Kingpin

Art is unnecessary.  Some people, including myself, would say that it is a necessary outgrowth of any culture...but as far as the survival of the race goes, there is nothing necessary about it.  It always involves reflection, and reflection is hard to come by if one is merely trying to survive.  Paradoxically, I think we as humans do need art.  We need to be able to see that we are not alone.  Artistic expression is one way that we know that we are not alone.  From the works of the Psalmist in the Bible, to the paintings of Picasso, to the symphonies of Beethoven, to the film works of Akira Kurosawa, art emanates from every part of the globe, and from every age.

I watched a movie called "Kingpin" recently.  "Kingpin" would never be called high art.  It is low brow comedy, and it does contain a lot of laughs.  When I was through watching it, I was convinced that I had seen a work of art, but I felt worse as a person for watching it.  Some of this has to do with my faith, of course.  My faith has certain tenants regarding sexuality, and when they are joked about so mercilessly and crudely, I sort of feel like I have been dragged through the mud.  However, the movie had great comic acting, the jokes were creative and well constructed.  It's just that nearly every single one of them ended up making me cringe as well.

The movie follows an up and coming bowler named Roy Munson (Woody Harrelson).  He was brought up to bowl by his father, and he is on his way to glory when he meets Ernie McCracken (Bill Murray, playing an absolutely horrible person, and playing it well).  Ernie sees his talent, and gets the naive Roy to help him win at gambling.  One of the victims of their scam gets angry, and as Ernie flees the scene, Roy is left at the mercy of the thugs, who mutilate his hand in a bowling ball return.  Years later, Roy is living a disgusting, sad life.  At a bowling alley in Scranton, PA, he sees a young Amish man (Randy Quaid) who appears to be gifted at bowling.  He sees this young man as a ticket out of his hard luck, so the two of the set off for Reno to compete in a million dollar bowling competition.

The movie was directed by the Faraley Brothers, who went on to direct the highly acclaimed comedy, "There's Something About Mary."  I have never seen that movie, and I'm not sure I will now.  I can appreciate well crafted comedy, even when it is dirty.  Eventually however, it becomes an exercise in understanding what works for me.  This movie ended up being funny, but it didn't have enough truth to warrant the humor, nor the cheer in the humor to make it fun.  Instead, it was continual joking about either bodily functions or human misery.  As a film, on it's own, I found it irredeemable.  As it turns out, each film must be judged on its own.  For instance, I really enjoyed "Fever Pitch", another Faraley Brothers film which I found to be very funny, but much more uplifting.  It is too easy to simply write off a director or an actor without judging actually looking at an individual work.  This film is well crafted on many levels, but since art is interactive, there is more to the experience than simple craft.

It would be easy I suppose, to take the view of abstinence.  After all, if I never watch a movie again, I will never be offended again.  I would never have to have the feeling of being dragged through the mud again.  My faith, at so many levels, is about finding balance.  Sometimes one only knows when one is out of balance once one had fallen off the beam.  Fortunately, I didn't injure myself too badly falling off the beam on this one.