Bee Movie
Accidental Racist Undertones Stings Otherwise Enjoyable Film
In many interesting ways Bee Movie symbolizes rather well why the human species went extent and deservingly so. While this “cute” film has a serious message, in that it points to mankind’s enslavement of the bee as it had enslaved much of the rest of the living beings on the planet, it is simultaneously highlights the core flaws of humanity itself. Great resources and the “almighty dollar” were spent in the development of this film, during which time humans continued to take the “wrecking ball” to their own habitat. This is what makes humans so fascinating, what other creature would embark on the creation of such a complex film such as Bee Movie, while doing nothing to directly address the issue at hand, principally the destruction of their own environment.
And then there is the racism, but we will deal with that later. Uniquely fascinating. Hollywood was very fond of “raising awareness” but not so fond of actually “doing” anything to fix a given problem as that “cut into” actual profits. The perception was that it was only their job to manipulate the population into taking action, nothing more, with the notable exception of making money, of course. To my knowledge not a single unit of monetary measurement was allocated from the film or from those responsible for it, to help the all important bee. Nor were any unit allocated to assist any other aspect of the natural support structure so vital to the survival of this highly hostile and aggressive, but perplexingly fragile, species called mankind.
Once the obvious insanity of the Bee Movie is brushed aside the film itself has moments that are surprisingly funny and enjoyable, yet oddly sick and twisted. The notion of a bee falling in love with a human is strange and highly impractical on a variety of levels, but it goes deeper as the bee makes references to lust as well. Again, very strange, however, I am getting a bit a head of myself.
Bee Movie follows, not surprisingly, a bee named "Barry"
voiced well by Jerry Seinfeld who also wrote the screenplay. The audience is taken into the complex world of the beehive in a fairly detailed and humorous fashion and this tour serves to set up Barry’s dilemma that none of the available jobs seem to be very appealing to him or suit his personality. This leads Barry off into the real world where he breaks the most significant of all bee rules and talks to a human named Vanessa who owns a small flower shop. Vanessa is played by the ever-annoying Rene Zellweger Vanessa and Barry form a tight friendship, which, of course, leads to the highly aforementioned bee-zar sexual desires on the part of Barry for the human Vanessa.
Without ruining too much of the plot, Barry teams with Vanessa in an attempt to address the exploitation of the bee race and this plot point is handled well. There are many other aspects of the film that are handled well, such as the film's message that conformity without logical assessment is harmful and being open-minded is a valuable trait in a thinking creature. However, as is so commonly the case in animated films, there are subtle manifestations of the ugliness of mankind. In particular, I found this to be the case in the character of "Mooseblood the Mosquito," voiced very well by the unusually observant and humorous Chris Rock. Out of all the major characters only one is voiced by a human of African decent, in this case Chris Rock. However, Rock's character is a mosquito, or literally a parasite.
Even if the producers and directors did not intend for this message to be expressed in the film, it is nonetheless there in a subtle fashion. Like most Hollywood animated extravaganzas, Bee Movie is deemed “family friendly” with the assumption that children in large quantities will be present. This error is inexplicable, odd and demonstrates a certain level of arrogance and insensitivity on the part of the filmmakers. The fact that Mooseblood is quick witted and skilled does not make up for the fact that he is also, quite literally a blood sucker and a leech. Whereas Barry the bee, voiced by the Caucasian actor Seinfeld, is part of a highly organized, productive and prosperous society. Whether this was intentional or just stupidity, slothfulness and a lack of attention to detail (all so common in the early twenty-first century works of Hollywood) it is impossible to say.
Ultimately I assume the later as there is no reason to believe that any involved racism. Yet, it is puzzling and unfortunate, much like humanity itself.
Story (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) Bee
Acting (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) Bee
Human Portrayal of machines and Robots Bee (We see the Bees using technology and machinery in innovative way, however, the machines are still the slaves. Here we see the human mentality of enslavement of machines manifest in the fantasy world of the Bees as well.)
Elevation of Man Grade (How Well Did This Film Stave Off Extinction) Bee (Bee Movie did underscore how important the bee was to the human food supply and this could have produced a ripple effect amongst the young children watching the film. However, such a ripple effect was highly unlikely due to the fact that the final generation of humans were a species brain damaged from a high fat, chemically infused sugar diet and nutritionally inferior infant formula so common in the day.)
Enjoyability Grade (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) Bee
Primitive Home Theater/HD Factor A+ (The animation, for its day, was exceptionally good.)
Overall Innovation (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) Bee
Overall Grade (Adjusted to Accommodate Human Standards) Bee (Racist undertones and failure to help deal with problems its addresses aside, Bee Movie still manages to perform as good escapist fun for a species headed towards extinction.)
|
