Save the Monkey Project

‘Allo everyone, and welcome to an off-date posting of Normality Restored. Normally, we would be putting this up on Friday, but holidays sometimes screw things up. Kilian will be back later, but for now he has to finish wearing down his nose on the Thesis grind stone.

However(!), there was a comic made, in fact I actually finished before I left for my own holiday journey on Wed. But like I said, despite the best preparations these things can still get lost in the shuffle. It’s no big deal, because lookie, it will be likely that you get 2(!) comics this week, barring that we get lazy after this post.

As for the comic itself, I must admit that this was entirely spurned by my own selfish motivations, and done without the aesthetic help/direction or word-smithing-genius of or own beloved Kilian. I have since received his blessing for this strip even though it is skewing a bit from the norm… or maybe not… I’m not sure that we have a norm yet… do we?

Anywho, as is stated in the comic the Journey to West/Monkey King/Monkey (depending on your translation or even adaptation) is a story very near and dear to my heart for a lot of reasons. It was a favorite story of my youth, has been tackled with great success for new interpretation by notable creators such as Terada and the Gorillaz, and is set to be the loose/not so loose basis and framework for my next print comic. At home, we often call Salem “Monkey” and he is in large part the inspiration for my take on this pivotal and most beloved character. As such, I was overwhelmingly dismayed by the recent bits of news that I found while scouring the web for my research to find that Will Smith is indeed trying to weasel his way into the new live-action movie version. Now before I go into why this is not a good idea, let me first say that I:

1) do not in any way think that I have a monopoly on this story or any new adaptation/interpretation attempts

2) am completely and utterly supportive of the fact that it seems that Stephen Chow is heading the film. I honestly cannot think of a better actor/director of Hong Kong cinema to marshal the task. I think Stephen Chow is perfect for it.

The problem I do have, is that Will Smith is trying to get in as a costar for this film. Now, why don’t I think that this is a good idea? I mean weren’t Shanghai Knights/Noon and Rush Hour (& 2 & 3) awesome films that successfully brought Western actors into Hong Kong action films with notable Hong Kong action/martial arts stars? Ooops, bad examples.. um, wait, let’s try again. Weren’t I, Robot and I Am Legend the best possible adaptations of modern literary classics? Shit… not a good point, um, how about… drat, I can’t honestly think of anything that Will Smith has been in, or involved in that I enjoyed, or thought had artistic measure. And no, the fact that we laugh continuously through Bad Boys, does not mean it’s a good film… it’s funny in all the ways that it never meant to be. Much like Showgirls.

I think that Will Smith is the last possible human being who should be allowed near any classic piece of literature turned film… he’s fucked up royally twice now (for those who thought I Am Legend was good, get a copy of the book and read it). Frankly, he must be stopped. And thusly, and without any real idea of exactly what it will mean, I present to all Normalinauts everywhere the:

The Save The Monkey Project

I’m not sure exactly what this will become, in the end it might merely end up as a way to get me off my arse and to finish my new book (which will be starting this month). Perhaps, it will involve online sig-bannes, icons, and maybe even a regularly updated pages from my book in a new gallery or section… I don’t know but I’m Super Open to Suggestions O_O!!!

I love you all (Stop the Evil! Save the Monkey!),

–Aleister

El-P – I’ll Sleep When You’re Dead