42. KING KONG
42. KING KONG
(1933)
Director Ernest B. Schoedsask & Merian C. Cooper
The mighty Kong toppling all bloodied from the Empire State Building breaks my heart every time. The great ape destroyed by tiny stupid humans. Damn, as if someone like me needs something else to feed his misanthropy. But hey, to state the obvious, one of the functions of horror is to cast a light on those less than admirable aspects of the human condition. It's why horror makes people uncomfortable. Let's talk of Kong. He was taken from his tropical isle to the concrete jungle of Manhattan in bondage and put on shameful display which is enough to make any colossal gorilla go on a fucking rampage. And who can blame the big lunk for turning into a lovestruck sap over Fay Wray (no relation to Link, by the way)? Seems like his Achilles' heel was having a heart bigger than his brain. Poor Kong. I'm sure that having a cock the size of a church bus didn't help, either. But it's these faults that endear Kong to the viewer and any sympathy evoked is due to Willis O'Brien whose pioneering stop-motion animation brought the monster to life. Yeah, some of you less cultured cretins out there might snicker at the effects over 70 years later but wipe the drool off your chin and get thee a history lesson. "King Kong" was a quantum leap in special effects and in a shocking exhibition of good public taste it became the big movie sensation of 1933. Strong arguments can and have been made that hail this the greatest monster movie of all time. "It was beauty that killed the beast". You said it, brother.
(1933)
Director Ernest B. Schoedsask & Merian C. Cooper
The mighty Kong toppling all bloodied from the Empire State Building breaks my heart every time. The great ape destroyed by tiny stupid humans. Damn, as if someone like me needs something else to feed his misanthropy. But hey, to state the obvious, one of the functions of horror is to cast a light on those less than admirable aspects of the human condition. It's why horror makes people uncomfortable. Let's talk of Kong. He was taken from his tropical isle to the concrete jungle of Manhattan in bondage and put on shameful display which is enough to make any colossal gorilla go on a fucking rampage. And who can blame the big lunk for turning into a lovestruck sap over Fay Wray (no relation to Link, by the way)? Seems like his Achilles' heel was having a heart bigger than his brain. Poor Kong. I'm sure that having a cock the size of a church bus didn't help, either. But it's these faults that endear Kong to the viewer and any sympathy evoked is due to Willis O'Brien whose pioneering stop-motion animation brought the monster to life. Yeah, some of you less cultured cretins out there might snicker at the effects over 70 years later but wipe the drool off your chin and get thee a history lesson. "King Kong" was a quantum leap in special effects and in a shocking exhibition of good public taste it became the big movie sensation of 1933. Strong arguments can and have been made that hail this the greatest monster movie of all time. "It was beauty that killed the beast". You said it, brother.
posted by scottra at 3:00 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home