LISTINGS/SCREEN THE TUBE/SCREEN
Opening THE ARTIST—Jean Dujardin stars in this story about a silent film star who falls in love with a young dancer while facing uncertainty as his genre’s era comes to a close in 1927 Hollywood. (PG-13) Flicks HAYWIRE—MMA/American Gladiators superstar Gina Carano makes her feature film debut in this thriller about espionage and betrayal. Channing Tatum, Ewan McGregor, Michael Fassbender, Antonio Banderas, Bill Paxton, Michael Douglas and Michael Angarano co-star. (R) Edwards 9, Edwards 14, Edwards 22
Portlandia stars Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein put a bird on it.
PORTLANDIA: THE WHITE SUBCULTURAL EQUIVALENT OF A MINSTREL SHOW Written on a wall at the entrance to the Mississippi District in Portland, Ore., is the line “Welcome to Hipsterville U.S.A.” For those unfamiliar with that particular burgh, it’s more of a spiritual locale than a physical one, existing not just in Portland, but also in Brooklyn, N.Y.; Austin, Texas; Seattle and nearly ever y other urban area in the United States—even Boise. With its skin-tight fashions, social malcontents, bike culture, backyard chicken coops and localism that borders on xenophobia, Hipsterville U.S.A. is a fascinating place. So fascinating a place, a TV show has been made about it that’s now entering its second season on the Independent Film Channel. But it isn’t called Hipsterville. It’s called Portlandia, and that’s where things start to go wrong. The sketch-comedy series from SNL alum Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, former guitarist for Sleater-Kinney, chronicles the misadventures of artistic oddballs and the uber-politically corifc.com rect as they play adult hide and seek, go dumpster diving and “put a bird on it.” Sketches feature characters like angry bikers and ultra-sensitive couples as they insist on ordering only local food from menus. The problem is that much of the humor functions with a structure similar to racist jokes, in which viewers are encouraged to despise the characters. But unlike the sorts of characters written for SNL, Portlandia’s are not based off personal quirks like attaching the suffix “idge” to everything but off of cultural stereotypes. These sketches are the white subcultural equivalent of a minstrel show, that while perhaps intended as a charming homage to oddballs, has in fact drummed up a sentiment best summarized as “it’s about damned time someone put those weirdos in their place.” By labeling the show Portlandia, instead of Hipsterville U.S.A., it gives the erroneous impression that these are isolated phenomena and the hateable characters portrayed are somehow representational of all Portlanders. Portlandia’s humor is doubly crass, as some of the places and people they’re skewering are real—like the sketches about the unnamed Feminist Book Store, which is actually In Other Words, a shop located on Northeast Killingsworth St. But that doesn’t mean Portlandia isn’t funny. A sketch in which everywhere Fred and Carrie go, they are invited to someone’s DJ night feels incredibly relatable. As does one about spending days ignoring the world to watch Battlestar Galactica. But those sketches could have taken place anywhere in Hipsterville U.S.A., not just Portland. With tight editing, clever writing and a total lack of fear in its satire, Portlandia can be funny. Very, very funny. But when laughing, it’s important to stop and ask yourself if you’re laughing for the right reasons. And there’s a good chance you aren’t.
RED TAILS—The African American pilots in the Tuskegee Airmen face racial discrimination and are at last given a chance to prove themselves in this WWII action drama. (PG-13) Edwards 9, Edwards 14, Edwards 22 UNDERWORLD: AWAKENING—Kate Beckinsale returns as a vampire warrior who escapes imprisonment to find herself in an all-out war between humans, vampires and Lycans. (R) Edwards 9, Edwards 14, Edwards 22
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BOISEweekly | JANUARY 18–24, 2012 | 27