8/3/2023 0 Comments Superhero mashup![]() ![]() In contemporary culture there are many examples of frightening, subversive, and transgressive monsters, but what of those monsters we have already confronted, and whose multiple meanings and categories of identification are not only accepted, but exploited? In the twenty-first century, the monster has lost some of its transgressive power and transpersonal significance. As Asa Simon Mittman asserts in his introduction to The Ashgate Research Companion to Monsters and the Monstrous (2012), ‘s we cannibalise the Others of others, as we tear them apart and stitch them back together, we continually redefine the parameters of the monstrous’ (p. Our mediascape is increasingly populated with monsters from other cultures, times, and parts of the world. It’s one big distinguishing factor may end up being what can only be described as the single most random soundtrack in recent memory.Using examples from contemporary mashup, this paper explores the way monsters in allegedly subversive and progressive popular narratives often succumb to the influences of populist privilege – particularly when these monsters come from the past. BlackBerry doesn’t add much to the discussion as to why such stories might be percolating into our collective consciousness, nor why such narratives might be taking on an extra layer of meaning right now it feels content to fashion this unlikely ascension of the Great Canadian Smart Phone That Could as a superhero origin story yet doesn’t know what, if anything, it wants to say about this phenomenon past that. Jay Baruchel (far left) and Matt Johnson (center) in ‘BlackBerry.’ĭrawing from Jacquie McNish and Sean Silcoff’s book Losing the Signal: The Untold Story Behind the Extraordinary Rise and Spectacular Fall of BlackBerry, the movie covers the familiar ground of Big Tech’s late ‘90s/early ‘00s gold-rush mentality, as well as syncing up with a number of other recent films - notably Air and Tetris - that combine millennial nostalgia, niche markets that cause mainstream cultural upheavals, and revenge of the nerds. And once he’s fired from his day job, Balsillie talks his way into becoming R.I.M.’s co-CEO, invades the nerds’ safe space, and starts screaming at folks to Get. He can’t take these guys seriously, yet this corporate shark can still smell the faint whiff of blood in the water in terms of the concept. But Lazaridis has been developing this idea for a phone that allows you to send and receive email, which is how they end up in Balsillie’s office, pitching the idea for their game-changing “PocketLink” device. is deeply in debt, and the office is little more than a beta-male frat house. A cybersecurity software company based in Waterloo, Ontario - feel free to savor the city’s name, given how this story ends the film certainly does - R.I.M. It’s taking a film that’s all thumbs and providing a much-needed jolt via a well-placed middle finger.Ībout the less-than-dynamic duo that rounds out this unholy corporate trinity: They’re Mike Lazaridis ( Jay Baruchel) and Douglas Fregin (cowriter-director Matt Johnson), longtime friends and co-founders of Research in Motion. Yet the performance isn’t just propping everything up. That the actor is providing this tech-product biopic with a center of gravity is almost by default, given how the film is a lot like its other two main characters: jittery, thirsty, somehow both too unsure and too blustery in all the wrong places. The man is explosive even when he’s silently standing still. ego to get things done and burn things down. But the real difference between this gent and the other morally dodgy guys filling his IMDb page is how Howerton is tapping into a specific white-collar volatility - that kind that drives a specific type of M.B.A. Beautiful, sputtering, spittle-flying fury.ĭon’t let the bald-pated look distract you: Howerton may have shaved his head to look more like Jim Balsillie, the business executive who helped turn the idea for an all-in-one mobile device into a reality, and then the first shot fired in a revolution. Pure, 100-percent uncut short-fuse anger. But Howerton brings something to BlackBerry, the scrappy Canadian indie about a scrappy Canadian company that changed the world, that goes above and beyond his usual lovable sociopath act. (See: Every single episode of It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia Howerton is in.) Nor is it off-brand for the writer-actor-producer to take on a role in which he radiates that he’s better than the idiots and saps and suckers surrounding him, as fans of the late, great sitcom A.P. It’s not like the It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia co-creator hasn’t previously played someone who acts horrifically yet still keeps you on his side. Never, ever underestimate the power of a glowering, growling Glenn Howerton. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |