By Cody Wayne
November 16, 2001
(4
and a half hits out of 5... screw it, take the whole five-strip.)
My friend picked up some
free passes to see "Waking Life", the new Richard Linklater film using
a mind-blowing form of animation known as rotoscoping. FREE! We even
got some free popcorn and a root beer since we knew some people who
worked there, and it's not even a clandestine sorta operation. No hiding
from the boss. It's all good as long as they don't serve the popcorn
in the "special" bags. That's what costs the theatre the money. I'm
guessing the bags themselves must be rather expensive if they have to
withstand the weird chemicals in the yellow shit they throw on if you
ask for it. I refuse to refer to it as "butter" as it's commonly called.
It's some weird gelatinous yellow shit that, when heated, forms an only
slightly less viscous, slightly more transparent salt liquid. I mean,
what the fuck do you want that shit on your popcorn for? It actually
dissolves the popcorn. Jesus, man.
So here's some shit about
the movie.
Movies should, from now
on, be rated on the amount of LSD it would seem reasonable to take and
remain seated and focused while watching. I'd give "Waking Life", I
don't know, a rating of about 500 micrograms. What this means in the
new rating system that I've just now developed is that you should all
go find someone with some good clean newly dipped blotters or just some
straight liquid and eat about 3-5 hits. I can recommend this only to
those people who know how to handle their psychedelics in public places,
seeing as though 5 hits is a fairly good amount of acid, there's a fairly
good chance that one could lose it, especially if it's really good acid.
Or maybe I'm just creaming
myself over the fact that I've never seen a movie more conducive to
the mean psychedelic experience.
"Waking Life" is basically
"Slacker" on acid with, oddly enough, a more-focused theme, one dealing
directly with how we deal with life, how we express who we are, and
what the FUCK is holding us back from ANYTHING. Focused might not be
the right word. The film is basically a series of thoughts and theories
expressed through various relevant character roles that SHOULD BE engrossing,
engaging, provoking, stirring, whatever the hell you wanna call it.
It deals mainly with the infinity of NOW, the dance between the dream
and waking states, and the infinite possibilities within each. "Waking
Life" is an important film, a relevant film, a must-see film... ESPECIALLY
right now with the general sleepwalking populous being distracted to
the point of hysteria by mass-media-induced fear and to the point of
stupidity by the usual barrage of TV sitcoms and talkshows that MIGHT
be in par with a 6th grade maturity level.
But here's where the ole
catch-22 comes flying in nose first... the people who NEED to be given
acid and strapped down, eyelids stretched open or, as a jailed character
in the film suggested, simply cut OFF are the ones who AREN'T going
to see it. Several people walked out of the film after 15 or 20 minutes
because the movie consisted of heads talking to each other about topics
that required the viewer to sit back and EVOLVE THEIR MINDS. Nope, sorry
my little fluff-heads, this is not a candy necklace or a ring-pop, this
is called THE LIFE YOU'RE LIVING... and what a provocative life you
must be leading full of non-conformity and self-realization. My friend
at the concession stand said she overheard people walking out expressing
how "stupid" the movie was. My guess is that these people went directly
to the Santa Monica Promenade and jacked themselves off to the usual
hell-diversions we've allowed Big Brother to bone us with.
This is a mother mind-fucker
of a film. It's now become quite clear that this film was intended as
a behavior modification film, a propaganda film, if you will, for the
rising new class of highly evolved beings, that being US, and I'm sure
you know who you are. That's why LSD is a perfect transcendental sacrament
to take while going through the reprogramming process. What we should
do is turn this film into a cult, never take it from the theatres. We
should tell people that Britney Spears is doing a special performance
in the theatre, tell them that we're showing some long lost "Joanie
and Chachi" episodes, tell them that the Teletubbies have come to entertain
the children, tell them that Birkenstock and Tommy Hilfiger have finally
joined forces...IN THE THEATRE. Once they're in, lock the doors and
spray a fine mist of LSD on the men, women, and children, then show
the film. There will be no escape, no mommy, no daddy, just YOUR MIND
dealing with thoughts that break barriers and leave you wondering why
you've let it get this far without addressing these issues OUT LOUD.
It's about JUST SAYING IT all the while SHOWING IT in an as-of-yet-unseen
streaming form of animation that was used only to provide the cerebral
palate with the perfect surrealness of the content... to induce the
trance state with the visuals and then bombard you with the issues.
Fucking IMPLANTING the issues so we can start moving along COLLECTIVELY
to a more perfect realized eternal MOMENT, like a dream that we've taken
control of, leaving no room for impossibilities:
"You can have so much damn
fun in your dreams. And, of course, everyone knows FUN RULES."
"The ongoing WOW! is happening
right now."
"If the world that we are
forced to accept is false and nothing is true, then everything is possible."
"There's only one instant,
and it's right now, and it's ETERNITY."
THAT'S what "Waking Life"
is about. Go watch this film. Impregnate your mind.
www.wakinglifemovie.com
