2008 Woodie Awards
We Need a Rating System to Warn People About Idiotic Films
Heather Vandever
Issue date: 8/27/08 Section: Life
Have you ever sat in a darkened theater watching a dumb movie and started thinking about another dumb movie?
Well, that happened to me three times last week.
I was watching my third dumb movie in as many days when my mind wandered and I thought about "Dumb & Dumber."
I thought about "Dumb & Dumber" because a lot of people held up that 1994 Farrelly brothers comedy as a shining example of the dumbing down of America. These same people were concerned that the movie, which starred Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two dumb guys, would somehow cause an irreparable crack in the metaphorical dam that has been protecting us all these years from a torrent of dumb movies.
I believed 14 years ago that those people were wrong. I would like to amend that assessment. I now accept that they were only half-wrong. I do not think that the national debate that was triggered by "Dumb & Dumber" was as much off-the-mark as it was premature.
I also thought that they were wrong because there have been dumb movies around for as long as there have been movies. The Three Stooges made a lot of funny films, but they didn't make a lot of smart films.
However, the half-right part of the "Dumb & Dumber" argument is that we are faced with a plethora of dumb movies these days. And I use the word "plethora" intentionally to distinguish myself from the people who make dumb movies.
The dumb movies seem to outnumber the smart movies by a margin that I could calculate if only I were smarter. Perhaps there is a crack in the dam.
In fact, there are so many dumb comedies these days that I think they should carry a warning label. Movie-goers should be protected against the proliferation of dumb movies. Their precious time and hard-earned money should be guarded against unscrupulous filmmakers who are trying to take advantage of them.
I suggest that a blue-ribbon panel of clowns, buffoons and drunken frat boys be selected to convene on a regular basis to review upcoming comedies. I am limiting this discussion to comedies for no better reason than they annoy me more than dumb dramas.
Well, that happened to me three times last week.
I was watching my third dumb movie in as many days when my mind wandered and I thought about "Dumb & Dumber."
I thought about "Dumb & Dumber" because a lot of people held up that 1994 Farrelly brothers comedy as a shining example of the dumbing down of America. These same people were concerned that the movie, which starred Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels as two dumb guys, would somehow cause an irreparable crack in the metaphorical dam that has been protecting us all these years from a torrent of dumb movies.
I believed 14 years ago that those people were wrong. I would like to amend that assessment. I now accept that they were only half-wrong. I do not think that the national debate that was triggered by "Dumb & Dumber" was as much off-the-mark as it was premature.
I also thought that they were wrong because there have been dumb movies around for as long as there have been movies. The Three Stooges made a lot of funny films, but they didn't make a lot of smart films.
However, the half-right part of the "Dumb & Dumber" argument is that we are faced with a plethora of dumb movies these days. And I use the word "plethora" intentionally to distinguish myself from the people who make dumb movies.
The dumb movies seem to outnumber the smart movies by a margin that I could calculate if only I were smarter. Perhaps there is a crack in the dam.
In fact, there are so many dumb comedies these days that I think they should carry a warning label. Movie-goers should be protected against the proliferation of dumb movies. Their precious time and hard-earned money should be guarded against unscrupulous filmmakers who are trying to take advantage of them.
I suggest that a blue-ribbon panel of clowns, buffoons and drunken frat boys be selected to convene on a regular basis to review upcoming comedies. I am limiting this discussion to comedies for no better reason than they annoy me more than dumb dramas.
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