Mar. 30th, 2015
Home is an animated film about a teenage black girl who got an A in geometry and a hapless well-meaning alien.
I really enjoyed it! It managed to be really quite funny a lot of the time while never (for me) veering into cringeworthy and embarrassement. I'd like to drill down into exactly what makes that work for me, but at any rate, it did.
And the information security, while cartoon-y, was considerably more accurate than almost any other film I've seen :)
It was also, for me, a good example of a film I had almost no pitpicks about. Like, it had gravity control, and cars that run on slushies, and a magic chip that embeds alien technology in something which are not actually consistent if you look at the physics closely. But THAT'S COMPLETELY FINE because major plot points depended on what we already knew all those things COULD and COULDN'T do and DIDN'T depend on examining them closely. This is what I mean when I worry about films with plot holes -- the worldbuilding should be at a CONSISTENT level of worldbuilding, not necessarily a HIGH level of worldbuilding.
And, similarly, the morality was surprisingly good, while completely implicit. "Conquering a planet with good intentions = BAD" is clearly conveyed without being on the gritty parts. "Running away all the time = ENDEARING, SENSIBLE BUT FLAWED". Etc.
I realised about half way through that Oh was played by the same actor as Sheldon from the big bang theory, and Oh was endearing in some of the same ways but (importantly for me) didn't seem to have some of the problematic aspects.
I really enjoyed it! It managed to be really quite funny a lot of the time while never (for me) veering into cringeworthy and embarrassement. I'd like to drill down into exactly what makes that work for me, but at any rate, it did.
And the information security, while cartoon-y, was considerably more accurate than almost any other film I've seen :)
It was also, for me, a good example of a film I had almost no pitpicks about. Like, it had gravity control, and cars that run on slushies, and a magic chip that embeds alien technology in something which are not actually consistent if you look at the physics closely. But THAT'S COMPLETELY FINE because major plot points depended on what we already knew all those things COULD and COULDN'T do and DIDN'T depend on examining them closely. This is what I mean when I worry about films with plot holes -- the worldbuilding should be at a CONSISTENT level of worldbuilding, not necessarily a HIGH level of worldbuilding.
And, similarly, the morality was surprisingly good, while completely implicit. "Conquering a planet with good intentions = BAD" is clearly conveyed without being on the gritty parts. "Running away all the time = ENDEARING, SENSIBLE BUT FLAWED". Etc.
I realised about half way through that Oh was played by the same actor as Sheldon from the big bang theory, and Oh was endearing in some of the same ways but (importantly for me) didn't seem to have some of the problematic aspects.