Snakes on a Plane

Albeit belated, I thought it was about time I wrote an entry on Snakes on a Plane, the much ballyhooed, Samuel L. Jackson vehicle due out this August that has snowballed into the biggest blogfest of '06 (N.B.--I don't really understand why the film isn't titled Snakes on the Plane. Why the indefinite article? WHY?) Just in case anyone who happens upon this has not heard of "SOAP," or perused a sample of the mountains of fan artwork devoted to it, I thought I would pass on a couple of links. The very premise of this movie (summed up entirely in its title, true to Hollywood-high-concept-on-crack form) is just too hilarious. My personal favourite contributions to the web frenzy over SOAP include this great cartoon as well as the riff on "McArthur Park" that can be found among the fan posters on this site (you'll need to scroll down a few to see it). More fan posters created specifically around a "Snakes... fill-in-the-blank-rhymes-with-plane" format can be found here. Be forewarned that some are highly offensive due to their racist and/or homophobic content. But most are just plain wacky; the ones I like best are "Snakes Who Look the Same," "Snakes Who Shift Blame," "Snakes Who Like Train," "Snakes and Elaine" (as in Benes) and the Gretzky homage, "Snakes Used by Wayne."

It doesn't really matter what the actual SOAP movie ends up being like; the multitude of parodies it has spurred are by far more entertaining than many Hollywood films end up being these days. The next logical step for high concept moviemaking is to just do away with the films themselves. Apparently, to generate a pop culture phenomenon, all you need is a kick-ass title, a trailer, a poster, and Samuel L. Jackson. Emperor's new clothes, indeed.

I will say that I find the idea of actually being on a plane with snakes absolutely terrifying.
If it ever happened to me, I guess I'd just tuck my feet up onto my seat. That'd show those snakes. And I hope it wouldn't be on a long flight, because hell if I'm getting up to go to the bathroom if there's snakes on the plane. Hmmm--this is starting to sound more uncomfortable than terrifying. Maybe I could deal with snakes on a plane after all. But let's hope it never comes to that.