eljefemartin

In times where everything looks like something else and every series conforms to formulas hatched out in writing seminars, Out There strikes me as one thing in particular: honest.

It's not pretentious about wanting to be hip or fitting in with the crowd. It can stand for its own. Starting with the visuals, which confuse the feeble minded (how can a dog or bunny-like character talk and walk like a human, right?!) and goes right down to the storyline and dialog.

It's not like I am waiting for the next pun. It's not Big Bang Theory, where you know what is coming next. The surprise is in not knowing what you are in for and despite having watched every episode, I feel there is much left to learn about Chad in particular and his way of looking at the world. I feel that this is a view that many have shared through their coming of age and most have lost later, in favor of something more fashionable or by mouthing after some trend. Chad is a character that gets me to think about myself. And that is a rare trend in cartoon or any kind of entertainment for me. I don't believe this show is intended for children at all, but they will see their own truths in it.

The laughs don't come off a tape in this series, but they sure come anyways. And I find myself sitting and waiting for more, because this show makes me think about what I've seen and doesn't abuse my emotions like so many other shows do. Writing always follows a formula, but in the case of Out There it is a heartfelt formula which translates to the open minded viewer. I hope there will be more of it.

There is something disturbing about "Loom" from its very onset. Everything in the environment seems created to facilitate human life and work. Yet, much like in Brazil, nothing really seems to work. Lights are blinding rather than enlightening, Chairs are empty and always in the way. Everything is cold and robotic, even when it's bathed in warm color. I read certain influence of Japanese or Korean Movies and Manga into Loom.

It seems like Loom displays a universe where people are always either crammed together (at work) or lonely (in their free time). Being human seem to be superfluous for anything except work. And work is all about making protein to feed the society.

The main character is a technician in the meat/protein growth industry. He controls the produce quality, growth rate and maturity. The breeding chambers, where animal proteins are matured regularly fail. It's a delicate process, which requires a certain growth hormone to work effectively. Apparently that is a very valuable substance and our protagonist made his own experiments with it; I won't disclose what he's doing with it. Find it out and see for yourself!

Here is a movie from someone who read P.K.Dick and some Yukito Kishiro. Perhaps also Kobe Abe and Zizek. The director understands that Sci-Fi can be social criticism and deeply philosophical when it's not trying to be Sci-fi. The reason to make something Sci-Fi is to question what you know and create something yet unseen.

This movie could be shot in a quarantine zone or within a hospital, but it gives away it's sci-fi nature in every beat of hopelessness, in each glimpse of the antihero protagonist's eye. It connects to me across a border of void it creates. It's not concrete, yet definitive. Mixed messages from every scene. And there is a message.

Like today you have to make yourself a purpose in life, in the future (quite literally). And just like today you must fear that people, who live only by greed and desire nothing but power, will take it away from you.

This is a movie that deserves to be written to an end, but it will be a very difficult task for any writer, I'm afraid. I can recommend it.