Jim Henson Holiday Special - Why Emmet Otter Endures
So I went to the apparently poorly marketed Jim Henson Holiday Special in the theater last night. Like on a whim. There was pretty much no one else in the theater. It was a double feature of Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas and The Bells of Fraggle Rock.
I’m probably glad there was no one else in the theater to hear me snort when Gobo says “I FOUND IT” after Wembley pointed out the bell-shaped cave on the map. Also, he almost kills all his friends.
DID YOU THINK I HAD FORGOTTEN? DID YOU THINK I HAD FORGIVEN?
Anyway, I did a whole shakedown on The Bells of Fraggle Rock and why it’s really good and you should watch it way back, let’s talk instead about the enduring power of a dorky show called Emmet Otter’s Jugband Christmas.
I watched this show a few times as a kid and liked it because funny animals and songs. But there’s something about it that sticks with you when other things might have faded - I mean not gonna lie I was a dumbass kid who liked a lot of stupid shows.
But there’s something charming about the show - the real emotion. You can almost overlook that Pa Otter is a serious deadbeat and that noble poverty stuff kinda rubs me the wrong way (disclosure: having deadbeat parents and growing up poorer didn’t make them good people.)
Let’s be honest, now, the real reason that everyone remembers Emmet Otters Jugband Christmas is these assholes:
These guys are a perfect part of the show in ways that you probably don’t get as a child.
For one thing they’re “antagonists” that don’t do anything besides be kind of rude to our protagonists. They’re rough with someone’s shop, they’re mean to Kermit the Frog, but what’s the worst they do to Emmet and his friends? They’re kind of rude. That’s it.
And they win the talent contest.
They win it by rights, not cheating as these things sometimes go. They win and the contest stays won. The protagonists mostly just don’t matter to these guys who are going though the story on their own terms.
And that’s one reason I think the story endures. Sometimes...you can do your best and that best can be really really good and things still don’t work out perfectly. Sometimes there isn’t a grand good vs evil throwdown and sometimes assholes “win.” But if you pick yourself up and you try your best maybe you’ll find something different. Maybe it’ll be better, and maybe it won’t.
Ma and Emmet get a job, it’s doing something they love but it is a job working for someone else. Pa Otter’s ideals may have given them the kick to take risks, but their own hard work ethic and love for each other got them a good opportunity. The risk got them out there, but it also almost ruined them. Endurance and love won the day. That’s something that sticks with a person where a simple “win” might have made the story fade.
They don’t get a guitar or a piano right then, but they have a chance and things will be okay. Who knows what’ll happen to The Nightmare, they don’t matter to the protagonists either. And that’s a pretty nuanced and sophisticated happy ending for a show about puppet muskrats.
This is probably just a touch obvious, but here we go...lots of spoilers.
Coyote is the forest. And possibly all denizens of the forest. POSSIBLY one of the main characters. And he’s getting ready to do...something. Possibly leave and return to North America. If he leaves or disbands the forest it will have consequences for the Court and the relationship of the main characters to the Ether.
He says he’s the forest.
We see him BE part of the forest in Chapter 39
Twice, almost as if it is significant.
In his video for chapter 26 Tom says it shows that Coyote can vastly change his shape.
But wait, you might say what about:
HOWEVER
Coyote has also given “gifts” to Annie, and now Parley, and Smitty. To what end is he putting parts of himself in the court? How connected is he to The Court if we accept that he might be the forest before he knew he was the forest? How “divided” are The Court and The Forest.
Anya and Donald refuse to let Kat into the Forest - which might be very very smart as with the power of belief she is becoming some type of Deity herself. Meeting Coyote might get really weird.
When I want to go crazy on this theory I want to be all “SURMA WAS COYOTE! ANTHONY IS COYOTE! ANNIE IS COYOTE EVERYONE IS COYOTE!”
So I bought one of these. I mean, of course I did. I guess it’s not as obvious HERE, but I’m a total unicorn fanatic. I have a unicorn necklace on right now. My wedding cake had a figurine of two glass unicorns on it. This is like, my deal.
But aside from unicorns, let’s talk a little bit about how expectations can alter reality.
What would you expect something that looks like this to taste like?
A coworker told me that they heard these things taste like vanilla.
