Buster Keaton

Posts have been either serious or propane related lately. Since I haven’t finished writing my review of Mr. Heater Buddy heaters. It’s time to switch to something completely different! (Raise your hand if you heard that in John Cleese’s voice.)

Ace of Spades just reminded me how much I love Buster Keaton.

This is a great idea for Thanksgiving! For the Holiday, when anyone wants to talk politics make them watch Buster Keaton (or kick them in the ass… your choice).

You might have trouble selling the idea of a movie that doesn’t have super heroes to millenials. (They’ve got the attention span of a gnat.) But give it a shot… the movies have special effects, they’re short, the plots are dirt simple, and if anyone’s too wound up about global warming to laugh at a guy slipping on a banana peel… they need to work on that.

Ignore all the whining and put it on, serve some food, and get everyone liquored up (including the millenials… and fuck their craft IPA… serve them something strong enough to make them tolerable)… then wait. If you’re lucky, you’ll find everyone standing around laughing (Probably while the youngins’ are simultaneously communing with social media… take what you can get.)

Some recommendations: for those who don’t know silent slapstick (meaning everyone) start them on Buster Keaton’s One Week. It’s a 1920 story about him building a house… and it’s the sweetest love story in the background.

The house came from Ikea. It practically kills the young couple. You thought that was a new thing?

Every man has had a moment that felt like this.

Other recommendations are Charlie Chaplin’s Modern Times (1936). The perpetual underdog has a thankless job. And yes… those wrenches get used in inappropriate ways. You thought sexual innuendo jokes were a new thing? It’s not Charlie Chaplin’s best work but it is his simplest and it’s just plain fun.

Among other indignities he gets hassled by his boss even when he’s trying to chill for a smoke break in the can. You thought micromanaging bosses were a new thing?

Last recommendation is Harold Lloyd’s Safety Last (1923). You’ve almost certainly seen the famous clip where a Harry Potter lookalike dork experiences life before OSHA:

Don’t think that’ll ruin the movie. Unlike a lot of modern shit, watching a clip of the climactic scene doesn’t detract from the overall experience.

For added fun, find someone who’s afraid of heights. Make them watch… chain them down in front of it if you have to. Lloyd does enough death defying stunts that he nearly gave me a heart attack and I’ve been skydiving.

As for the plot, it’s dirt simple and heartwarming. You can’t help but root for the underdog as he makes increasingly bad decisions every step of the way. It’s funny as all get out and not just because you wonder if he’s going to get shit on by a pigeon while six stories up. (That part will have everyone sitting on the edge of the seat.)

For example, one funny scene is when the poor bastard is basically mauled by women at the store where he works.

Tell me this doesn’t look like Walmart on black Friday. You thought consumers acting like animals was new?

Happy Thanksgiving. Also, don’t overthink the turkey. Thanksgiving ‘aint about turkeys; it’s not even about food. If a vegan bitches about the food, serve them vodka on an empty stomach and see what happens. If your crazy uncle Phil is a drunk…. stuff him full of cranberries and make him suffer sobriety. If the kids are home from college and have gone full Marxist (in lockstep with all the other students… as a way to explore their individuality) make them do the dishes so they can identify with the proletariat. If anyone’s a hassle, hit ’em with a brick; while smiling politely. Then chill with the people you love and maybe have a laugh as dudes from 90 years ago do tricks like Bugs Bunny.

Good Luck.

A.C.