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Weekend Discussion Thread: What Has MST3K Taught You?Over at Tor.com, Leah Schnelbach has a nice piece: “8 Lessons MST3K Taught Me About Writing, Life, and Everything.” It was actually posted a couple of days ago, and I was just going to post an item about it, and I knew I would hear some great thoughts from you guys, but then I thought — why waste it? Why not save it for a weekend thread?
My thought is a little bit of a variation on item 5: Don’t write what you think other people will think is funny, write what makes you laugh. That’s what they did for all those years: They had no studio audience, no test groups, they had to trust what THEY thought was funny. It worked. So what has MST3K taught you? 107 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: What Has MST3K Taught You?”Commenting at Satellite News
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All content posted on Satellite News is copyright © 2024 by Chris Cornell and Brian Henry, except where otherwise noted. This Date in MSTory is written and compiled by Steve Finley, Chris Cornell and Brian Henry. Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce This Date in MSTory items in any form without express written permission from the authors. Items of MST3K news may be duplicated or reposted, as long as Satellite News is cited as the source. The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of Satellite of Love, LLC. No warranty is expressed or implied that the information given herein is completely accurate, and in fact this information can and will change at any time. So there. Mystery Science Theater 3000, its characters and situations are copyrights and trademarks of Satellite of Love, LLC. Banner image created by Larry Lee Moniz. |
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I am an English professor, and MST3K has taught me that I don’t need to make a distinction between King Lear and It Conquered the World–both give me delight (or what the poet Shelley thought of as a difficult pleasure), albeit for different reasons. To put it another way, MST3K helped me get over being a snob.
(I am aware, just so you all know, that the idea of the show was to riff BAD movies, not great art; nevertheless, MST3K has helped me appreciate the art of BADNESS. I ENJOY bad movies [as I know most of us who love the show do], and enjoying BAD movies has sharpened my aesthetic sense, to the point that I am no longer sure how to tell the wretched from the great, and I think that’s a good thing.)
I learned that man is a feeling creature…and because of it, the greatest in the universe. I learned that men have to find their own own way, to make their own mistakes. There can`t be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves. And when men seek such perfection…they find only death…fire…loss…disillusionment…the end of everything that`s gone forward. Men have always sought an end to the toil and misery, but it can`t be given, it has to be achieved ! There IS HOPE….but it has to come from INSIDE !! …from man himself.
MST taught me that…
….and how to REALLY JUST RELAX.
Mst3k has taught me two things:
1. If you can make a movie, do it! No matter what! Someone somewhere will make it gold and worth watching over and over again.
2. You know you made the right friends when you start watching Mst3k on Sunday nights and almost four years later, you are still doing it. (Only 15 episodes left until we have watched the whole show except the KTMA episodes, oh my!)
I learned that I wasn’t the only Tom Waits fan I could think of; Kevin Murphy as Tom Servo could break into a Tom Waits song when I least expected it. He might even mention “Bone Machine” during “Final Sacrifice”. Actually, MST3K often helped relieve my feelings of isolation in this way. I’d recognize that I wasn’t the only one who shared some unconventional passion.
More music stuff: One-hit-wonders from the 70s are fun guilty pleasures, and I like discovering and rediscovering them on iTunes. I always end up buying one song or another every time I hear Joel blurt out, “Sessions presents!”
@PALADIN. You beat me to it!
From watching MST3K I learned that by this time my lungs were aching for air
I learned that if a singer is dangling from a lighthouse or balcony, you should at least make an effort to save him/her. ‘Cause if you don’t, some part of their anatomy will come to life and haunt you.
And if I’m ever head of a research foundation, I’ve learned not to judge a project to harshly or quickly. Reconvene the board, and give the experiment the fair hearing it deserves.
#56: Or were they aching for booze?
1. Know when to hold ’em.
2. Know when to fold ’em.
3. Know when to walk away.
4. Know when to run.
Wait a minute, that’s Kenny Rogers. Never mind.
I haven’t been watching MST3K very long, but so far I’ve learned how to make fun of dumb things. In real life and in movies. Actually a pretty useful skill! Also, that I have a huge crush on Joel. And educational shorts are freaking hilarious. And a number of things about American culture before I was born (I’m eighteen).
Most importantly, I have learned that “You can do stupid things, Trumpy!”
#19–hahahahaha!
Welcome Maggie, “one of us, one of us…”.
See the movie Freaks for the above reference.
MST3K taught me to Stop Worrying and Love the Bombs
Always have a wire rack..
Many things, but most importantly, for the sake of life throughout the universe: If you ever ask your Nanites to create a distraction for you, be veeerry specific.
Another lesson:
To head on down to L Marie Ford ’cause there is free balloons and popcorn for the kids.
RE Torgo’s Pajamas @ 19: And never pamper God’s lo-mein…
And from Soultaker: you can always have someone call you beautiful if you write the script…
MST has taught me where the fish lives.
In response to #60, welcome to our dysfunctional family, Maggie!
