America, F*** Yeah

Say it loud. Say it proud. America, F’ yeah! I do. Please know, however, that this resounding spike of ultra-patriotic garble isn’t motivated by foreign events, presidential elections, or trendy, yet tacky, yellow ribbon car magnets. Instead, puppets-crude, arrogant, violent, and horny puppets inspire it. If that doesn’t make you get up and roar, you’re hopeless.Team America, World Police opened last Friday to a nation of politically bewildered citizens that may not have been ready for an education by Trey Parker and Matt Stone. Long awaited from the creators of the well-known animated series South Park, Team America, World Police is what George W Bush’s happy dreams would look like if he smoked PCP before going to bed. Filled with cocktail drinking, terrorist hating puppets that live in the heads of Mount Rushmore, they travel the world protecting our American freedoms, fighting with guns, rockets, and obscene jokes. When asked what their motivation was to make the movie the response was “We just wanted to f*** with dolls.” And who wouldn’t when you think about it. Stuff like this hasn’t been done since the Thunderbirds (not the Thunder Cats. If you don’t know who the Thunderbirds are, then ask your parents.)Without giving too much away, these little wooden actors are each a part of Team America World Police, an organization created to rid the world of terrorist threats to the United States. To make the team complete, they find Gary, a naive Hollywood actor with a heart of gold. With his addition, they leave to fight terrorists in China, Egypt, and their own home base. As the movie progresses, the seriousness subsides, the jokes fly quicker, and the movie begins to fill its ridiculous quota.Almost no one is safe from quick jabs and ridiculous punch lines. Parker and Stone are simply too busy singling out public figures for insult or scrutiny to take any side. Strangely enough, however, GW himself is not a focal point (my guess is it would have been too easy) although the ‘Team’ is obviously modeled after his blindly aggressive foreign policy. Foreign leaders, American actors, and even Michael Moore are not safe from their political satire. Of course, like any other American movie that carries an ‘R’ rating, there is a wonderfully embellished sex scene (which for some reason reminded me of playing with my cousin’s naked Barbies when I was seven) that originally landed the film with an NC-17 rating. I was surprised to hear this, especially when the puppets are as anatomically correct as a Ken doll. However, they ended up having to cut out the clips containing a golden shower and German Scheiße film. Not to mention plenty of horrifyingly gruesome death scenes that could only be accomplished with squib-filled puppets.Maybe there’s a similarity between this movie and someone who brings flowers or candy with them when they deliver bad news. Maybe we need puppets to make it easier to get down from our high horse, see what we’re doing to ourselves and those around us, and laugh. I enjoyed it, but then again how could I not after my cohorts and I smuggled in $100 worth of sushi to eat while we viewed (free plug for Moritomo’s Japanese Steak House of Concord inserted here). With or without sushi, I suggest watching this flick, unless you’re ultra conservative and have allergic reactions to men’s junior high school locker room jokes.