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Worldly Distractions: Community 6.8 - Intro to Recycled Cinema


crazyforkate

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recycled

This sounds Abed-heavy, and when anything is Abed-heavy, well...

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We open with a stereotypical ham commercial, featuring a bland housewife in a perfectly immaculate kitchen. The housewife looks and sounds strangely like Britta, despite not being Britta. (We all knew she'd go suburban in the end.) Kind of like "Too Many Cooks", Chang suddenly appears to look creepy at the window, but spouting a ham-related catchphrase instead.

Apparently, Chang's catchphrase has gone viral, with countless copycat videos, and he is currently doing a media blitz. He's even trying to parlay an acting career out of it. A talk show host asks him how he went from community college teacher to Internet sensation. He dismisses his experiences (and friends) there outright, saying that they were cruel and dismissive. The study group watches this with some annoyance. The Dean vows to have his car towed. Opening credits.

They share a bitter toast to Chang's new fame. Elroy wonders if it will last, which Jeff scoffs at. Frankie points out that Chang's absence will lower their insurance premiums, but the Dean is still bitterly hurt, since they poured so much into Chang in the first place. Abed, who is less distressed about this than the others, mentions that he and Chang were making a movie together before all this happened. When everyone realizes that Abed made Chang sign a release form, and so the movie starring "Ham Girl-Guy" belongs to them, their eyes light up.

The movie turns out to be a terrible police drama, written by actual (untalented) cops. Frankie brings in her friend Maury (Steve Guttenberg), a film producer who advises them to cut it into a feature-length film in order to secure distribution rights. Apparently, this is fairly common with low-budget films starring breakout actors. Abed refuses due to artistic integrity. However, it can no longer be a police drama, as the police are decidedly unpopular right now. Elroy breaks out some his old alien models, and boom, it's a space movie.

However, Abed still doesn't want to change the film. They berate and cajole and float the money in front of him until he finally gives in, with creative veto. Jeff is cast as the star, and they plan the fastest, most slapdash film shoot this side of Ed Wood.

So we get the opening credits of "Chief Starr and the Raiders of the Galaxy", which is composed of both Chang's footage and some of the bloopers. Britta is the female lead, playing Princess Meridian/Brittana, the daughter of Jeff, the Mayor of Outer Space. Everyone has insane makeup, with the prize going to Jeff's fake eyebrows. Seriously, look at the top pic in this recap, they're glorious. The acting is on a par with The Room, and so is everything else, for that matter.

Abed keeps trying to adjust this like a normal film, which the rest of the group fights tooth and nail. The Dean, cast as the back of Chang like some kind of Bela Lugosi stand-in, is quietly pushed to the side. We then see a space battle designed by the creators of ReBoot while drunk, intercut with a line or two from Chang. Annie, looked rather fetching in a Skimpy Space Outfit, comes in brandishing a gun. She is a pleasure droid/assassin/also Jeff's daughter. They go after Chief Starr. I dunno, guys, this doesn't have quite the same charm as the Kickpuncher remake.

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Abed keeps complaining that his friends don't care about the movie, so Jeff takes him aside. Using an extended metaphor about his workouts and Chris Pratt, he tells Abed that his work will never be done, so he might just as well settle. It's hard to take him seriously in that wig. Abed is inspired anew.

Lifting directly from 2001, they film more scenes on sets that were clearly not built in a weekend, even if they are made of tinfoil. Chief Starr goes to what is essentially the Star Wars cantina, where he meets the bartender, Minotaur Man (Elroy), who gives him some protective items to fight against the Raiders. Actually, the Chang intercutting is done kind of brilliantly. Kudos, Abed. Fighting keeps breaking out in the bar, leading Elroy to comment that this is the "space version of the Wild West", something that I'm sure has never been tried before.

When the shot is done, Abed looks like he's about to explode, but Jeff encourages him to move forward with his best glare. They move on to a firefight in the hallway, which is again covered in tinfoil. In the midst of it, Annie and Britta are arguing about improvisation, feminism, and paying rent. They also keep making up random plotlines and running with them in the middle of filming. If this episode isn't some kind of tribute to Ed Wood, I don't know what it is. Jeff, Britta and Annie wind up in a trash chute about to get crushed, while Jeff and Annie accidentally start an incestuous storyline, because the actors temporarily forgot their characters were related. "Like Chinatown in space," the producer declares, overjoyed with the final product.

More random movie moments (you can tell everyone had a blast making this shit up). At one point, Dracula appears, played by Leonard, who may or may not also be Emperor Palpatine. Chief Starr is shot by a blaster, gives a bizarre deathbed speech, and finishes out the movie to rapturous applause from its audience. Expect the sequel in Summer 2017.

The producer goes to get it ready for premiere while Abed does the final edits. This devolves into a long argument about whose scenes should be cut, which leads to Jeff absconding with the laptop. While watching a YouTube video about editing basics, Jeff finds Abed has snuck into the Frisbee room with him. He casually threatens to kill him and goes back to the video. When Abed gently persists in trying to take back the laptop, they get into a physical fight. That's right guys - Jeff is not just a douche, he is the kind of monster who will beat up freakin' Abed. Jeff reflects that he's acting out because he just realized that Abed is talented, and that he will likely be the last to leave Greendale, despite being its most contemptuous student. (He's also weirdly obsessed with Chris Pratt.) Abed decides that filmmaking reflects life - it's messy and there are no guarantees. However, there are moments, like Annie reaching down her shirt, which make it worthwhile. They hug like brothers and Jeff tells him he can cut the scene. H0wever, there remains the question of 30 seconds that still need to be added...

