GUMMO

When I first received word from Ben that a review of Gummo would be my contribution to the 2008 White Elephant Blogathon, I groaned. Far, distant memories of watching Gummo back in high school came back to me, suddenly transporting me to a time when shock value was what made a movie worthy of watching. "Man, you gotta see this movie, it's so f**ked up!" I had only bits and pieces in my mind about what Gummo was from those days, nothing concrete, just enough to put that pit in my stomach and bring back a lingering taste of unpleasantness. Nonetheless, here I was, challenged to face this film once more. I suppose I am thankful to be forced to watch this, because frankly, it wasn't anything like I remembered. Well it was...just...differently?

Harmony Korine (whom I admit I had thought was Chloe Sevigny for the longest time) leaves us for dead in a hum-drum town, devastated in the aftermath of a tornado. The film is a collage of backwater characters who patrol this town, biding their time with little left to amuse. There are the two boys who hunt stray cats for money, which of course provides glue for huffing. The nigh-twin sisters with bleached, white hair and dirty, stankin' mouths. The "rabbit" who patrols the town as a silent figure somehow interjecting himself into this dark, dire life at every turn. There are a handful of other aliens who both appall and bewilder. I say aliens, not in the extraterrestrial sense, but rather a breed of society I have little or no connection with, i.e. the redneck. Everyone here is completely bored out of their mind, with no real escape or ambition to rise to, all of them just passing time, getting through life (err herm...Bellingham anyone?).

Initially, I felt Korine was exploiting this culture, using the shock of such a downtrodden crew to force our minds into submission, dismissing them as crude and unpleasant all along the way. When subjected to watching skinhead brothers punching each other in the head for sport, children flea-bitten and without any parents in sight, teenage kids flinging racist comments left and right, your bound to have a rather negative opinion of these folk. I felt dirty, myself used as a part of this circus with the role of the witless onlooker of a bloody car wreck. After all, who kills stray cats for money? Who wrestles helpless chairs into submission? Who shaves their eyebrows off laughing all the while? The mind boggles.

By the end of the film, after being numbed to the harsh "reality" that I was being exposed to, I realized the true horror of the film, the key element that was making my stomach churn. Despite the absolute far-fetchedness of everything I just watched, it just might be true. The line between reality and fantasy is so blurred throughout; some scenes obviously being acted, others, I'm not so sure, that I was suddenly nervous and scared for the human race. The film does a great job of toying with this idea of "reality" and "what we would expect to be reality" with Korine managing to blend documentary with horror film seamlessly.

I was surprised to find myself not necessarily enjoying Gummo, but certainly engaged by it. It's certainly unsettling to say the least. I don't know if I will ever look at a chocolate bar or spaghetti the same way again, but I'm glad that this was my assignment. I do know one thing - I will probably never, ever, ever go to Ohio.

Thanks Gummo for ruining Ohio for me.