allysonkrieger
runonsentence.com
originally published on WildWeb, 6/7/99
She Said
...
'Austin Powers' is the cinematic equivalent of the Macarena.
By
ALLYSON KRIEGER / I have a confession. I stopped watching the first Austin
Powers movie halfway through, and I have no intention of seeing the sequel.
OK, so maybe this isn’t the PCC (pop culturally correct, that is)
thing to say, but you can’t tell me there’s no one else out
there that shares my anti-Austin state of mind.
How can I call myself a pop culture aficionado and not want to see "The Spy Who Shagged Me," you ask? Well, I have a radio, and I’ve heard all about Virgin Atlantic’s "shaggage claim," "shagazine stand" and "Shaguar." I have a television and I’ve seen Mike Myers getting rubbed down by a Heather Graham-esque ingenue in the incessant Heineken spots. I subscribe to magazines and have seen every "yeah, baby" and "oh, behave" headline known to humankind. So, haven’t I already been through enough?
Here’s what I don’t understand. The people who like Austin Powers are supposedly "cool"; but isn’t part of being cool tuning into things that are out of the mainstream? Instead, this franchise is the cinematic equivalent of the Macarena. Like the annoyingly simplistic dance craze that seized the nation three summers ago, every grade school, high school, college and twentysomething student of hip is spouting Powersisms like brainwashed Stepfords. Case in point: My Web-centric office, a virtual utopia of pop culture, is home to a speaking Dr. Evil toy ("Why must I be surrounded by frickin’ idiots?") that quickly wore out its welcome weeks ago. We’ve also got Austin screensavers, Austin soundtracks, Austin cutout dolls. Why must I be surrounded by frickin’ lemmings?
To me, Austin Powers represents everything unhip: commercialism, marketing, repetition, dead horse-beating. The fact that I personally don’t find him all that funny is beside the point. More importantly, all the reasons fans cite are ones that were apt and timely back in 1997, when retro was coming into its own. Two years later, the sequel is culturally redundant.
My colleague Jess would argue that Austin Powers movie scene and lingual references are bonds that tie us together. I would venture to say that, at this point, they’re thinly stretched excuses for conversation. Rather than devise an original comment, or relate a humorous, personal story, we as a people fall back on tired catch phrases from over-quoted entertainment vehicles. Remember freshman year in high school, when the "funny" guys used to be able to recite every line from "Sixteen Candles" or "Breakfast Club"? Or reenact every lame "SNL" skit, from Hans and Frans to the Church Lady? (Does "isn't that special" trigger your memory?) Well, maybe such recitations were funny when you're 15, or the first 43 times you heard them, but now they’re just plain dumb.
I will, however, relinquish that there is something to be said for sharing common pop culture vignettes. Alas, without "Seinfeld" to immortalize tip jars, parking-lot problems and low-talkers, much of modern history would be lost. I myself am guilty of a "did you see the episode" or two when pressed for conversation. The problem here goes deeper: "Spy Who Shagged Me" jokes don't really say anything about our current culture -- they're only funny as late '60s nostalgia -- and they're simply too simplistic to proffer fresh watercooler fodder. Add that to that fact that most of them are blatant rip-offs of everything we saw in the first Austin Powers installment -- and bleech! My boyfriend dressed up as the guy two Halloweens ago, for godssake!
So, as Austin movie lines dwindle but the references trudge on, I'll patiently wait for this summer's Macarena to pass. You can be sure I won’t be checking out the ridiculous Mini-Me or Kristen Johnston’s turn as Ivana Humpalot. And I most certainly won't be coughing up any "shag" gags or twisting any pointy pinkies at the corner of my mouth. Instead, I'll be here wondering -- wondering why Austin Powers is still so damn popular, two years past his punch line.
What do you think? Is Austin Powers painfully has-been? Or do you agree with Jess that he's a cultural touchstone? Tell us.
WildWeb | July 07, 1999