Hey, goth kids, I want Jack Skellington back! Look, I think it's great that you appreciate the delicate art of stop motion filmmaking. And isn't it neat that now when your asshole parents drag you kicking and brooding to sunny Florida and force you to walk around the Magic Kingdom with all of the other sheep, sweating to death in your oversized black jeans and Marilyn Manson t-shirt, mascara running thick down your doughy, white cheeks, that there is a character who you feel speaks to your ridiculous sensibilities? On that level, good for you, goth kids.But c'mon! I can't walk into a Hot Topic without being overwhelmed by the sheer volume of merchandise featuring Jack's grimacing face. T-shirts, hoodies, buttons, backpacks, key chains, bobble-heads. And you can't go anywhere without seeing a herd of overweight, pasty goth brats shuffling about in Skellington-gear, smoking their Camels and frowning at wannabes.
For the record, I haven't been in a Hot Topic in years and only ever patronized them when I was in need of a Morrissey t-shirt. The last time I was in a Hot Topic, I didn't appreciate the unearned familiarity with which a young employee spoke to me (Most of the following discussion actually happened):
Me: (picks up a Johnny the Homicidal Maniac comic book)
Punk: That book is fucked up, yo.
Me: Oh, yeah? It's good?
Punk: So fucking good. You should buy it, you know? Just buy the holy living fuck out of it.
Me: OK...
I did, in fact, buy the comic book, but I didn't need the inappropriate language to sell me. You had me the moment you approached me, Hot Topic employee. The faster I obeyed your orders, the faster I could leave and never have to talk to your stupid ass again.
Listen, goth kids, you can be into whatever you like, ok? I'm just some crusty old guy who loves animation in all of its many forms and doesn't want to see one of his favorites reduced to a simple accessory for the misunderstood. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a great movie beyond the fact that its hero is a creepy skeleton guy. That's all I'm saying. It's an incredibly original film, but at it's heart it is basically a traditional redemption story, and don't goth kids--famously the most "original" individuals in any given population--hate the idea of tradition? They hate the conventional, they strive to be different, distance themselves from the herd by dressing in black and spending their summers in the basement listen to The Cure and spray painting roses black. The Nightmare Before Christmas is about Halloween--one of the goth nation's most beloved holidays, second only to Arbor Day--but it's also about Christmas, the happiest holiday of them all and, therefore, enemy to the goth cause. And by the by,if you'll remember, Skellington preferred Christmas. I'm just saying.
Listen, goth kids, you can be into whatever you like, ok? I'm just some crusty old guy who loves animation in all of its many forms and doesn't want to see one of his favorites reduced to a simple accessory for the misunderstood. The Nightmare Before Christmas is a great movie beyond the fact that its hero is a creepy skeleton guy. That's all I'm saying. It's an incredibly original film, but at it's heart it is basically a traditional redemption story, and don't goth kids--famously the most "original" individuals in any given population--hate the idea of tradition? They hate the conventional, they strive to be different, distance themselves from the herd by dressing in black and spending their summers in the basement listen to The Cure and spray painting roses black. The Nightmare Before Christmas is about Halloween--one of the goth nation's most beloved holidays, second only to Arbor Day--but it's also about Christmas, the happiest holiday of them all and, therefore, enemy to the goth cause. And by the by,if you'll remember, Skellington preferred Christmas. I'm just saying.Have I ruined The Nightmare Before Christmas for you, gothies? Good.
My favorite part:
All of the songs are great, but this one is my very favorite.
Arbitrary Grade: B+
