Further Thoughts: Pineapple Express
By the end of the film a familiar siren was sounding within my head, accompanied by a flashing neon sign that insisted: "This is a terrible film." And yet, despite the fact that the film was terrible, there were still elements of it that I liked. In particular, the two main characters were likeable, and their relationship was, for want of a better word, nice. And yet, it is impossible to ignore the wail of the siren, or the glare of the sign, all the time reminding me that "This is a terrible film"!
Why must I classify it in this way? Why can I not, when I talk of the film, talk solely of what I drew from it; what I liked about it? What meanings it gave me? If, despite its terribleness, it still managed to impart some sort of meaning, then is this not something? Why must whatever I say be prefaced with a objective judgement upon the whole?
But, of course, standards must be maintained. We, as a collectivity, must be able to tell good from bad; the terrible from the sublime; the beautiful from the ugly. Perhaps this is why the sign flashes and the siren sounds.
