Last night, Becky and I turned on TBS to watch ***Galaxy Quest|http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0177789/***, a fabulous parody of the science fiction genre. We’ve seen it before, but the last time I watched I simply wasn’t in tune to the movie as much as I was last night. So now I have a few observations that I’d like to share.
First, Galaxy Quest has quite a varied assortment of actors. There are some bigger names, like ***Tim Allen|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000741/***, ***Sigourney Weaver|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000244/***, ***Alan Rickman|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0000614/***, and ***Tony Shalhoub|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0001724/***. In addition, there are some smaller name actors who we recognized from their television roles, such as ***Enrico Colantoni|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0170186/*** (Elliot of “Just Shoot Me”), ***Daryl Mitchell|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0593260/*** (“Ed”‘s Eli Goggins), ***Justin Long|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0519043/*** (“Ed”‘s Warren Cheswick), and ***Patrick Breen|http://us.imdb.com/name/nm0106755/*** (“Kevin Hill”‘s George).
Beyond being a hilarious parody of science fiction fans and the genre they love (I am no exception), Galaxy Quest is also one of an apparent sub-genre of movies which, for lack of a better term, I’ll call “Actors/Heroes”. Other movies in this genre, which Becky and I also enjoy, include ***A Bug’s Life|http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0120623/*** and ***¡Three Amigos!|http://us.imdb.com/title/tt0092086/***. The genre’s typical plot centers around three groups of people: The Oppressed, The Actors/Heroes, and The Oppressors. In this plot, The Oppressed seek relief from the cruelty of The Oppressors. They find it in the form of the Actors, who, in their acting careers, portray Heroic characters. The Oppressed make contact with the Actors, thinking them to be real-life Heroes, entirely oblivious of the fiction. The Actors, at first duped into thinking they are being recruited for an acting job, go along with the Oppressed’s requests. Eventually, however, they learn that The Oppressors are quite real. Though at first they try to escape responsibility, The Actors assume the role of real-life Heroes to The Oppressed, and succeed in defeating The Oppressors.
In Galaxy Quest, we have Tim Allen and the cast of the show Galaxy Quest as The Actors, the alien race of Thermians as The Oppressed, and General Sarris’s bug-like race as The Oppressors. In ¡Three Amigos!, we have Steve Martin, Martin Short, and Chevy Chase as the Three Amigos, the villagers of Santa Poco as The Oppressed, and “El Guapo” and his men as The Oppressors. Finally, in A Bug’s Life, we have the ant colony as The Oppressed, the circus bug troupe as The Actors, and the grasshoppers, led by Hopper, as The Oppressors.
Incidentally, did anyone notice the distinct similarity between the lead Oppressors in Galaxy Quest and A Bug’s Life? Big, green, angry, insectoid guys with one bad eye? Also, we were trying to think of other movies that fit into this sub-genre, but couldn’t think of any off the top of our heads. Any other ideas?
i want to comment on the fact that brad pitt was a fraternity member. this offends me because i was an older student in a tennessee college where everything was run by frats and sorority girls. if they didn’t like you even if you were not one of their members, they would stalk you and your family to try to have you or your family arrested, thrown out of school, or failed out.
i was looking over a list of all the famous people who were in fraternities and i saw brad pitt’s name as well as mathew mcanahee? or however you spell his name, dixie carter, jean smart, and a lot of other actors and acrtesses, and now i am really disapointed. i will never buy another movie with any member of a frat or sorority member’s name associated with it. i hate them and i think they are a disease.
i think hollywood if full of prostitutes and drug addicts, but at least they were not fraternity members. that is about as low as you can get. if you let someone who agrees to be paddled and whipped by others or someone who paddles and whips other people be in charge of others or becomes a role model of some kind to others you are asking for trouble.
i was really disappointed with what i read. i want a list of all actors and actresses who have never been in a fraternity or sorority, so i can plan to buy better programming made by more ethincal people who got their job honestly and not by prostituting and enlaving themselves to fraternities. a fraternity member has never not abused his postions and puts himself in control of many places he should have never been in. they make themselves look important by pretending to do charities and getting involved with politics, but the politics they get involved with are dirty and the charities i am sure uses prejudice in who it helps.
i am really offened and insulted by the fact that no one recognizes what a disease they are to the general public. i would live next door to a murdering drug dealer rather than live near a fraternity or sorority member. actors and actresses should be chosen more carefully before they are put in front of an audiance they can badly influence or become a heart throb role model to. they should be tatooed and numbered like dangerous criminals and not allowed near school children of any kind like child molesters. i know the sorority girls i met in college hovered around the high schools and hazed students there before they even graduated. that is child molesting as far as i am concerned. and can you imagine the drop out rate of all the other students who were harassed out of high school? any member of fraternities or sororities should be banned out of hollywood, colleges, and the whole u.s.a. as far as i am concerned.