Nick and Norah's Infinite Lameness

"Maybe we don't have to find it.
Maybe we are the pieces."
- Michael Cera [via Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist]

Everyone, I have a bone to pick. Tonight is a good night to tear apart mainstream culture and then turn around and say how much I love it in the end. Let me set up some context: I'm setting in my dorm room in a small-town private college wearing an overpriced American Apparel hoodie and listening to my Bon Iver radio station on Pandora. A strand of colored lights outlines one of my walls underneath a collage of over-saturated Holga camera photographs. On another wall hangs posters of several local concerts I've hit up this past year.

Several years ago, some up-and-coming filmmaker made a film about a pregnant teen and spent millions of dollars to make the production look like it only took a couple thousand to make. Trust me, artsy hand-drawn opening sequences are not cheap, but that's another story. This film also spearheaded the use of the popular hand-drawn font type. Of course, we're talking about Juno here - a culturally relevant film about growing up in white suburbia where most tweens/teens/young adults are 90% defined by what music/bands they listen to and their connections to their first sexual experiences. That other 10% of "who you are" is defined by your weekend escapades that would otherwise be utterly mundane if it wasn't for fateful encounters with destiny and/or the boy/girl of your dreams. In other words, the making of true "indie flicks."


"Hi. I'm Michael. I'm just a humble guy trying to be myself/define my personal brand/fall in love/make it in this crazy, suburban world I live in..."

The poster child of this philosophy is none other than everyone's favorite Michael Cera - a guy I believe to be a genuine guy in person. Let's take a look at his most memorable acting roles:

Arrested Development
Probably the first thing you remember seeing him in; the birth of the quirky, insecure archetype - the character who is too nice for his own good. He just wants to be understood and loved.

Superbad
Similar context as AD - but loads more edgy this time. Cera plays a high school senior who wants the push the limits of his sexuality and find himself in a meaningful relationship. Sounds pretty nice, doesn't it? And it's not half bad! Despite the film being completely insane and exaggerated, Cera and that one fat guy actually learn a valuable life lesson: It's not all about sex/parties/beer/etc. There's a life beyond high school. Overall, a decent feel-good family flick.

Juno
Ah yeah. Now we're talkin'. This time Cera finally did it - and now there's a bun in the oven. Surprisingly enough, Juno received a Heartland Truly Moving Picture Award. His character has an overprotective mom and he even runs cross-country - the least aggressive of all scholastic sports. He simply is a humble guy trying to learn from his mistakes. Growing up is hard, y'all. No one can relate to my quirky taste in music.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
It just keeps getting better. Michael Cera is living the indie dream - despite the fact that his lousy girlfriend left him. But still, he seems to have a lot going on for him. His band has dreams of "making it big" and he lives in New York - the concrete jungle where dreams are made of. Not only that, he majorly scores over the course of one night with a girl I find both attractive and seriously intimidating at the same time (a rare and scary combo). This could very well be the one Cera role I find myself most infatuated with - and driven to a near-blinding rage over. Here we see two teens find true love over the course of one fateful encounter. Let me just say that every Friday when I put my shoes on in the morning I remind myself that tonight's "playlist" could very well redefine my seemingly mundane young adult life. Gotta keep those fingers crossed.

This is admittedly the last indie flick I saw starring Michael Cera. I can still remember my initial reaction upon seeing the trailer for this gem of a movie:

"It has the word "playlist" in the title. I'm not sure how I feel about that. It's clearly appealing to the iPod/Mac/my-music-defines-who-I-really-am/indie generation. I bet "older people" don't understand what this movie could possibly be about because they've never seen that word before..."


Humbleness + attainability = true love = what everyone truly wants in life. Amen.

I'm reminded of a comment I read on the popular "alternative" blog Hipster Runoff regarding "Nick and Norah's Infinite Lameness":

"you know a scene is dead when hollywood goes and makes a movie about it"

Yeah, I think that happened here. Hollywood killed it for me. I watch this movie and can't feel more detached from reality - and I recently saw Avatar in freaking IMAX 3D - which speaks volumes. Nick and Norah here turn the mirror around and let me see that I, contrary to everything the film stands for, have a gaping hole that even the indiest of the indie experiences can't fill. My life isn't like that - and I'm pretty sure no one's is. Talk about frustrating. I mean, what can I possibly be living for now? I truly doubt one fateful, random night out on the town will redefine the essence of my young, pseudo-indie life.

I need to make a bold claim now - and I'll admit I'm getting a little "vullney" (means "vulnerable") here. Films like Nick and Norah and Juno are like porn. It's a teasing, self-indulgent experience - which admittedly is what most movie-watching experiences are, but roll with me here.

I can't help but hate Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist and all that Michael Cera's iconic character stands for. Relationships, no matter how awesome/serendipitous/perfect they seem do not cut it for me - at least not yet. I've tried and my only conclusion is that the hole in my being that's longing to be filled isn't shaped like a relationship - they're only puzzle pieces that kinda fit...but not really. There's still some gaps and the picture itself doesn't come together when you look at it from afar.

It's a simple reminder for me that man was made for more than this world has to offer - despite all those playlists we scroll through in our minds.

-B