There’s this article from the Washington Post that describes it as tasting like “sour birthday cake and shame.”
Me? In an effort to recover from a calorically disastrous two weeks went to check the website before I bought one and saw that the ingredients included mango and passionfruit, two of my favorite drink flavors when buying bubble tea.
I thought it was okay. Since I expected it to taste like fruit and like tart things I thought it could have been more assertive and that the dairy base kind of weakened it. I’d order another because I don’t really like most of the Starbuck’s menu, but when they’re gone I’ll shrug.
Maybe I didn’t stir mine enough, but I think that perception plays into this a lot as well. The mind is a powerful powerful thing and this isn’t something with natural colors. What SHOULD it taste like? Well, hard to say, if someone thought it should taste like cake then the flavor combo is probably super gross. If someone thought it should be vanilla then the vanilla base probably asserts itself stronger. Your mind makes it real.
All this is to say: I’m back! And I’m working on a Lain review.
Husband: It’s about linguistics. It’s got a female lead.
Me: Yeah, but I’m a little frustrated with the sci fi fandom lately and a lot of women led sci fi ends up being having to force motherhood and dead kids as all important aspects of their character like in Gravity. Or Aliens for that matter.
Husband: It might not be like that.
Part one : Many Spoilers
Me five minutes into Arrival : GOD DAMN IT I HATE BEING RIGHT.
...
So yeah, were you hoping for all science? Because it starts with a uhm...”flashback” of dead kid backstory for added mom pain. It’s really annoying. I’ll get to this later.
...
Movie: Language isn’t what makes a society, it’s science.
Me: Oh fuck you movie. I hope he dies to show how serious this is.
...
So the best thing about the movie is the linguistics. The writing system is great, and the translation program is about what you might expect. On the other hand there are plenty of digs at “soft” sciences that make me wonder about the sentiments of their science advisers.
----
Me: Oh god if she fucks him I am going to give this movie such a pinch.
...
By the way does it ever seem like the more a movie has science advisers the more terrible it is from a story point of view? What do we know about the characters in the film? What do they do when they aren’t being uber leet in their field and staring morosely out windows? The movie feels small despite being about things larger than this world.
...
Movie: You look at language almost like a mathematician.
Me: IT’S ALMOST LIKE LINGUISTICS IS A FUCKING SCIENCE OR SOMETHING!
...
The problem with linguistics is that if you aren’t super into it, it’s kind of a boring topic. And to make it interesting they did the thing where they make linguistic relativity MAGICAL. I am totally into linguistic relativity, don’t get me wrong, but sci fi is bad about medical stuff. Like super horrible. All the time. It’s like they use the excuse that it’s a “soft” science to magic it up to make it more interesting.
If they had actually made it more interesting, that might have been something.
God this movie is boring. If the Cthulu aliens WERE evil that would be the twist at this point. Just get on with “subverting our expectations.”
...
Is the goddamn twist that Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time ?
...
The goddamn twist is that Billy Pilgrim has come unstuck in time .
So that “flashback” was really a “flash forward.” But then what was she so sad about? Why did she have the stance of a morose window-starer in a bleak and empty house BEFORE this all went down? Who was she? We don’t know a lot about the characters and we’re given a cheap trick to make us feel. Dead.kids.are.not.good.writing.
Dead daughters to mothers especially. DEAD WOMEN ARE NOT GOOD WRITING.
This is no substitute for real character development.
...
Movie: The most surprising part wasn’t meeting them.
Me:.... Hoe don’t do it...
Movie: It was meeting you.
Me: Oh my god.
WHY CAN’T YOU PROVE ME WRONG ABOUT HOW BAD YOU ARE MOVIE????
So this movie is in the vein of Interstellar, Gravity, and Ex Machina which are smarter-than-average-hollywood-sci-fi. And that is damning with faint praise. (Though I did like Ex Machina and consider it a competent movie. I think Gravity is a good movie but not without flaws. Interstellar should feel bad for existing.) They all lack subtlety and feel the need to detour into self indulgence way too often. This isn’t really anything that elevates above this building pile.
Except if you’re a well-read fan of the sci-fi genre you’re going to get little out of this unless it is your exact favorite sub-genre. The movie is dark, brooding, slow, and insults your intelligence. It hand holds you through the twists and thinks it is way more clever than it is. It’s oppressive even when I think it might have been shooting for wondrous.
