Last weekend I got caught up watching a movie on TV. I'm fairly certain it will never end up on Netflix or Prime, because it was awful. A Mutant World had the following problems.
Bad acting
Terrible directing
Dreadful script
Unbelievable storyline
Accidentally hilarious special effects and costuming (The mutants looked like they were fleeing an off Broadway production of 'Cats, the Musical.' )
Here's a plot summation. Some doomsday prepper's dreams came true when a meteor hit the earth and made life above ground impossible. These people had formed a kind of army, and you could tell they'd always wanted to be soldiers but probably failed the psych exam. Still, they had the uniforms and matching high powered weapons. After shooting a lot of people trying to join them in their underground bunker (which looked far too sophisticated for these yokels) they locked themselves down. Ten years later, they climbed out and found mutants everywhere. Yes, those would be the escapees from the Cats musical.
The truly unbelievable part is, I sat through the whole thing. It was like watching a tone deaf singer belting out show tunes, or attending a really bad poetry slam where they acted out the verses. Every now and then I'd ask myself, why am I still watching this garbage? I laughed quite a bit...maybe that was part of the attraction. I also got angry. How dare someone make a movie this bad? For over ninety minutes, I bathed in a sea of mixed emotions, including rage.
When the movie was finally over, I congratulated myself for not breaking the television. And then, I had a revelation. In spite of its dreadfulness, the movie struck a nerve. Because, we are living in a mutant world. Never mind the tricky Corona virus. We're not really feeling like ourselves anymore, and it's not so much due to a sense of isolation...I think we've gotten used to it...but an overwhelming certainty that the world is struggling and we westerners might have to accept a new normal. Yes, some of us may have lost jobs in the past, or people we love, or struggled through illness or complicated family matters. But through it all, we relied on the rest of society to keep carrying on.
And in the back of our minds, we're left wondering. What will the world look like when Covid 19 is over? And when will that be? How will we know when to duck, when to take aim, and when to start making plans for an alternate lifestyle? We have mutated into uncertainty, and of all the emotions, it's one of the toughest. Especially for those of us who like routine. This Groundhog Day experience we've all been sharing isn't so bad when compared to an unknowable future.
In the light of this, I'm going to make you all some promises. I won't start carrying a gun, building a bunker, or hoarding food. I won't start believing anything that isn't science based (except for the whole Jesus thing, because that's how I roll) and I will keep a stiff upper lip even if I have to get Botox to do it. (I won't get Botox...we had that talk already.) Most of all, I will believe in you, my fellow earthlings. We can survive this. And who knows? Maybe we're mutating into a newer, kinder, more thoughtful and environment loving version of ourselves.
John Lennon said, "Everything will be okay in the end. If it's not okay, it's not the end." For now, let's all imagine that.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOgFZfRVaww
No comments:
Post a Comment