GTA III, Vice City and San Andreas all had radio parodies that would stand up on their own in a compilation IMHO.

I dunno. Him swooping in with a fifty is crucial to the happy ending, yes, but I just rewatched the first one a few nights ago, and I was struck by just what a dick the character is. I would have categorized it as a mostly positive portrayal, too, but looking at it again….He’s an asshole to them pretty much as soon as they pick him up, after which he steals their car, after which he passes them on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere whilst trashing the car.

He throws down for their burgers and then cops a major attitude when Harold is still upset about him having stolen the car. He also, one can surmise, managed to smear the interior of the car rather obviously with genetic material. $200 is not enough to cover having Doogie Howser’s semen cleaned off your dashboard.

It’s kind of like the President Bush character in the second one. He’s not given the classic Darth Vader treatment and shown eating a puppy for breakfast, but the aw-shucksing demeanor is in direct contradiction with him knowing about the daily routine of abuse at Gitmo and finding it funny, him not seeming at all surprised at their predicament, his complete “I’ve got mine, fuck everyone else” take on the War on Drugs, etc. The handling of the character seems much more sympathetic than it actually is.

She’s becoming the queen of ‘This movie is terrible, but I liked Anna Faris in it.’

It isn’t a great movie, not even a great stoner-com, but worth it just for the novelty of a female protagonist. Plus Faris is generally funny in it, as are several of the supporting cast.

What was I saying??? Oh.

Reminds me of the Onion article, “Real-life man arrested for romantic comedy behaviour.”

I’m with Mighty Ponygirl. I really don’t have anything but contempt for the people who were calling me a traitor in 2002 for protesting the war(s), but who have now jumped on the Bush-hating bandwagon. This includes most of the South Park Republican crowd, as well as the Clinton Democrat crowd.

Also, while I liked H&K2 (I saw it last night), I think you’re understating the degree to which they let Bush off the hook: he’s presented as exactly the guy his campaigns presented him as in 2000 and 2004: a cool, regular guy you’d like to have a beer with. It’s a little shocking to me that anyone could still think of him this way.

sunsin
Video games have always had a certain anti-establishment slant.

But one of Amanda’s points here is that irreverent is not synonymous with political. Portraying corporations as evil, or simply dehumanizing, can serve simply as an affirmation of the stoner mentality. The easy-going individual wants nothing more than to hang out, smoke bud, and get laid; capitalism and the puritan work ethic interfere with that. That kind of resistance to authority is still several steps removed from a real class awareness.

How audacious, to go after a dude once his approval ratings are lower than Nixon’s were when he resigned. They’re really taking a bold political risk there.