Cut to a screening, where the Chief's death speech is interrupted by Jeff taunting him in hell, along with an alien played by Gareth. The audience eats it up. However, the distributor won't touch it, due to some kind of copyright snafu - plus Chang's star is fading anyway. The rest of the study group goes in for a group hug, and thus we fade out on this episode.

Meanwhile, Chang is passive-aggressively fired for mouthing off to an unseen Steven Spielberg. He is immediately replaced by Randall Park of "Fresh Off the Boat" fame. Chang slips back into the study room one day and is accepted back without a word. That's showbiz, kid.

The filmmaking episodes are always quite strong, and this was one of their best efforts, mostly due to the baffling yet strangely compelling efforts their collaboration produced. It must have been a riot to put together, and the cast and crew's enthusiasm shows. Between the absolutely stunning exploration of kitsch and the way they incorporated the story's Chang-related fame, it played very effectively. Chalk this one up as a triumph.

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  • Posts

    • Xan

      Posted

      The egg apron is a deal breaker for me.  That was just an insult.  "You think you deserve a gift?  I'll show you your place!"

      And I'm a little bit tired of the social media scolds.  If they didn't put their lives on the internet, we wouldn't have opinions.  They did so we do.  If most of us think that he's a bully, he probably is.  I guess it's another case of the husband being so full of himself that he was sure the interview would show him in a good light.  It didn't.

      • Upvote 2
    • Xan

      Posted

      I always find these Trump fantasy worlds very bizarre.  He's never in a nice suit meeting a world leader or even in a fireman's suit saving a child from a burning building.  It's always some fake macho outfit and, in this case, driving a car with a Confederate flag on it.  Their heroes don't seem that heroic.

    • JDuggs

      Posted

      On 12/22/2023 at 11:51 PM, JDuggs said:

      It looks like Micah is in a relationship, or very good friends, with this Florida realtor Veronica Peters. I’ve seen photos of them together on Micah’s IG, but I always thought she kind of looked too old for him. Maybe not.

      This was on Moriah’s IG:

        Hide contents

      image.thumb.jpeg.e5583f82734714ccb023fc889e4f0f90.jpeg

      And this was on Veronica’s personal IG and professional IG:

        Hide contents

      image.thumb.jpeg.e637a588be2f14fc379935962e743f47.jpeg

        Hide contentsimage.thumb.png.bfaa9a4a2ac77388067acef5c5afb81c.png

       

      Quoting myself from six months ago. I think this really is Micah’s girlfriend. She doesn’t seem quite as public about their relationship as she did back then.

      This photo of Veronica didn’t get copied over from my old post.

      Spoiler

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      • Upvote 1
    • JermajestyDuggar

      Posted

      There was a post on social media talking about this recent interview with Ballerina Farm and asking what people think about some of the things in it. So many commenters were like, “it’s her business! It’s not your life so why do you care?” This is the type of thing that bugs me to no end. Ballerina Farm posts their lives willingly! They post their children’s lives! Of course people will speculate and care! If they didn’t put their lives all over social media none of us would know anything about them. 

      • Upvote 1
    • LongTimeLurkerOG

      Posted

      On 7/25/2024 at 6:47 PM, LilMissMetaphor said:

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      "I don’t lie or make fraudulent claims to get money. That’s what a grifter is. I’ve closed all previous fundraisers and not all of them were successfully funded – for instance my legal name change and wedding fund did not get funded, so I still haven’t had a chance to do those things.

      I’m unable to work for a variety of medically supported reasons. It’s not okay to ask disabled people for proof of their disability simply because it’s medical information. To entertain the question is to concede that it’s okay to go ask other disabled people for their private medical history. It’s a common misconception that people pretend to be disabled for benefits or monetary gain, but it’s rare and doesn’t really make sense to do because benefits and fundraising add up to so little.

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      Have you ever tried working at a call center? I have. They’re severely strict and demanding, and incredibly demoralizing without paying much. They’re not an accessible alternative for people who can’t do more demanding manual labor. “Get a job like the rest of us” is ableist and is a fundamental misunderstanding of how accessible jobs are. It’s no better than yelling it at someone panhandling on the street. The supposedly “easy” or “low-skill” jobs are still difficult to do.

      I do use what resources I can, but it’s a total myth that there’s a robust social welfare system anywhere in the United States. If there was, we wouldn’t have so many hundreds of thousands of homeless people here, with millions more just a few missed paychecks away from joining them.

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      I am as clear as I can possibly be about specific needs so that people know what they’re helping to support. I have said again and again that people shouldn’t give unless they can spare it and want to help. I even said that in the post linked to in this comment thread. My patreon is explicitly to support my writing.

      So why am I still fundraising and making money off telling my story? Because I literally have no other real options. I’ve been formally diagnosed with PTSD, it’s not “alleged trauma.” If it was working all that well, I wouldn’t have to keep detailing my needs.

      The real grifters in our society are billionaires, not poor disabled people. You sound like you just hate us for trying to exist."

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      57 minutes ago, Ozlsn said:

      Art lists manual labour and call centres. And that's it. Not any jobs they could look at involving writing, from editing to writing student essays for money (yes it's dodgy but people do it). Not even playing video games for money (get character to a level where they have cool stuff for someone.)  Nothing about remote work, which there is more of now, and not even entry level white collar work.

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      Absolutely! The amount of money; it's disgusting. And that amount of effort... At some point, even we don't want to or circumstances we don't want to deal with and adult, because... We're adults! Plenty of things I want to ignore or not deal with, just have go away but persevere because the alternative... not an option.

      2 hours ago, Bookworm1564 said:

      My all-time favourite Art post is the one where they say “Just for today, you can double the impact of your support with this opportunity” as if this was the moment we were all waiting for.

      Like a sale for limited-time-only 🤣



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