Spinal Tap: Good or Bad for Live Earth?
I laughed out loud yesterday when I read that mock rockers Spinal Tap will be appearing at Wembley Stadium in London as part of Al Gore's Live Earth concerts on July 7. For those who might not be aware, Spinal Tap was the subject of Rob Reiner's 1984 cult classic This Is Spinal Tap, a "rockumentary" about a fictional heavy metal band. Let me admit here that I have seen bits and pieces of the movie, but never the whole thing.
Rob Reiner has been active in environmental causes for more than 20 years, so it's understandable that he wants to be involved in this project. I question whether it's a good idea, however. I'm not an advocate of any particular position here, but I'm curious about what people think. Is this a positive for Live Earth as an event, or does the satiric nature of Spinal Tap spill over onto Live Earth as an event and turn it into a parody?
Comments (7)
Yeah, I'm not sure whether that is a good thing or not. On the one hand, it does lend a little humor to a potentially grim subject but on the other, it tends to make light and satirize the very issue for which they are appearing.
Having seen the movie though, I thought this quote from Rob Reiner was funny: "Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing - that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler."
Posted by Mark E. | April 26, 2007 1:40 PM
While I find Spinal Tap to be very amusing, and are a positive in the entertainment sense, I feel, as I do about many (leftist) activist celebrities that they should just shut up and sing/entertain. And keep their politics to themselves. Don't be fooled. These guys haven't been a part of the scene for over 20 years. They are not going to pimp Al Gore's propaganda for nothing! So guess what? They are not in it for the polar bears and the green green grass (unless they are smoking it!) (Gee, did anyone expect anything less from old Oiz regarding this?....;-D.....)
Posted by Oiznop | April 26, 2007 2:05 PM
Laura, are you sure Rob Reiner has anything to do with this? The Spinal Tap members are quite skilled musicians in their own right, and in the years since the film have both toured periodically as Spinal Tap and worked on other joint musical-satirical film projects (e.g. and most recently "A Mighty Wind"), all of this without Reiner's involvement so far as I'm aware. Remember also that this is the British Live Earth venue and Spinal Tap is a parody of the archtypical British rock band (and so the audience will be likely to get all the jokes). Also note that The Simpsons are extremely popular in Britain, probably more so than here, which is where "Nigel" (who recently added a "News of the Warm" segment to his popular public radio show) comes in.
Regarding the appropriateness of humor at the concerts, recall that the comedy/satire segments of the Laurie David TV special of several months ago were very well received. The Will Farrell impersonation of Peerless Leader, e.g., was amazing (IMHO).
Is Oiznop really as out of it as he seems when it comes to popular culture? OTOH perhaps consistency is a virtue.
Posted by Steve Bloom | April 27, 2007 2:33 AM
Isn't it interesting that the deniers haven't cited their backyard weather this week? Why haven't they talked about the record high temps in the Northeast earlier this week? Why is their backyard weather when it's cold proof-positive that AGW isn't real, but when it's hot, it's "not enough data?"
We're supposed to have above-normal temps for the forseeable future, so unfortunately the deniers won't be able to use their backyard weather for at least a few weeks. Aww shucks.
Posted by Mark | April 27, 2007 9:22 AM
Steve, I'm certainly not sure that Rob Reiner made the decision regarding Spinal Tap's appearance at Live Earth, but he has recently reunited with them to produce a short film which debuted Wednesday at the Tribeca Film Festival in NYC. The article I linked details some information about the short, and also says that Reiner will "attend" Live Earth.
Guest, Shearer and McKean are 3 funny guys - although I have a hard time getting past McKean's Laverne and Shirley roots. He'll always be Lenny to me.
Posted by Laura Hannon | April 27, 2007 10:53 AM
Isn't it interesting that the deniers haven't cited their backyard weather this week? Why haven't they talked about the record high temps in the Northeast earlier this week? Why is their backyard weather when it's cold proof-positive that AGW isn't real, but when it's hot, it's "not enough data?"
REPLY: Record High For Sunday April 22 for Western Pennsylvania, as heard on the local NOAA WX station, 86 degrees set back in 1902. Yes that's 1902. Tell us Marky, were were the "carbon offsets" and the Global Farce back then? You were saying about record temperatures? And please, spare me the "advancements in technology" argument. It's not going to work.
Love and Kisses:
Your favorite denier!....
Posted by Oiznop | April 27, 2007 11:05 AM
Is Oiznop really as out of it as he seems when it comes to popular culture? OTOH perhaps consistency is a virtue.
REPLY: Maybe I am, and don't really care. As I have mentioned before, I find pop culture celebrities to be spoiled, boorish people who live in a dream world, who would never last in a real job, and when they don't get their way, are a bunch of uppity crybabies with too much money and too much time on their hand. Just like they hopefully won't get their way with their GW propaganda manchine. I really have no use for these people. And let me reiterate, if I can keep what little money I have out of Hollywood's hands, I will!
Posted by Oiznop | April 27, 2007 11:09 AM