It would appear that Derek, like me, is procrastinating study like a champion, to which end I present this new article by him.
A bee a lone a last a loved a long the riverrun, ecc.
The film Bee Movie has long gone unnoticed in the world of Marxist theory, perhaps due to its less than impressive Rotten Tomatoes performance, but more likely due to the social stigma regarding political commentary in the medium of animated children's films.
I, however, have no quibble with the packaging Mr Seinfeld selected for his dose of socialist filmmaking. The corporation that funded the project, the obscenely overpriced Beatles song rights, the faint "God Bless America" rhetoric that wraps the red beating heart of Seinfeld's production are all part of an intricate layer of irony that cocoons the progressive message that bleeds from this happy little children's film. Almost.
Bees, in this fable, are given a voice, an adept voice, masterfully toned by a capably comic Jerry Seinfeld, adding hues of wit to the sans-voix. The bees, though generally perceived as heathen, miscreant stingers as a class, are allowed blossom beyond this marginalised, detestable position, while at the same time being devilishly funny. He shows us that these insects, not known for their one-liners, only resort to their infamous stinging when provoked by obese legal types, which allows their more-humane-than-man nature come to the front, boasting a portrait of the bee as a hero-comrade for modern times.
BUT, while Seinfeld excels in his lambasting of the capitalist means of production and the bureaucracy of the legal system, the movement falls magnificently short in its conclusions, leaving the viewer with the faux-happiness of a cheery Beatles number while there is a presumed reinstitution of the system that Seinfeld so heartedly railed against throughout the film. Here Comes the Sun I think not.
The bees, when swayed by the ethics of consumerism, losing sight of the individual's pivotal role in the community, become idlers of the most contemptuous breed (not students), revelling in their amassed fortunes but then they triumphantly return to production for the good of the world, joyously proclaiming the prospect of working overtime. Barry becomes a pollen jock, someone sings a Beatles cover, all is gaiety and life is bliss. No. The emphasis here has improperly fallen on the necessity of production. This is but one half of the Social Contract. Beatles-blinded Barry flits away into the merry sky making flowers and assumed interspecial love with his lady counterpart, without reference to the bees slaving away under corporate labour camps around the city. Their plight was shown, but their revolution never came. The notion of painting his pretty name on his new legal firm shopfront distracted young Barry from his primary task of liberating the masses.
I note that upon Barry's lamented turn to the legal profession*, jars of non-corporate honey are to be seen, but this is no more than a cursory lip service to what should be the centrepiece of Seinfeld's allegory if a positive message is to be extracted. It's almost insulting to the struggling classes of bee less fortunate than Barry with his notions of manhood. The corporations still drive honey production as far as we know, except now the workers believe they have been enlightened, but have only come close to actual revolution. The bees of the world united, but forgot about the revolution.
Bee Movie should be seriously considered as a film (despite the name) of repute and as a candid reflection on consumerist society. Equally, if we allow Seinfeld the benefit of the doubt, the film is a realisation of the corporate hold on the media and how moneymaking Beatles derail the bee revolution doing their best to dismiss the correct emphasis of the movement. Thinking we are getting true revolution, we are merely left with a trippy Beatles capitalism and not the red bee liberation that seemed to be on the horizon.
It remains to the viewer to either grant Seinfeld genius in his creation of an anti-fairytale where he parodies modern "revolution" (i.e. stability after a brief ruction) or to dismiss him as another blow-in comic out to turn profits with a trite salute to conventional society. I have allowed this article the above title in good faith that Seinfeld knowingly crafted an anti-hero, showing a bee movement that falls short, tightly wrapt in pricey music rights, corporate funding and most remarkably a will to continue to be oppressed to avoid boredom.
* facetiously stinging in its implications: bees earlier seen to sting in response to these crooks, and I severely doubt this bee to have been busy reforming the trade, which would require the efforts of a bachelor (or spinster) and Barry is seen to have the lady on the side.
For my own part (this is Ciarán again by the way; hello), I would like to submit that the allegorical nature of Bee Movie is strengthened by its presentation via Brechtian theory. By presenting a society of bees, the world of the story is defamiliarised to the audience, and thus its nature and effects can be seen more clearly, as in Brecht's famous Verfremdungseffekt. By presenting modes of production in a manner that resembles Brecht's epic theatre, Mr. Seinfeld is clearly trying to provoke rational criticism, and empathy with the plight of the proletariat.
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