metalgoth

I highly recommend this show. I don't qualify that by saying 'if you like metal', that's not necessary. It is, however, aimed at people who like adult cartoons.

In this age of South Park and Family Guy, people shouldn't be shocked by the sight of animated gore that is found in Metalocalypse. And by gore, I don't mean simply seeing blood spattering around the screen. A dream sequence has one character having his head cleanly cleft down the middle, showing a detailed cutaway view of his cranial whatnots. The gore is one area of the show the creators are getting decidedly creative about. Gore, and inept reconstruction, like in the song 'Sewn Back Together Wrong'. It's a running theme here, ancillary characters that manage to survive their first show often reappear sporting cobbled together artificial appendages.

The big draw, for me at least, is the characterization and dialogue. The show revolves around the five members of the fictional heavy metal band Dethklok, each with his own unique, and identifiable quirks. Skwisgar is my favorite, a nihilistic prima donna who just wants to live the rock star life. Murderface is repellent yet fascinating. A tension-filled ball of insecurity and self-hatred. The singer Nathan is huge and scary-looking, and an enthusiastic booster of all things dark and brutal. Toki seems perfectly innocent, still smarting from his overly strict upbringing, and Pickles seems the most normal of the bunch, providing a personality we can most easily identify with, albeit with a strange 'skullet' hairdo and a thick midwestern accent.

These five are virtually inseparable, and their overlapping, back and forth dialogue provide most of the humor here. The two Scandinavians struggle with English still, making them even more quotable. Together they create a group dynamic that really feels lived in, like they've been dealing with each other for years.

I first found out about this show by seeing the DVD set in the stores. I liked the idea of a metal-themed cartoon, but figured it was just pandering to the metal-heads. I made a point to see it on Adult Swim and found out how good it actually is. Brendon Small is a co-creator, and provides many of the voices and he also writes and performs the original music in the show. He clearly has a great love of metal, putting together a collection of songs good enough to make him an established artist in his own right.

Adult cartoons have been improving by leaps and bounds the last 10 years. South Park is far better now than when it started out, and the other new series that come out now are usually more ambitious and creative than they used to be. It's hard to imagine that the Simpsons seemed so subversive when they started. Supposedly the Flintstones were considered a walk on the wild side back in the day. This is the state of the American cartoon art now, and it's well worth a serious look. It's smart, it's creative, and it shows us things most of us hadn't seen before.

And it's really, really funny.

First off, I must say that I am not the likely audience for a film like this. I know almost nothing about fashion and have difficulty getting into documentaries. I did see this years ago, about the time it hit video, and while I liked Isaac, the movie didn't hold my interest.

Fast forward to 2008, I've been watching Ugly Betty for two seasons. It is another unlikely choice for me, but it's over the top enough to be fun. Everyone around me loves The Devil Wears Prada, so I've seen that several times as well.

Then Unzipped reappears on satellite TV, and as I watch it I see a first hand look at the world that Betty and Devil are only reflecting. Seeing it in this context I found a whole new appreciation for this movie. It's interesting, funny and dramatic in places, and it's beautifully shot. Maybe there are a lot of documentary clichés at work here, but who better to give the glamorous black and white treatment to than supermodels and fashionistas? It works, extremely well, now I understand better where it comes from. Why settle for an 'inspired by' Anna Wintour when you can have the real thing? Anyway, I'll be getting this on DVD to add to my expanding fashion-themed section. Who knew?

When I first saw this show, I thought it looked interesting. I watched it, saw how it revolved around Sarah, like the character sees the world...revolving around her. I got it, but wasn't laughing very much.

Onstage and in her show, she's racist, crude, insensitive and hugely self-centered. I didn't get her at first, and took it all at face value. Then I got to see her movie, Jesus is Magic. I think that served as a Sarah Silverman primer for me, explaining to me just what 'language' she's speaking. She's like Marilyn Manson, working so hard to give us a faceful of horrible ideas and images, but you eventually realise it isn't an assault, it's a statement. And once you understand that, you find you're glad someone's finally giving it to you straight.

I don't mean to suggest only smart people will understand, or that to hate this show is to prove your idiocy. While I like a lot of 'smart' shows, I still to this day do not see the humor of Curb Your Enthusiasm. I get the impression that it's good, but I just don't get it. Many people will never get the Sarah Silverman Program, but I'm glad I eventually came around.

The creators of this show do work hard, every episode is loaded not just with dialogue and plot, but with songs, or dream sequences, production numbers. These people aren't putting together something to fill a time slot and please advertisers, they appear to be on a mission to make the best show they can put together. If I was to predict the future of this show, I'd say it will go the way of Arrested Development and Freaks & Geeks. It will get canceled before it's time and live on in fans' hearts and on DVD. But take heart, SSP creators, your audience IS out there, and we'll be watching for as long as they let you make the show.