Last week, I had the wonderful experience of seeing the new Muppets movie. I've loved Muppets my whole life, and I knew that I would inevitably be seeing the new addition to the franchise. I knew that I would enjoy it- c'mon, it's Muppets, but I didn't expect to outright love it as much as I did. It was pure joy- I smiled and laughed heartily throughout the whole film. I can't remember the last time a movie invoked those kinds of emotions in me. I walked out of the theater feeling less stressed, relaxed, and completely and overwhelmingly happy! How could I not be, after hearing a song like this?:
When I got out of the movie, I thought about some of the messages and themes the movie conveyed. Yes, I know that it may sound a little ridiculous of me to be analyzing a film that features a character that communicates by going "ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME ME!", but the Muppets have always had heart to them. If you actually go read about Jim Henson, you'll find that he really tried to create things that communicated deeper, universal messages for kids and adults. Now, the Muppets have always been first and foremost about making people laugh (it's the third greatest gift in the world, after all) but if you look, you can see a lot of depth to the little felt creatures. After all, these are the guys that gave us such songs as "Rainbow Connection":
If you actually took the time to watch the video, you can see that the intent of this song isn't to make you laugh. In fact, the song even won an Oscar when it first came out. It's a song that talks about love, hopes, dreams- the whole human experience-and it's communicated by a ridiculous looking frog.
So, hopefully we've established now that the Muppets obviously have some depth to them. The new movie really had some plot points and themes that really hit home for me. One of the central plot points of the movie is that all of The Muppets have split up and no longer perform together. The world has forgotten them-they've become relics of an older, simpler time, and they're no longer relevant to today's harder, cynical world (there's even a great line that pokes fun at this). As I watched the plot unfold, I obviously cracked up the whole way through, but I also thought about many of the things I loved as a child that I've "grown out of" or am supposed to have grown out of by now.
If you know me, you know I am an extremely nostalgic person and really love reminiscing about my childhood and the great things I occupied myself with back then. This unfortunately makes me a bit of a pack-rat at times-I hate the idea of throwing out old toys or stuffed animals and things that I use often. Stuff like The Velveteen Rabbit, Toy Story and The Brave Little Toaster really made me sad, and I've never grown out of feeling sorry for my inanimate objects I no longer have use for. I rarely play my old Playstation 2, but I can remember all the great times I had playing it by myself and with my friends, and because of this I will never throw it out. I don't want to picture it alone and broken in a landfill next to dirty diapers and old tires-it's heartbreaking!
The new Muppets movie brought back this sad, sorry feeling for my past again. I thought back to watching The Muppet Christmas Carol as a kid and loving it, watching Sesame Street for hours, Muppet Babies, and other wonderful Jim Henson/Frank Oz involved productions that made the late 80's and 90's so great. The Muppets have always been about breaking the fourth wall and making comments about the nature of the very film or television show they're inhabiting, and there are many parts in the film where they talk about people "forgetting" them and leaving them behind.
It had to be the intention of the filmmakers to convey the message that the Muppets had grown older with the audience. Yes, the film is supposed to be for children, but almost everyone in the theater was my age or a little older. It struck me that most children these days probably have no idea who the Muppets are, and that struck me as very sad. The Muppets were a household name when I was a kid, and everyone knew who they were. Living in a world without The Muppets seems very sad to me, and the movie's plot of reconciling the whole gang back together for one big show seemed to me an attempt to communicate to the audience that The Muppets are still relevant and can be just as great as they used to be.
Even though the film ends happily, I was a little sad. Sometimes the fact that my childhood is officially over is a terrifying thought to me. The adult world is a serious thing filled with schedules, money, car problems,work, and making plans to hang out with someone two weeks in advance. There are times when I wish I could get back to the spontaneity and carefree abandon of childhood. Luckily, my wife and I love being spontaneous and just doing whatever, so this offsets much of the harshness of getting older. But still, things are never the same as they are when you're a kid.
Another movie that came out recently that was technically for kids but seemed to be aimed at adults was Toy Story 3. It had similar messages of the toys growing older and being "forgotten", and again matured with the audience. If you're feeling particularly bored, you can go dig on this blog for my write-up of that movie when it came out.
These types of stories make me sad and happy at the same time. The process of "growing up" is one wrought with confusion, questions and weird feelings that you can't quite place. It's great to see work that acknowledges these thoughts and place them in the context of beloved franchises that we all grew up with as children, and The Muppets does a masterful job of this.
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