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Hazel (1853 KP) rated Dakota and the American Dream in Books
Apr 24, 2020
"Dakota was tired of playing catch with his mother at the park," so he rested on a bench but was soon distracted by a peculiar talking squirrel. Chasing after the strange creature, Dakota finds himself in a fantasy world full of anthropomorphic animals. Before he knows what is happening, Dakota finds himself working for Corporate America with its odd rules and unhappy employees.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
The fantasy world of Sameer Garach's Dakota and the American Dream is a satire of modern-day America. From a ten year old's perspective, the short story covers the corporate ladder, hierarchy, racism, discrimination, career success and an extreme love of coffee. Whilst all this is humorous to the adult mind, there is an alarming amount of truth that paints the "American Dream" as a corrupt society.
From the very start, Dakota's experience feels remarkably like Lewis Carroll's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and could almost be said to be a 21st-century version of the classic children's book. Most of Dakota's story will go over the heads of young readers, however, adults will enjoy the humour and childhood innocence as well as appreciate the connection with their favourite books as a child.
As a parody of both real life and fiction, Dakota and the American Dream is a clever story that entertains and makes you think. Although sometimes extreme, it is amusing to read about everyday life being acted out by squirrels, mice, rats, a cowardly lion, an 800-pound Gorilla and many more bizarre creatures. If the humour and satire was stripped away, we would be left with a child's confusion about the way America works with many things appearing stupid or unfair.
Ross (3284 KP) rated Downsizing (2017) in Movies
Oct 18, 2018
The idea behind this film (in order to save the world from mankind's expansion and overuse of resources, Norwegian scientists master the science of shrinking, and with humans being a fraction of their size the planet can start to recover) was excellent. However this did not translate into a good film. Matt Damon tries his best to portray the man looking for a new start post-downsizing, adding humour and charm, but is not enough to carry a script that just didn't know what it wanted to do.
While the film managed to show that some facets of humanity will still carry on post-shrinking (we need working class people to run the utopia so we have tiny shanty towns) and add an element of satire, it was not a cohesive film.
While the film managed to show that some facets of humanity will still carry on post-shrinking (we need working class people to run the utopia so we have tiny shanty towns) and add an element of satire, it was not a cohesive film.
Lenard (726 KP) rated The Dead Don't Die (2019) in Movies
Jul 4, 2019
There is a certain style to a Jim Jarmusch fictional film and it remains to this day. His newest film "The Dead Don't Die" with its own theme song by Sturgill Simpson is no exception. In and of itself, this seems a satire of recent films that exist to sell soundtracks and not movie tickets. The town of Centerville is experiencing an existential crisis. It seems that all the dead are becoming reanimated and slowly attacking the town. The three police officers are overmatched and all the living are running out of time. Imagine seeing your dead grandmother, would you be able to take her down if you were the only line of defense? In the end, The Dead Don't Die becomes an indictment of government inaction and human inefficiency.
Barry Newman (204 KP) rated Maps to the Stars (2015) in Movies
Feb 9, 2020
Another recent effort from David Cronenberg that isn’t a patch on his earlier work but is thankfully a slight improvement over the atrocious ‘Cosmopolis’. This one at least actually has some semblance of a plot but is still one hell of a struggle to get through. It attempts to be a satire of Hollywood and the horrible , shallow and disgusting people in the industry told through the means of a thoroughly twisted family dynamic . The characters are all completely unlikeable and I know that’s kind of the point but the film just irritated me and frequently bordered on pretentious . I didn’t care about anyone and frankly couldn’t wait for the film to end. I really hope Cronenberg goes back to horror and sci-fi and doesn’t make anymore films like this.
The Sarcasm Handbook
Lawrence Dorfman and James Michael Naccarato
Book
From the author of the bestselling Snark series comes the premiere guide to satire, sneering,...
PB
Pieter Bruegel the Elder: Drawings and Prints
Eva Michel and Klaus Albrecht Schroder
Book
Pieter Bruegel the Elder (c. 1525-1569) was the greatest Dutch draftsman of the sixteenth century,...
A Dog's Heart
Mikhail Afanasevich Bulgakov and Antonina W. Bouis
10.0
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Book
When a stray dog dying on the streets of Moscow is taken in by a wealthy professor, he is subjected...
Kaleidoscope
Book
In this collection of short stories John Kennedy entertains the reader on many fronts in the...