that they don't even care that they destroyed it. Does this sound supportive?

Team America then goes to Cairo to, once again, foil The Terrorists. They kill a bunch of terrorists and then go back to their base where they celebrate, saying that they've made the world safe from The Terrorists. Because they're blinded by hubris and "bad intelligence", they don't realize that it's North Korea who is really running the show! OMFG! Team America is so fucking surprised that they didn't actually stop The Terrorists with a single action! Does THIS sound like support of Bush's foreign policy, or does it sound like they're making fun?

Then there's the part where they make fun of Hollywood because they're pretty equal-opportunity with their roasting...

...and then Team America saves the day. Does them saving the day negate the whole rest of the movie, where Team America is set in a light that makes them look ridiculous?

You honestly didn't get the impression that Team America was making a mockery of Bush's foreign policy? I honestly don't believe it.

Al said:

Never once have I said it was meant to be a "scathing indictment". I never said it was a meaningful social commentary. All I said was that they were not only NOT supporting Bush's foreign policy, but coming out against it and that I don't understand how anyone could really view it otherwise.

AV Club: They did just do an episode that made fun of your religion, Scientology. Did that bother you?

Hayes: Well, I talked to Matt [Stone] and Trey [Parker] about that. They didn't let me know until it was done. I said, 'Guys, you have it all wrong. We're not like that. I know that's your thing, but get your information correct, because somebody might believe that [expletive], you know?' But I understand what they're doing. I told them to take a couple of Scientology courses and understand what we do. [Laughs.]