We saw "Happy Feet" over Thanksgiving weekend with the nieces and nephews. I really wanted to see this after reading a review at AICN calling it "The most F***ed up piece of propaganda ever!". Boy, it didn't disappoint.

 

The plot, is that Mumble, an Emperor penguin, dances instead of sings. Singing covers of Prince and Elvis songs is how they attract mates in their society, so Mumble is labeled as a weirdo from the get go. At this point, you think the movie is going to be about learning a Valuable Life Lesson in Tolerance. However, that is not the full story.

 

See, the penguins have a problem. There's not as much fish in the ocean these days. Mumble gets the crazy notion that "aliens" (humans) are stealing the fish. He gets cast out of penguin society after trying to convince the elders of this. The elders claim that the Great Penguin in the sky is testing their faith.

 

After many adventures, Mumble and his comical sidekicks find a human enclave. Mumble leaves his friends and takes off after one of the human ships. Eventually he is picked up and locked up in some sort of SeaWorld like attraction where he becomes suicidely depressed. However, he begins attracting attention with his dancing and is eventually released back on Antarctica.

 

He returns to his people, with a tracking device on his back. He explains it lets the aliens find him. He tells everyone that they must start dancing, because its their only hope of convincing the aliens to stop stealing the fish. The penguins dance, the humans freak out. The United Nations bans all fishing. Everyone lives happily ever after.

 

Now, I'm not as big a hippy as Paityr is, but I'm not opposed to movies with environmental messages. The issue with this movie is how out of left field this issue came. One minute your watching a cute movie about tolerance and dancing penguins, the next Mumble is proving there is no God and the United Nations is telling us not to eat at Red Lobster anymore. It was very surreal.

 

Afterwards, the kids were dancing in the parking lot while I yelled "Dance future Green Party voters! Dance for hemp clothing and sustainable development! "

 

If you want to introduce your kids to environmentalism, go watch "Ferngully" instead. At least that movie was honest.

hmmmm...I wasn't going to see it just because I thought it was only about some stupid dancing penguins (not that I think that penguins in and of themselves are stupid, though, cuz they aren't. Just the dancing ones.).

 

Now that I know it's filled with so much wholesome goodness I'm just going to have to see it!

 

*looks around sternly*

 

And it's about time Hollywood makes a film that promotes wholesome liberal values instead of the usual right-wing propoganda crap they usually make. Hopefully this means Tinsel-Town will no longer be a haven for redneck conservatives wackos.

 

*nods thoughtfully*

I am a little more interested in the movie now, but I think Kathana made up the ending.

I'm confused.... if the dancing penguin became a big attraction because it was dancing, why was it shipped back to where no one could see it? And why would a lot of penguins dancing change anything?

You really need to see it to believe it. The last 20 minutes had me going "What the FUCK was that??"

So you are saying if I want the world to change, I should dance?

 

Is that why everyone watched Dancing with the Stars?

sure... keep telling yourself that "Everyone" watched Dancing with the Stars... if it makes you feel better...

Listen here missy, it was rated #1 AND #2 in the ratings two weeks ago. That is how powerful dancing with stars is!!!

Hmmm, ok, s'pose I have to see it then.

Kathana is not lying about the movie.

 

They released it to see if the penguin was a freak but when the whole flock was dancing, it panned to an UN meeting debating on the stopping of fishing in the Antartic. Oh there were peta protesters too.

Were they dancing PETA protesters? *grins*

Despite boss's advice I went to see that movie yesterday.

 

I feel violated in a "point to the doll" kind of way.