Galaxy Quest (1999) (✚)
This is one of those moments that all great comedies have where it stops being funny for just a while and you have to take it absolutely, deadly seriously.
This is the kind of thing that elevates something silly into a work of fucking art.
It's the kind of thing that takes a comedy, or zany adventure romp -- and turns it, for just a moment, into something that takes your heartstrings and says "listen fucker, this bit is important, pay attention!"
because this is a movie about fan culture. poking fun at the bits of the show that make no sense. how some fans make a single piece of media their entire personalty and/or life. how uncomfortable it can be as an actor to have to interact with people that can't see you as you, but only as the character you played. how becoming known as "the actor that plays these specific roles and nothing else" can ruin a career.
but this moment? this moment right here?
this is two things at once
it's some kid in a childrens hospital dying of something incurable who gets to meet luke skywalker, or spiderman, or buzz lightyear, and for a moment gets to live in a world where they're not dying, they're the super important to the story, they're part of the main cast. they matter. it's a teenager who hears or sees something and decides not to take their own life. it's a LGBTQ person getting to live in a world where they're accepted and loved for who they are, and not what someone else wants them to be.
and it's also some actor realizing how much some stupid role they hated because it meant four hours in a makeup chair for two hours of shooting and five hours of standing around meant to someone. how much something they dismissed as some stupid scifi show or kids movie or whatever mattered. because they gave some kid in a poor house hope that they could be the hero some day and not just a morality tale. that the characters they play aren't just a performance in front of a camera, that to some people they are care givers, therapists, or just an imaginary shoulder to cry on -- and how much that fucking matters.
and moments like this are what take movies, or tv shows, or books that could have just been all jokes and silly moments, and instead of just being content with making you laugh they wanted to get a point across
in galaxy quest that point is "yeah, the people who take shows like this super seriously might seem weird to you, a strange collection of people who can't tell a story from reality -- but they know, they've always known, and fuck you for laughing at them. you don't know what their lives are like, what they've lived through. you haven't had a piece of media be the only bright and shining light in a life of pain and misery. these things matter, and this moment is our tribute to every single person who left this life with a smile on their face because an actor from their favorite piece of media took the time to try and bring some joy or meaning into their life"
so yeah, fuck anyone who says the show you love, the movie you've spent years debating about with friends, the book series you've been reading since you were a kid, or the video game that made you cry is "just" a piece of media. that it's "just" a story. that it's not real, or that it's fake, or whatever curmudgeonly comments they spew to try and tear you down. because they see you, full of joy and happiness and laughter because of the thing you love, and look at the hollow pit that is their soul, and rather than going off to find something they can love as much as you love your thing -- they try to tear down the thing you love.
it's okay to love stories. it's better than okay. stories are how we tell ourselves who we are. they're how we learn to be human. by seeing the world through someone else's eyes and rather than recoiling because it's different, we embrace it and learn something about the world, about the people around us, or ourselves. stories are important. they're what make us human. don't let anyone tell you otherwise.
