Sarah Polley Nails It In One

Sarah Polley, star of the recent Dawn of the Dead, says the coolest thing I've ever heard anyone say, ever, in an interview with Gamestar (RIP):

"I think it takes a lot more nerve to not be in on the [Scream, Freddy vs. Jason, etc.] joke. I saw [Dawn of the Dead] with an audience last night, and people were kind of like shocked, because we're so used to that kind of ironic, tongue-in-cheek, like we're all way too sophisticated to actually be scared. I think that era has had its day, and I think people actually want to experience real things in theatres again. I think that it's really brave to make a movie that isn't just making fun of itself the whole time. And it's funnier, actually. "

Everything is so damn ironic and cynical, and you should really consider that, coming from me, the Awesomelord. The new Dukes of Hazzard movie stars goddamn Jassica Simpson as Daisy, Seann William Scott as Bo, and Johnny Knoxville as Luke. Even considering that The Dukes of Hazzard was not fine theatre in its day, it at least took itself pretty seriously and presented an entertaining show. This movie will be, according to my sources (who are essentially the gnomes who live in my head), a mocking, ironic film that goes, "Look how much more awesome we are than the original show! Ha ha, lookit how we make fun of this stupid show!" From that, you get a few laughs, but nothing new.

Satire has value when it's poignant and intelligent. The original Scream almost had it nailed, presenting real horror alongside satire about horror movies, but it still came down to a lot of, "Ha ha, lookit how dumb these movies are! The sex kitten always dies! Ha ha!" The original Knight Rider show is pretty cheesy in hindsight, but it created something new for viewers to enjoy. All the David Hasselhoff jokes let us feel superior to a man who has a huge cult following in Europe (whereas our own cult followings leave much to be desired), but they mean nothing to someone who doesn't understand why David Hasselhoff is so funny.

Sarah Polley's comment is true. It'd be nice to see more real entertainment and less one-punchline jokes masquerading as such.