Type:
Playstation Console System
Genre:
Action Strategy
Rating:
E-Everybody|
Type:
Playstation Console System
Genre:
Action Strategy
Rating:
E-Everybody |
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I was once ashamed to be an American.
I was embarrased to stand and salute during the national anthem.
Whenever I would encounter the 50 stars and 13 stripes, I would avert my
eyes with a look on my face that simultaneously managed to contain sheepishness
and disgust. I purposely forgot the pledge of alliegance, hoping
that if I could erase it from the very depths of my brain, I would forget
about the country that I found utterly repugnant and disheveled.
At this point, you may be asking why exactly I was so repelled by my country of birth. Many of you may be thining my disgust is a result of the inane fear of sending ground troops into Kosovo. Possibly. Some of you might think it is a result of oppressive, right-wing politicians and leaders who are as open to new ideas as Hitler would have been to integration with the Jews. Somewhat close, but not the mark. No: my problem with this intellectually dull culture is the animation. Seriously, all smart-ass jokes aside. You have to admit, we have a bit of a problem here in America when it comes to the artform of animation. The animation of this country makes the kiddy "Goosebumps" novel series look like "Apocalypse Now." It is that dumb. Daily, I turn on the television (for what reason I'm still not sure) and witness the great artform that is animation wasted, polluted, violated; transmogrified into shows that are made for and marketed directly to children. And there's nothing wrong with making shows aimed at children. (Remember, the Japanese made "Pokemon," which is a kiddie magnet.) There's only a problem when you make the vast majority of your animation aimed at young children. Thank Hell for "Spawn". Two years ago, among all of the stupidity and meekness of the emerging television programs, a new animated show emerged from the shadows. HBO made a deal with comic book artist and writer Todd McFarlane, to transform his monthly comic book series into an animated one. It was a brilliant deal. McFarlane and his crew promplty went about creating a ground-breaking, emmy award winning masterpiece of art. "Spawn," a mixture of fantasy, action, and philosophy, truly is ground breaking, in that no AMERICAN show has ever tackled the mature, "adult" subjects that Spawn covers on a daily basis. No AMERICAN animated series has ever had such graphic violence, or realistic characters who use contemporary street dialect. And for sure, no AMERICAN series has ever had a main "protagonist" character like Spawn. When American soldier Al Simmons was murdered, he made a deal with the Devil (or, as he is branded in the series, "Malebogia.") He would return to Earth to visit his wife, Wanda, for one final time, and in return, he would send Malebogia souls (when a creature of Hell, or in the name of Hell, kills a person, guess where their soul goes?) When he is returned to Earth, he is in a hideous form. His body is basically that of a rotted corpse (it's relatively normal to see worms and maggots crawling in and out of his body.) He also wears a lengthy, dark red shroud, which show signs of being an intelligent life form (late in the series, one of the characters says that the shroud controls Spawn, but no one else has backed that statement up.) The shroud also has metallic chains, which are his main defense, and can be controlled at will. He is a Hell Spawn. Naturally, he doesn't want Wanda to see him in such a grotesque form, and he doesn't want Malebogia to be his master after screwing him on the deal. Needless to say, Malebogia isn't happy. And, since Spawn kills people whenever he feels like it (not purposely to send Hell souls, but just because some people get in his way) Heaven doesn't become Spawn's biggest fan, either. Both want and hunt him, as they continue their never ending fight against each other. And as they battle on, it becomes harder and harder to tell who is who and what the goal of each is. This is basically what the third season, which recently aired on HBO, focuses on. The six episodes that made up the third season were stunningly brilliant. Each one not only had a ending that was either a cliffhanger or a surpriser, but also there was actual CONTENT! You had to watch and think to fully discern what the show was trying to say; and in the new season, it said a lot. I won't give it away, but let's just say, I hope you have a open, liberal mind (at least open.) You'll need it, becaue some of the ideas suggested and contemplated in "Spawn" go directly against what Mainstream society has believed for the past, oh--couple hundered years or so. Let's review. "Spawn" has utterly beautiful and dark animation (shadows are used a lot, but used favorably and tastefully.) The voice acting is brilliant. Keith David ("Goliath" from the Disney series "Gargoyles" and recently featured in the English dub of "Princess Mononoke") does an amazing job in conveying the disdain and tortuous anguish of Spawn, and is supported by a wonderful cast. The dialogue and people are realistic and deep and thought-provoking. Watching "Spawn" will give you a renewed appreciation of animaiton, and will make you proud to be an American again. Of course, we're still waaaay behind the Japanese, but that's another article for another time... Update:
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