Menu Bar
Flight of the Conchords: Humans are Dead
Needs Plugin: Flash |
Not Working?
Retweet This
Share on Facebook
Email This
The distant future – the year 2000. We are Robots. The world is very different ever since the Robot uprising of the mid-90s.
From the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords.
From the HBO comedy series Flight of the Conchords.
Jun 29, 2007 9:43 PM
Re: Flight of the Conchords: Humans are Dead
as much as i like the FOTC i'm not sure how i feel about this short, are they ripping off or just paying omage to Conan's classic "In The Year 2000" skits...
By: beneathbrooklyn
Re: Flight of the Conchords: Humans are Dead
Conan's skit is based off of all the feelings in the 50's and 60's that the year 2000 would be way more high-tech, jsut look at 2001 a space odyssey. This skit just makes fun of the whole belief that in 2000 everything would be different...y2k anyone?
By: Wonderr
Re: Flight of the Conchords: Humans are Dead
hmmm ... the Conchords are different, I wouldn't say they are 'ripping off' anybody, or that the meaning is so condensed to the extent that it is a satire 'directed' at a 'belief'. I mean, there are a few things to observe about the Conchords before we start talking about meaning.
The Conchords are mostly aimed at romanticism (the coincidence of music and emotion, music and expression). What the Conchords do (like something like Team America, World Police) make a genuine-sounding effort at serious, romantic music. So -- the Robot skit, like all their other songs, is not itself directly making fun of a point of view, but filtered through romanticism. That is: The robot song makes fun of [songs that take fascism to seriously]. Remember that the main point of robots is that they do everything the same way, that people are turning into machines, 'automatons', uncreative etc. As a result -- the robot is itself a central figure of romantism, those who seek musical expression 'for the moment', 'freely', not-automatically, etc.
All this is getting fairly convoluted, if you bother to keep track of the layers: robots are a figure for art, or anti-art, the seriousness of an effort is already a mockery of a kind of romanticism. I'm also reminded of Radiohead's OK Computer album, which they claim was misunderstood as an anti-technology album. "No, we're really saying, OK, computer -- they're OK." And the robot song on that album -- "Fitter, Happier" -- is -- IN FACT -- an anti-romantic song, if you listen to it carefully enough. So, all these things to keep in mind -- which, in general, makes simplistic notions of inheritance and 'copying' a bit naive.
The Conchords are mostly aimed at romanticism (the coincidence of music and emotion, music and expression). What the Conchords do (like something like Team America, World Police) make a genuine-sounding effort at serious, romantic music. So -- the Robot skit, like all their other songs, is not itself directly making fun of a point of view, but filtered through romanticism. That is: The robot song makes fun of [songs that take fascism to seriously]. Remember that the main point of robots is that they do everything the same way, that people are turning into machines, 'automatons', uncreative etc. As a result -- the robot is itself a central figure of romantism, those who seek musical expression 'for the moment', 'freely', not-automatically, etc.
All this is getting fairly convoluted, if you bother to keep track of the layers: robots are a figure for art, or anti-art, the seriousness of an effort is already a mockery of a kind of romanticism. I'm also reminded of Radiohead's OK Computer album, which they claim was misunderstood as an anti-technology album. "No, we're really saying, OK, computer -- they're OK." And the robot song on that album -- "Fitter, Happier" -- is -- IN FACT -- an anti-romantic song, if you listen to it carefully enough. So, all these things to keep in mind -- which, in general, makes simplistic notions of inheritance and 'copying' a bit naive.
By: q335r49
Re: Flight of the Conchords: Humans are Dead
While that might be true (not to nullify or disempower your viewpoint), that doesn't retroactivlely invalidate everything similar and preexisting. FOTC didn't write this in a vaccum- besides, we're talking about comedy here. Social satire is *supposed* to condense meanings to the point of absurdity– truly funny things can be simple, but universal in appeal. Sometimes that just means overdetermination. Like the power-of-literacy tests, where names of colors are written in different colored inks- and you're just supposed to say the colors you see out loud but you can't help but read the words.. or like Pynchon, who puts so many references on top of each other that your only real reaction is to laugh, because it's not worth the effort to try and draw out all those strings.
I laughed, it was funny, would watch it again. Hell, I did.
I laughed, it was funny, would watch it again. Hell, I did.
By: jawrsh
Re: Flight of the Conchords: Humans are Dead
Why is "Romanticism" necessary, at all, to explain what FOTC do? So you say their aim is to actually attack Romanticism, similarly to Matt Stone and Trey Parker, who also attack Romanticism by making songs that make fun of the types songs they're pretending to emulate. And this is anti-Romantic somehow.
I think I disagree.
I think FOTC are just trying really, really hard to be POST-MODERN (everyone's favorite, favorite word in the world I know...). Let's run with a South Park example. In the episode in which Cartman pretends to be retarded, so he can enter the Special Olympics--there's a scene where Jimmy is getting juiced-up on steroids, and he goes wild; he beats up a girl in the hall with his crutches and cries out to the Lord in misery.
So what are Matt and Trey doing? Using an image of a retarded kid on steroids as comedy fuel, for the deeper message that steroids and athletes who take them are evil.
It's using ingrained myths/images/ideas for their resonance, but smashing them to bits in the process (think of the Team America songs).
Or, like making fun of the notion that you WOULD laugh at something (a retarded boy on steroids), but you still laugh anyway...
But whereas Matt and Trey are funny, FOTC is just not. I'm sorry. What I see when I watch it is two guys trying really hard to be clever and hip, while I'm waiting for the laughs to kick in.
The "robot" video is confused about whether it wants to make fun of itself, or wallow in its own silly sense of humor. Yawn.
I'd actually rather watch Tenacious D.
Just my opinion.
p.s. How on earth is "Fitter, Happier" an anti-Romantic song? Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think Radiohead are in the business of attacking terms.
I think I disagree.
I think FOTC are just trying really, really hard to be POST-MODERN (everyone's favorite, favorite word in the world I know...). Let's run with a South Park example. In the episode in which Cartman pretends to be retarded, so he can enter the Special Olympics--there's a scene where Jimmy is getting juiced-up on steroids, and he goes wild; he beats up a girl in the hall with his crutches and cries out to the Lord in misery.
So what are Matt and Trey doing? Using an image of a retarded kid on steroids as comedy fuel, for the deeper message that steroids and athletes who take them are evil.
It's using ingrained myths/images/ideas for their resonance, but smashing them to bits in the process (think of the Team America songs).
Or, like making fun of the notion that you WOULD laugh at something (a retarded boy on steroids), but you still laugh anyway...
But whereas Matt and Trey are funny, FOTC is just not. I'm sorry. What I see when I watch it is two guys trying really hard to be clever and hip, while I'm waiting for the laughs to kick in.
The "robot" video is confused about whether it wants to make fun of itself, or wallow in its own silly sense of humor. Yawn.
I'd actually rather watch Tenacious D.
Just my opinion.
p.s. How on earth is "Fitter, Happier" an anti-Romantic song? Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think Radiohead are in the business of attacking terms.
By: BobRobDog
