From: fay@iscsvax.uni.edu
Newsgroups: alt.tv.mst3k
Subject: HEAVY MESSAGE
Date: 13 Oct 92 09:41:03 -0500
Summary: paper on MST3K
Keywords: implications of show
Organization: University of Northern Iowa

        
WARNING:  DANGER JOEL ROBINSON!!! (this is long--read at your own risk)

        Well, gang, I'm presenting a paper at the Iowa Communication Association
        convention this week-end, and I could use a little help/feedback.

        First, a couple of questions.

        What year did MST3K begin on KTMA?  on Comedy Channel/Central?

        Neilsen figures are not available, but does anyone know how many
        people watch the show?

        What was Josh Weinstein's mad scientist's name? 
        (I try not to think of it)


        The first part of it is all things that all of you know 
        (premise, best bits, etc).

        I will type in my conclusions--let me know what you think of them...
        don't worry about telling me if they suck.  I wrote this at 3am.



The idea behind meta-comedy is not new.  Shakespeare employed it in the
heckling of the rude mechanicals in "A Midsummer Night's Dream".  Duck's Breath
Theatre and Woody Allen's "What's up Tiger Lily" took movies and divested them
of their soundtracks to supply new lines and plots.  HBO's series "Not
Necessarily the News" used the same method with news clips.

What distinguishes MST3K is that it is inter-active.  Instead of replacing the
"serious" aspects of the artifact, they use this as a springboard.  They do not
discard the original bad movie, but neither do they accept it as "art". 
Talking back to the screen in one method, and one that has been used for a long
time.  Speaking as characters in the movie, however, characters who are often
"aware" of their own lack of talent or skill adds an element of creation.  Joel
and his crew are supplementing the movies to cope with them, and in this way
they make humor.

This method has subsequently been used by Julie Brown on MTV.  In one case she
super-imposed her head to cover Cher's bottom in a music video.  Comedy Central
also used this in their coverage of the Democratic and Republican conventions,
adding a running stream of commentary to speeches given.  MST3K even sends
members of their fan club a cut of Joel and the bots, so that viewers can play
"the home version of the game" while watching other programs.

One message suggested by all of this is that comedy is where we find it. 
Traditionally, some subject matter has been considered "dramatic" and some
"comic".  By using the serious and making it comic, and allowing both to exist
simultaneously, we break down such barriers.  Granted, these barriers have been
falling for decades, but MST3K seems to be a step forward becuase of this dual
presence of the serious and the humorous, the "rational" and the "irrational".

Second, the program suggests that values and norms do change over time.  Many
of the movies used express what were prevailing attitudes toward gender roles,
nationalism, race, etc.  Lines like "Thank you Mr. White Male Chauvenist pig"
expose what are now seen as flaws in earlier ways of thinking, and probably do
it far more effectively than any amount of diatribe.  As we have already
discussed today, comedy can have a very real communicative function.

Finally, the program suggests that serious situations need not be taken
seriously.  Joel knows that he will never return to earth, but does not let
that knowledge defeat him.  Instead, he tries to find fun where he can, even if
the mads are trying to break his spirit.  In like fashion, we can take the
world less morbidly.  In fact, the MST3K computer net is full of accounts of
fans using the lines and attitudes of the show to cope with their own stressful
situations.  My own current favorite line is "Bite me.  It's fun!"




        I'm willing to bet that there are a couple of other HEAVY MESSAGES that
can be found in the show.

        Well, that's all from me for now (about time).



BUCKY7