The Four Nerds

       For Halloween I dressed up as Nathan Explosion. For those of you unfamiliar with who Nathan Explosion is, it was good to see you Saturday night. It really was terrible; not one person that I talked to knew who I was. And it makes me question to what is this world coming. Have we lost our cultural literacy? What is important to the American identity? Do we have one? Who represents me; what is America?

       Since apparently an explanation is warranted, Nathan Explosion is the frontman and singer for Dethklock, a fictitious death metal band featured on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim show Metalocalypse. In a word, this show is brilliant. Dethklock is the most popular band in the world and is described by Dethklock’s archnemesis, the Tribunal (although it is a little unclear whether Dethklock even knows they have a nemesis- more on this later) as “the world’s greatest cultural force.” Almost every episode ends with a brutal metal concert of epic proportions, but most of the show is devoted to showing the band behind the scenes. It turns out they are pretty much incompetent at everything that doesn’t involve playing music, and there is some question about even that (poor Toki). The show is subtle and telling in a way that only a show about a death metal band can be, but it is also a raucous good time. Basically, the viewer is provided with a great juxtaposition: the simplicity of life, even the life of a superstar, against the extreme brutality of death metal (I cannot think of an episode where at least one character does not meet a grisly end). Need more proof the show belongs as a part of our cultural literacy? Tommy Blacha, who voices the two most incompetent band members, put paper towels in his mouth to create the voice of Murderface. As I am sure you are already thinking this is a clear homage to a true bastion of cultural literacy, Demosthenes. Demosthenes was a Greek speech writer, orator, and politician, but he was cursed with a speech impediment and ridiculed for his long, boring, and formal style of argument. I don’t know how he cured being boring, but to cure his impediment, Demosthenes practiced his speeches with pebbles in his mouth. The great orator of our time, Murderface, has followed suit. I suppose I have gushed long enough; just watch it. I was asked this weekend what my favorite Adult Swim show is, and I honestly could not pick between Metalocalypse and Robot Chicken.

       Because I have breached the subject, this paragraph will be about the comparative awesomeness of Robot Chicken and Metalocalypse and my gratitude to Cartoon Network for allowing Adult Swim to exist; if you are just interested in cultural literacy, skip it egghead. I have to hand it to Robot Chicken; their best shows and vignettes are probably some of the best programming found on television, bar none. But, some of it is just fart jokes. This doesn’t make it bad; it just isn’t particularly insightful or deep. Metalocalypse, on the other hand, never disappoints visually. Their seizure-inducing visuals are engaging and stunning, and the music is energetic and life-affirming. Sometimes the action/story is lackluster as the show follows the band members, but, in terms of being consistently solid, I have to tip my hat towards the boys in black. At the end of the day I refuse to draw bright lines in the sands of greatness, but I will commend any evil corporation that allows Adult Swim to exist. Upon research, I found that Adult Swim is actually owned by a separate division of Turner Broadcasting than Cartoon Network so that the ratings will be calculated separately. I hate to think about even our artists as owned by such a conglomeration, but I’m not out to change the world (you win this round Tom). I just appreciate good programming. Thank you Turner broadcasting! (Also, CNN is a ridiculous excuse for news but someone has to take market share from those clam diggers at FUX)

       So, how can we have forsaken the “world’s greatest cultural force”? Because we have no concept of cultural literacy any more. There are two reasons for this. First, we have gotten comfortable and complacent; second, our culture has become complicated.

       Stay tuned for more on cultural literacy and Metalocalypse. Subsequent posts to follow.