Hiatus

Not that anyone reads this, but I was away for a week at a family reunion in the considerably-less-sunny (than Southern California) Florida Panhandle where my immediate family resides.

While there I was afforded the opportunity to ruminate on the film Hancock that I saw the day before my departure. It struck me while drinking Nicaraguan rum in a park with my good friend that the arc of Will Smith's character follows a trail blazed by the post-pubescent antics of child stars like the 'the Two Coreys', Lindsay Lohan, to a lesser extent Paris Hilton and etc. 

There are a few moments that situate Hancock as a celebrity: 

1) Widely popular YouTube clips that document his various feats of superhuman strength

- there is a threshold for YouTube hits after which one is deemed a demi-celeb.

2) Regular coverage of his antics on the nightly news

- surely reminiscent of the celeb-journalism that occurs on the CNNs and FOX News channels. Not to mention TMZ.com's tv show and Entertainment Tonight. 

3) The 'aha' moment for me was perhaps the massive audience that turns out to witness Hancock turn himself over to prison authorities, vowing to stay in prison and serve his time. And the content of the speech he gives as he surrenders. He says (paraphrasing): "I know I have been somewhat of a burden on the city. It's difficult for me, considering I am the only one of my kind."

His argument places the blame for his actions on his exalted state. It's not his fault, it's because he's usually wasted because he can't cope with being a superhuman. And so to atone, he is going to put himself through rehab: an institution that has taken on a life of its own over the past 2-3 years. Michael Richards uses racial slurs: rehab fixed that. And Celebrity Rehab, the VH1 ratings powerhouse shows everyone how spilling one's guts for ten whole episodes can win one the graces once revoked by friends and family. 

Of course, Smith's Hancock learns his lessons much earlier and to much more benefit than the run-of-the-mill child star/has been whose lesson only ever comes too late in their career for it to result in a symbiotic relationship between them and their fans/friends/family. Hancock realizes the error of his miscreant ways and attempts to realign himself with the police and to weave gracefully back into the social fabric are successful enough for him to obtain hero status.

...not that that's what the movie is all about. It's not as bad as the reviews make it sound.