Friday, April 24, 2009

COMIC BOOK PAJAMA PARTY (2004)

SUPERPOWER GAINED FROM WATCHING MOVIE: The Ability To Finally Approach That Cute Nerd Girl At Meltdown Comics

THE CARD:

Sexy Geeks in the City.

THE ANGLE:

This documentary film studies a varied group of women who get together in a comic book store, talk about their favorite superheroes and comic titles, and congregate later for an evening of brownies, Twister, and geeky talk while their male mouth-breathing cohorts gasp in wonder at their very presence.

Nerds.

THE FINISHER:

As more superhero and comic book-based movies dominate the world’s multiplexes, TV screens and cultural discourse, the cliché of the comic book nerd as a hump-backed, greasy-haired, socially inept male denizen of a suburban basement rapidly becomes a sorely tired stereotype of the past. In this new age of acceptance, we now have hump-backed, greasy-haired, socially inept female denizens of suburban basements. Naw, just joshing. They live on the ground floor. No, really – contrary to the belief of certain Tremendo fans out there (you know who you are) – more women than ever are into comic books, to say nothing of science fiction, horror, animation, and other geeky pursuits. Maybe they’ve always been there and are now just bursting through the acid-free Mylar closet, proudly proclaiming their nerdity and showing off their geek pallor. Well regardless, I’m glad to see them and welcome them with open arms, especially at conventions decked out in Wonder Woman or Vampirella costumes. Ah, my pig-itude is showing. Comic Book Pajama Party is not fetish porn or a San Francisco bookstore theme. It’s a simple look into the lives and interactions of several women who happen to enjoy comic books. The women range in backgrounds, sizes, and tastes but all fundamentally appreciate the comic book medium and as demonstrated by their enthusiasm, love it. In their geeky sleepover, they cover topics from the fixation of the female form in horror and superhero books to the best Sailor Moon character to the impact of comics in their own lives and loves. The conversations are by no means groundbreaking or intrinsically revealing, but they do demonstrate how geek knows no gender boundaries. Hell, even the blatantly sexist crap has a few female fans. The doc was shot on a very low budget and the main problems with the film have to do with its very amateurish feel and poor sound editing. But it’s been five years since the release of Comic Book Pajama Party and the number of women and girls into comics and all manner of geekery has expanded exponentially. Don’t believe me? Just visit our expert friends at PinkRayGun.com. This one-stop shop for comic book, movie, TV reviews, interviews, opinion, features, and online comics is created, written, and operated by some of the most talented geeky ladies on the web today. (An d a few token dudes for geeky measure). It really is a cool site and is Tremendo-Approved.

To my pals at PinkRayGun, consider yourself plugged.

3 comments:

GoddessofGore said...

There's a movie about my kind? This I've GOT to see.

Anonymous said...

Hi,

As one of the people who worked on Comic Book Pajama Party, I've got to tell you, you hit the nail on the head.

What we wanted was a bit out of grasp of our budget at the time and it was one of our 1st projects.

But it got the idea across in tone, and setting so we were happy with it.

thanks for noticing us, and being kind about our work.

Forever Wednesday said...

Well, there's a new Pajama party now

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHogQ4tixrE

Hope you like it.