Exercises in futility: Don’t Go In The Woods

Good Reader, I put to you this question: What’s worse? Hipsters, or an “actor’s actor” [fn.1] in his 50′s attempting to embrace the post-ironic, post-cultural and nihilistic world of affluent post-adolescent youth and the death of sincerity?

…

OK, so I don’t really want an answer; the question is purely rhetorical. In fact, as both possibilities are exercises in futility, there’s little to truly distinguish them. (Also, too much use of “post” for my liking too, admittedly.)

But that’s what Don’t Go In The Woods precisely is: futile. Not absurd; futile.

I won’t bore you with the particulars for long. Quasi-hipster [fn.2] band go into the woods to write new tunes. A slasher is killing them off one-by-one. Lots of forgettable songs are sung. It’s a slasher-musical.

The film could have easily had a dark and genuine subtext about said demographics, as American Psycho arguably did about Manhattan yuppies. Rather, it’s a gimmick masquerading as irony or a ‘thought bubble’.

Am I being too harsh?

From BHF:

BHM
Sounds great. Are you a big horror fan generally?

Vincent
It’s one of my favorite genres. I’ve been watching them since I was a kid, I think like most of us. I think the thing I like about horror films most is that they are… not meant to be critiqued? You watch a horror film expecting that you have to take a certain leap of faith with it, and that you know you’re going to see unexplained violence on top of this kind of intense, thriller aspect. It’s the only genre where… I think all of the other genres like Sci-fi, Comedy and dramatic films, you go in with this feeling of “I hope it’s a great film” whereas a horror film you really don’t go in thinking that. You just go in thinking “I’m gonna go see a horror movie”.

Genre is not a Get-Out clause, Vince.

Above: Performed by This Guy

Below: Trailer

fn.1 The very fact VD’O is on that website that gets defensive about the use of the H-word is perhaps a ’nuff said moment for the theme of this post.

fn.2 Read: early-to-mid-2000′s indie, which is becoming passée enough now to be ironic enough to appropriate, so long as said appropriation is ahead of the curve of ironic early-2000′s appropriation.

~ by Teddy Hernandez on January 25, 2012.