I never, ever expected Joseph Bottum of all people to write a post like this of all things in a magazine like First Things (scroll to the bottom; it's just above the "In addition to which:" part) even if it's in its blog and not its magazine.
I mean, I’ve always liked First Things, and I admire Joseph Bottum for the he way he can talk so knowledgably about so many different things. But him giving a thumbs up to this spit-out-the-milk-in-your-mouth-funny take-off on the Commandments is sort of like Orson Welles talking about cookies or Cookie Monster starring on Masterpiece Theater. I always thought he was kind of a snob— definitely too much to appreciate stuff like this.
Well, I was wrong— he isn’t and he does. Of course, I'd bet that Peter Benchley would like the Must Love Jaws trailer better than the actual movie based on his book, since he seems to like sharks more than people these days.
Anyway, Dr. Bottum is right about movies, or at least movie trailers, too. The trailers keep getting cheesier and more predictable. For instance, the trailers for suspense dramas or action movies all start with some ominous music; at the trailer’s end, the drum beat speeds up and you and a ton of scenes flash by at super-speed and finally the movie’s title appears. Trailers used to be the most reliably fun part of going to the movie theater, emphasis on “used to be”.