Danielle Watches Fraggle Rock : Season 1 - Episode 22 : Mokey's Funeral
Mokey cannot help. This is not just a joke or a running gag: this is a canonical character trait. And you know what's a shame is that they didn't spend any time making her "helpful" before showing how often it blows up in her face. As of season one she is pretty much a joke character. I don't hate Mokey, for all that I joke about her, I do wish they were using her better. This episode kind of helps. Sorta.
The episode opens with Doc having the hiccups and being cranky about it. He has apparently tried everything and nothing has helped. He's even crabby at Sprockett. Going so far as to say "sometimes I wonder why I even keep a dog at all.
Red and Gobo are building a boat and Mokey says she'll help them out after she gets radishes. And they are like all "oh god no please don't" well, more like gently telling her to stick to poetry and art. Mokey doesn't help her case by repeatedly saying she can build "belts" and wondering what the difference is.
Well at the exit to the garden she finds that Junior has put out a trap. It completely blocks her way outside. He has baited it with a garlic gumdrop, which Mokey finds disgusting.
Ma wonders why Junior wants to catch Fraggles anyway, and Junior just says "because they're there."
Mokey decides to prove that she's capable by solving the problem herself. She realizes that the Gorg would remove the trap if he caught a Fraggle. So to prove that she's not only a worthless poet she...pictures herself as a sacrificial princess who will throw herself into the trap for the good of all.
Seems legit.
Plus for the costumes.
Realizing that sacrifice is painful, she gets a better idea. She goes to tell her plan to the others who are building the boat (even Boober who is in fine form. When he realizes they'll die without radishes, and Wembley points out that without the Trash Heap there's no wisdom he wails "We'll die without even knowing why!")
The others are not interested in listening to her plans. They start to talk over her, and when she points out that radishes are her job and she has a plan Boober says "It'll never work." and Red replies with "You tell her, Boober." Geez, you two get along enough to insult someone together, now?
Red even farthur says that Mokey's plans are worse than garlic gumdrops after Mokey protested that they didn't even hear it. She laments that they never like her plans, and when they can't contradict that statement, she says "it's fine" and walks off, leaving everyone staring in horror that she might plan behind their backs.
Maybe.
Gobo volunteers to "take care of this." Mokey refuses his help, but do note that he doesn't apologize for blowing her off. He makes her promise to come afterwards and sail with them. She agrees and hopes that he'll be proud of her (ick?)
We find out that Mokey has sewn a lifesize dummy of herself. Which...she sings to. She also calls it pretty and says she'll miss it when she's gone. And since she's the "creative one" she names the ragdoll...rags. They dance all through the rock.
I guess Mokey would be one who would sing "Oh give me a clone of my own flesh and bone..."
Meanwhile Doc tries to apologize to Sprockett who has moved to the front step in the rain and refuses to hear any of it.
Meanwhiler, since Gobo has promised to wait for Mokey to go sailing the other Fraggles are bored, especially Red. She laments that she wants to "Do something, anything!" Of course, Gobo says they should read Uncle Matt's postcard. "Anything but that!" This time, Matt has mistaken an ice cube for a magical cold rock that cries when it is "stolen." Since later we find out that Fraggles know what fucking ice is this is really stupid even for him.
Matt, continuity will make you look like a worse fool, you SHOULD look distraught.
Well, they're still bored and complain that waiting for Mokey's plan is useless because it probably won't work. Gobo tries to say that they shouldn't knock it until they hear it. Boober says that Mokey's poems are better than her plans, and Mokey has approached and can overhear them. Red then says that Mokey's poems aren't much either to which Gobo laughs and asks if they remember the one about "white birds and death" that she recited yesterday. (You know I'd point this out as Gobo dickishness, but a four hour long poem that sounds stereotypically emo does sound pretty rough to sit through.) They're all laughing (even Wembley, remember when I said one of his weaknesses is that his inability to stand up to peer pressure makes him do mean things sometimes?)
They notice Mokey and she runs off crying that they don't like her poetry, even Gobo. She defends her poem saying that it has to be long to give the birds time to migrate (ugh.) The dummy gets tossed to trigger the trap, and Mokey hides because she doesn't want to talk to her friends.
