We here at The Varsity have been spilling some tuition-levied ink on the cultural status of “Advancement” lately. Suggested by possibly-high-on-angel-dust critical guru Chuck Klosterman in a 2004 Esquire column, Advancement is the act of an “advanced individual-i.e. a true genius-(who) creates a work that 99 per cent of the population perceives as bad.” Artists who fulfill expectations are considered “predictable,” and those that do directly the opposite of what is anticipated are “overt.” The true genius is the one who transcends all expectations to subvert their artistic realm.
Perhaps most importantly, Advancement bears no relation to the Generation X insistence upon “irony.” This is why Flavor Flav can be considered “advanced,” but the show Flavor of Love 2 is overt, at best.
Some believe Advancement is the only way to understand post-9/11 art (9/11 being the foundational event of the Advanced era, according to Klosterman). Think of the age we live in, the insistence upon “ceçi n’est pas une pipe”-type self-referentialitypreferentiality in ’00 music (“this is not a single,” “this is not a lead singer,” etc.), indie snobbery towards things that are actually good (like the band Jet) and nostalgia for the things we’ve never even experienced (television show box sets).
Therefore, as a kind of belated yet culturally imperative holiday treat, The Varsity brings to you a 2006 round-up of the most predictable, overt and Advanced artifacts in music, film and television. In 2006, the paperback version of Lunar Park by Bret Easton Ellis was Advanced, Bob Dylan’s Alicia Keyes shoutout in “Modern Times” was overt and Britney Spears lady-garden flash was, contrary to popular belief, predictable. Mini-hamburgers are now postmodern and the jury is still out on Harmony Korine.
Year of Advancement – Music
Predictable: Sam’s Town by The Killers
In the much-anticipated follow-up to Hot Fuss, Las Vegas’s most famous Mormons don’t necessarily do what was expected (i.e. more New Order), but instead take an even more predictable road, trying to emulate the Boss. While this does not discount the awesome power of single “When You Were Young,” the rest sound like half-founded regurgitations, like Bruce singing in the shower with even lazier instrumentals.
Overt: Love by The Beatles
Sound engineer Sir George Michaels creates new Beatles songs by layering on old ones, achieving a creepy effect for the soundtrack to a new Cirque Du Soleil show. The effect is “Yesterday” with guitar solos from “Abbey Road”-recognizable starts and endings from other Beatles tunes restructured into others. Disjointed, bizarre-and it doesn’t even work.
Advanced: Ys by Johanna Newsom
A title inspired by a mythical city in Brittany, Ys is only four tracks that average 11 minutes in length. Newsom’s voice sounds like a haunted mountain woman on the brink of schizophrenia, and the hushed orchestral and jazz-tinged instrumentals compliment her harp playing expertly. Both childlike and utterly experienced, “Ys” is most Advanced because it echoes everything else unique – Astral Weeks by Van Morrison, Pet Sounds by The Beach Boys and probably The Eraser by Thom Yorke. The complicated, histronic lyrics only add to the equation of sheer madness.
Year of Advancement – Film
Predictable: The Departed
Big stars, typical scruffy cop dialogue about cocaine and the employment of cell phones as a major plot device. While Martin Scorcese delivers an edgy, well-paced thriller that will actually keep you guessing, it doesn’t “depart” from any thrillers he’s made before it, even when “copping” from the original Hong Kong film. As usual, Jack Nicholson plays himself.
Overt: Snakes On A Plane
The internet takes over: as snarky responses from disenfranchised bloggers make up false dialogue for a film about snakes, originally titled Pacific Air Flight 121. What results is a film trying too hard to appease people who have already made all the jokes they can think of while drunk.
Advanced: Stranger Than Fiction
Not just because Will Ferrell is an excellent dramatic actor. Not just because the meta-narrative aspects of the screenplay deconstruct themselves. Not just because Spoon’s score is probably only three songs. Stranger Than Fiction is the most Advanced film of the year because every aspect of the film is meticulously orientated towards exploration of the concept of narrative film itself.
Year of Advancement – Television
Predictable: Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (runner up, Ugly Betty)
If you’ve seen one Aaron Sorkin show, you’ve seen them all: characters walking and talking down hallways, all to excessively boring effect. And this time, it’s “funny.”
Overt: Survivor: Cook Islands
In the 13th season of what felt like 100, producers divided up the reality show cast into teams of black, white, Hispanic and Asian members. What could have been an interesting anthropological endeavor ended up in reality show clichés. In the end, the same Survivor shenanigans continued (alliances, humiliation for chocolate bars, etc.), and an Asian dude won the cash.
Advanced: Lost (Season Three)
Whoa-there’s another island near to the previous island, and the Others have cable?! The flashback structure of Lost and the duplicity of its characterization continue to make this show the most Advanced on television. Destiny, action and meaning of love are subverted to the landscape of a giant fated island in the middle of nowhere, where mysteries pervade and polar bears roam the earth.
