I watched “Okja” the other night, the South Korean film about an enormous super-pig (basically) that, along with its brethren, is supposed to relieve world hunger.
One of them is raised by a young girl. They become best buds, then Okja is taken away to be turned into super-bacon and super-ribs. The girl heads off to rescue him.
Shawn RyanThe film received positive reviews, including an 86 on Rotten Tomatoes. When it ended at the Cannes Film Festival in 2017, it received a four-minute standing ovation.
I turned “Okja” off about halfway through; I thought it was amazingly vacuous and obvious with plot holes big enough to swallow the Grand Canyon.
Just goes to show you: One man’s channel flipper is another’s standing ovation.
How often has this happened to you? A friend goes to see a movie and raves about it. “Best thing ever.” “I laughed; I cried.” “It spun the emotional wheel.”
Based on that, you rush to the theater and come out thinking “Meh.” Or, “Why did I waste my time and money?”
The same is true about TV shows, books, music or theater. I’ve actually known people who read the first “Harry Potter” book and were unimpressed (I know!). I tried to read William Faulkner’s “Absalom, Absalom!,” a book that some have called the best literary book ever written. I tried to wade through the paragraphs that stretched for more than a page but eventually drowned.
“Mad Men” was nominated for 116 Emmys and won 16. I watched about six episodes and thought, “I don’t want to spend a minute more with these awful human beings.” “The English Patient” won the Oscar for Best Picture; about 100 days into watching it, my wife leaned over to me and said, “Is this film never going to end?”
Then again, my wife and I differ on what constitutes “good” on entertainment avenues, which I’m sure is true for many couples or friendships.
She loves the family drama “This Is Us” on NBC; I can see that it’s well-made, but it doesn’t do anything for me. Conversely (or perversely), I think “Ash vs. Evil Dead,” a satirical and extremely gory continuation of the “Evil Dead” film series, is one of the most hilarious things I’ve ever watched. My wife watched one episode and said, “You’re sick and depraved and I don’t want to be married to you anymore.”
She was kidding about the marriage part (I think), but was serious about sick and depraved. Unfortunately, “Ash vs. Evil Dead” has been canceled, so I’ll have to find something else sick and depraved. No worries. I have faith.
Contact Shawn Ryan at mshawnryan@gmail.com.