And now things get fucking weird.
Junior thinks that the dummy is a real fraggle and that it is dead. Red and Gobo can't see it well enough so they think that Mokey is dead. Mokey jumps out to surprise them, but they've already gone out into the garden and Junior put the trap back down.
When Ma comes out to get Junior to do the chores he says he caught a Fraggle and it's horrible Ma thinks that he's forgotten which one of us you are again. (An odd joke) Junior says that he killed a fraggle and Ma says that it's a sad sad thing to kill a creature and he'd better bury it. Junior decides to give it a funeral and Ma says that it's breaking her heart.
The scene is...odd. The acting is pretty understated, perhaps to its detriment. We know Mokey is alive...and...seeing Red and Gobo crying now is kind of uncomfortable. Red just keeps wailing that "She's my best friend" and they can't hear Mokey trying to call out that she's there.
And there's Junior's funeral getup. He sings "The Joke Isn't Funny Anymore" which is...odd. The tone is really serious. Junior seems really upset. And Red weeps that she never got to tell Mokey she really liked her poetry. The Gobo X Mokey ship tease gets some flotation when he says "I never got to tell her...so many things."
Which makes the segue into Junior making inadvertent jokes about how tombstones are for names and Fraggles don't have names kind of jarring. And more jarring when the two fraggles angrily say that "her name was Mokey and she had friends who loved her! Which is something that you'll never have."
The Gorg toot to the dead seems to have some of the same hook as "The Joke Isn't Funny."
Well, Mokey rings the bell on the trap which reminds Junior to remove it. As Gobo and Red peer into the coffin Mokey comes behind them and points out it's a dummy. They're happy to see her and mock Junior by telling him he caught a dummy fraggle. And he's happy too.
Down in Fraggle Rock Gobo does apologize for making fun of the plans and poems (credit where due.) Boober also apologizes for making fun of the poems because he finds them beautifully tragic. She names the boat the white bird, and recites that poem as they sail.
Back in the workshop Doc has recovered from his hiccups and Sprockett has forgiven him. There is a flock of white birds. And poor Sprockett caught a cold from the rain.
Overall Ratings:
Episode: 3/10
The simple definition of "bathos" has been described to me by a glib lit professor as "pathos that failed" or to go by google "an effect of anticlimax created by an unintentional lapse in mood from the sublime to the trivial or ridiculous." And that kind of perfectly describes what happens here. Even with the plus for costumes and props we're looking at a weird ass episode. The tension and tone is as stressed and sorrow laden as "Marooned" and there is a difference between "knowing these characters are fine because this is a kid's show and yeah right they'll kill them" and "knowing everyone is upset over nothing because SHE'S RIGHT THERE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD." There are some funny moments, but they're kind of mean spirited laughs. Mokey's poems do sound ridiculous, and so far we haven't seen her have good plans or be helpful in the season much. Tonally peculiar, slow, and awkward would be my three descriptors.
Message: 5/10
Hey maybe you shouldn't be a dick to your friends behind their back with things you wouldn't say to their face. The "only kidding" defense doesn't work for me because they didn't know she was there. Though I get it, the need to blow off steam about stuff your friends do that's annoying. I assume they do it about me. Still a good lesson, though.
And uh, don't kill things? I guess. Really that last third is awkward as hell.
Songs: 4/10
They're not BAD songs, they are awkward songs. But points down for awkward is for when the mixing or rhymes are off. Points down are for when there's not really good background music at this point in the season, though.
Seriously it's so uneven.
Random Obersvations:
Mokey just seems so maternal that the weird role reversal of her wanting Gobo to be proud of her plus the ship teasing increase the awkward zone that is this episode.
Along with her weird narcissistic rag doll dance
I will never stop laughing at "white birds and death."
"Don't be dicks to your friends where they might catch you or else to apologize you'll have to listen to a four hour poem you hate a second time and like it."
Mokey does help, her plan does work. Might have not wanted to make it seem like a weird fluke if they didn't want me to keep pointing it out.
Gobo apologizes. Just wanted to make sure I'm on the record as noticing that.
Boober apologizes, even though Mokey never apologized for stealing his blanket.
