For the Love of Filmmaking

by Kristen St. John 

I chose to watch, "Be Kind Rewind" starring Jack Black, Danny Glover, and Mos Def, for my writing assignment. We have been asked to write about satire and parody in the movie we have chosen, which was basically the the entire plot of, "Be Kind Rewind".The comedic story line was very far fetched, but was also very entertaining and came with a good lesson in the end.

In the beginning of the film, video store owner (Danny Glover), is in danger of losing his shop to a real estate demolition. He decides to leave his store in the care of his employee Mike (Mos Def) while he goes on a trip to find a way to save his store. The only rule that Mike had to obey was "Keep Jerry Out", but obviously that wouldn't be the case or the story wouldn't be as it is.

Jerry (Jack Black) is Mike's, slightly off his rockers, best friend that lives in the junkyard next door. Jerry's character is very paranoid and believes his mind is being fried by the nearby electrical substation. I felt that this was in reference to our society's belief that cell phones and microwaves are causing this to happen in the real world. Mike attempts to help Jerry dismantle the substation, but decides it's too crazy for him to be a part of and leaves Jerry to fend for himself. Of course, comedy is about to come in to play again, because Jerry's klutzy character is inevitably electrocuted and tossed to the ground.

The next morning Jerry enters the store like any normal day to annoy Mike. What they don't know yet is that Jerry has been magnetized from the electrocution and it causes him to erase every VHS tape in the store. Mike can't let Mr. Fletcher down so he has to be able to still provide video rentals to the neighborhood. Now enters the parodies, they come up with the idea to rerecord the movies themselves with a camcorder. They even had a name for their new movie method, sweding. They told their customers that they were from Sweden, using it as an excuse to charge more and give reason for long wait times. I believe the movie was portraying that people will follow anything if the hype is large enough. No matter what it costs!

The first movie that they redid was, "GhostBusters". Jerry didn't know how to sing the theme song correctly, which was funny because who doesn't know the "GhostBusters" song? It was extremely cheesy, but it left the people wanting more. Soon the entire neighborhood was demanding films and they had to recruit others to help star in the films. A few of the other movies they recorded were, "Rush Hour 2", "The Lion King", "RoboCop", "Men In Black", and "Driving Miss Daisy". "Driving Miss Daisy" is looked at by some as a racist, one-sided movie and they portrayed this fact with comedy in their version.

They cleverly brought Sigourney Weaver in for a cameo, once again referencing "GhostBusters". She played an FBI agent shutting down their piracy business, she claimed what they were doing was illegal, and had all the tapes destroyed. This left them thinking there was no more hope in saving the Be Kind Rewind store.

Last minute they decide to make a documentary portraying their own neighborhood legend, Fats Waller. They realized they could say anything they wanted about him, even Jerry trying to wear black face, which is extremely controversial. Mike believed they could raise money to save the store, but unfortunately Mr. Fletcher knows in the end it will never be enough to stop the demolition. Us as the movie audience though, we know that a comedy will close with a happy ending.

In the finale, the movie ends up being projected outside for everyone to see. The neighborhood and many more are outside the store to witness the history of Fats Waller. Thus, in the end making it wrong to tear down a historical sight, the birth home of Fats Waller. Today this movie could be an example of how communities should come together as one to make great things happen. Our world wants to say change is happening. but I have yet to see any community around me come together, unless it is from a horrible tragedy. It makes me sad and, as this movie portrayed, we could all make it a whole lot simpler by just acting as one whole unit!