I caught a sneak preview of Team America on Saturday, and I can pretty much confirm that they skewer the extremist positionss of both the left and the right.
The “World Police” group is so gung-ho against terrorists that they celebrate successful missions in the devastation of whatever city they’re operating in, including knocking over the Eifel tower, sending a ground-to-air missle into the Louvre, knocking off the head of the Sphinx, and blowing up the pyramids.
They are being fought by the “Film Actors Guild” (and yes, the acronym is used extensively) including Alec Baldwin, Susan Saranden, Tim Robbins, Helen Hunt, Matt Damon, and many other celebs who have made statements against the current administration.
Michael Moore protests in front of Mount Rushmore (Team America’s base) with a hotdog in each hand. Then he runs into the base covered in dynamite and blows it up.
It’s a little difficult to figure out exactly what they’re trying to say. They may just be going after everyone, and leaving to the viewer to decide which side is less screwed up.
The other night Comedy Central had a “South Park” marathon interspersed with a lot of interviews and clips from the movie. Plugola-ville.
Parker and Stone are quite clearly ultra-naive about politics and have less than well-thought out positions about important issues. Which you would already know from watching SP.
E.g., they went on and on about how stupid it is for celebs to express their political opinion. Repeatedly pointing out how unqualified the celebs are.
But apparently, Parker and Stone don’t thing that they are celebs expressing unqualified political opinion. Go figure.
In this day and age, throwing people who are trying to do good in with people who are trying to do bad is perhaps not the brightest idea. It’s the Ann Coulter mentality: anyone who is opposed to ultra-extremist conservatives must be an ultra-extremist pinko. The center is ignored.
I also saw it Saturday night and posted a thread about it here.
It really takes no political stance, but if you’re a fan of Parker and Stone you already knew that.
Also, I think it’s funny how everyone is assuming it’s a political movie in the first place. Yes, it has political elements (Kim Jong Il, terrorism, Hans Blix, etc.) but it is primarily a spoof on Hollywood action movies, not a political spoof.