MST3K – or at least, Kevin Murphy – taught me that virulent racism is perfectly fine so long as it’s directed against the Japanese.
I learned that sarcasm (the weed of deceit) is funnier and more welcome when couched as a casual observation of a thing. I also learned that people who don’t recognize the joke in it will feel compelled to explain it to you as if you were serious.
Where’s Ro-Man when you need him?
Well, aside from knowing about plastics in sports equipment and fixing the gym, I can’t say that industrial arts have . . . . Wait a minute.
MST3K has taught me so many little things that I’ve learned from the riffs.
I’ve also learned that I can save plenty of money on blocking if I use the leg up position
Railing kills are the best kills.
It taught that Trumpy can in fact do stupid things.
I’ve learned several things from the show–Mills @50 is absolutely correct, so is GizmonicTemp @16, but two particular ones come to mind here: first, you can learn something even from dumb educational shorts. I’m in a training position now training sales agents, and on a recent spin through “Hired!” actually noticed the advice at the end was pretty good for managers. You’d think it would be obvious advice, but apparently not, since they had to make a whole short about how to train salesmen…
And second, keep watching the shows, because you’ll get new references every so often. Case in point: I saw “Final Sacrifice” with the MST3K Meetup in Portland last month, and during the scene in the underground temple/basement with the masks on the wall, someone says of a particularly fangy mask, “Red Grooms’ Dracula”. Completely went over my head the first half-dozen times seeing the film, but I’m a baseball fan, and nearly all baseball fans know who Red is now–he’s the modern artist who designed the truly strange home run sculpture in Miami at the new ballpark there. I suspect I’ll be getting references I didn’t get before well into old age, and am looking forward to it.
Joel taught me that using the phrase, “If you’re like me, and I know I am” as a preface to a statement actually works. I have used it to good effect. MST has also taught me that my wife and grown children remember more random riffs than I do.
Skid marks are to be forgotten.
#70: This is not Tumblr, sweetheart.
to use plenty of lip and tounge action
“Never change a tire with your face.”
You can’t be afraid of your own hair.
and you can’t get close to someone if there’s a ladder in the way.
Words to live by.
MST3K taught me the important lesson that no matter how stupid and terrible some of the films made today are…there are always worse.
Sure, ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen’ and ‘Terminator: Salvation’ are bad, but compared to the plodding of films like ‘Castle of Fu Manchu,’ ‘Manos: The Hands of Fate,’ or the terrible editing and salvaging of ‘Monster-a-Go-Go,’ I can put up moreso with humping dogs and Shia.
About a week after doing my taxes some years ago, I was watching a KTMA episode and Crow was talking to Joel about doing his taxes and they mentioned deducting moving expenses since Joel’s move to space was job related.
Ding.
Just months before, we moved for my job and I had no idea you could deduct expenses. I filed an update and got almost $300 more in my refund than before.
Thanks, MST3K!
Never scream “I’m Ted Nelson!” to a security guard. Some nurses can’t find properly fitting uniforms. Lights and lighting aren’t really necessary to make a film. And neither are actors. If you’re having a general over for dinner, you’d better have turkey legs and beer on hand. Never name your child “Burr.” And, of course, some people can abuse spirit gum and latex!
Oh, also learned our reality is governed by mysterious nigh-omnipotent beings who can manifest as bad animation, disembodied voices, people in cheap angel costumes, or women dressed as men to interfere with people’s lives, yet are inexplicably fixated to the point of obsession on random, trivial items such as the importance of springs, planning a budget, or learning to play the trumpet.
So John Keel was right…
@83: I’ll take Castle of Fu Manchu over Terminator:Salvation any day.
Mst taught me time is different for everyone.
Anyone seen my chicken puppet?
I KILLED THAT FAT BARKEEP!!!!!!
Oh, also I learned that angels work about as hard as road crews…
It taught me (over and over again) that a person far less talented than I can make a movie. Maybe I should make a movie.
I’ve learned not to wait for the Chicken of Tomorrow. It never comes.
Rowsdower?
Rowsie Rowsie Rowsdower?
I learned that the shelf-life of Coleman Francis’ limitless potential expired pretty quickly.
I learned that not only is Mr. B Natural disturbingly hot, but also endlessly annoying.
I learned that, as a defense against a Zombie Nightmare, Adam West is largely ineffective.
I learned that Max Kellar usually exits a bar through a window. I also learned which pets are best suited to detectives.
MST3K has taught me….
…that every year of my life, I grow more and more convinced that the wisest and best is to fix our attention on the good and the beautiful…
…if you just take the time to look at it.
I have learned a number of science lessons from MST3K:
a. The DNA molecule was introduced in the 1950’s in the short “Century 21 Calling”. I actually found this same time in my college Biology book!
b. The importance of springs.
c. Rocketships can’t really take a sharp left in space in “Phantom Planet”.
d.It may be possible to be shot into space, have only two robots for companions and watch HORRIBLE movies for a number of years and not go stark-raving mad.
To just STAY!!!