Assignment: Venezuela: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 17:19, 12 November 2022

Revision as of 17:33, 12 November 2022

Line 42:

Chris Morgan, author of ''The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Twelve Classic Episodes and the Movies They Lampoon'', writes in the book that the ''MST3K'' version of the film is long for an ''MST3K'' short, noting that the intended format gave the producers a chance to "stretch their legs" and keep close to the original running length. He thought that the short itself was dull and lacking in comedic potential, and that keeping the original premise of oil-boom relocation to Venezuela ages the piece significantly, though he observed that "Mike and the 'bots do their best with it" and the running joke made about the width of the lake was funny.<ref name=morgan/>^:158–159

In an article examining some ''MST3K'' shorts, Giannini selects the version of ''Assignment: Venezuela'' as a good example of where ''MST3K'' makes good film selections to spoof with suitable commentary, and as showing how this practice appears in their shorts as well as feature films.<ref name=giannini>{{cite journal|last=Giannini|first=Erin|title="People were whiter back then": Film Placement and In-Theater Commentary as Sociopolitical Dialogue|editor1=Weiner, Robert G.|editor2=Barba, Shelley E.|journal=In the Peanut Gallery with Mystery Science Theater 3000: Essays on Film, Fandom, Technology and the Culture of Riffing|publisher=McFarland|year=2014|pages=146–154|isbn=9780786485727}}</ref>^:147 Giannini argues that the short's lack of public distribution gave the ''MST3K'' writers more leeway in their commentary,.<ref name=giannini/>^:149 although the writers did not directly address the [[colonialism]] present in the film. The commentary does show an awareness of it, however, including interjections calling the protagonist "white devil" and a sarcastic reference to the United States as "the best country ever". Other reactions are more critical of the oil industry, dubbing the placement pattern of offshore oil wells a "[[pentacle|pentacle to Satan]]" and spoofing the over-exuberant joy at Venezuelan oil success by saying that "oil is a loving god".<ref name=giannini/>^:150

==See also==