Joy isn't always beautiful

Tonight I went to a movie called Oddsac. It is a collaboration between Danny Perez and Animal Collective and, essentially a feature-length music video. Yes, I realize a feature-length music video sounds like a bad idea, but it held my attention the whole time. I really enjoyed it.

Afterward Perez and some dude from Collective went up front and answered questions that the audience had. I almost wish they hadn't because I didn't think they said anything worth hearing. They were both almost certainly a drunk (or a little drugged out) and answered most of the audience's questions with responses that ran roughly along the lines of "it's really not that interesting". Most terribly, someone asked what the makers of the movie and the music wanted audiences to walk away with, what was the point of the film, why should people watch it? The answer was that there was no point. They simply enjoy watching it and hoped other people would too.

Part of me is okay with that, because I've always loved the Golding quote: "an author should forget the point of his book as soon as he's finished writing it" (that's a very rough reinterpretation of what he said, but it is something like that). I like that quote because I think everyone should be able to derive their own meaning from the things they read, watch and listen to. I've also always liked the exchange in Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story where the filmmakers are trying to figure out why they are making their movie. Finally one man says "To make people laugh." His friend responds, "Is that all?" And HE says, "Is that not enough?" Simply being given the excuse to laugh, the opportunity to feel amused can be incredibly valid.

However, it seemed to me that Animal Collective had no meaning of their own to begin with, which bothered me. I appreciate an artist refusing to impose their values or ideas on their audience, but why oh why are you doing something if it doesn't mean anything to you? Why invest so much of your time and energy into something that you only LIKE? As there is no meaning to the movie, it is a project that simply exists. (And is that so wrong? For something to simply exist? Is it as necessary as I want it to be for things to MATTER in more ways than simply for their aesthetic appeal? Maybe not. But I want them to. I want for us to at least try to find something bigger.)

Anywho, there was one scene at the end of the movie that I found particularly interesting and that is what inspired the title of this post. In this scene there are four women in a kitchen making cookies or something similar. They seem to be having a pleasantish time. Then this creepy creature appears between them. It has red, glittery skin and a white turban on its head, which doubles as its eyes and are large, fist sized knots. He seems to attempt to interrupt their conservation, which made me think he was supposed to be the proverbial "elephant in the room", but whenever he tries to shift their attention to him, they just laugh, and among each other, not at him. Finally he starts screaming and screaming and screaming and dancing and, next thing you know, the four ladies have joined in the dancing. It's very tribal, and throughout the entire thing they are laughing about as hard as it is possible to laugh. They are also having an epic food fight, throwing flour and eggs and sugar everywhere throughout the rest of the sequence. And as I was watching the sequence all I could think was that joy is not always beautiful. But it's joy and it feels hella good even when it's ringed by fear or violence.