Cheese Lover

Tags

bad music, bad stories, cheesy, goofy, movies, music, narrative, so bad it's good

I’m going to state an opinion that many will probably find terrible but even more secretly have and won’t admit.

I love Crush 40.

I suppose being a child of the 80’s this shouldn’t come as a surprise–in an era where endlessly upbeat rock songs was a requirement of most soundtracks, this group’s music for the Sonic series of games struck a nerve.  They made what would likely be completely terrible games palatable for me…more or less.

Thing is, I love me a good, cheesy time.  It’s a hard balance to strike, but when it is struck, it makes me so incredibly happy.

It isn’t really only relegated to music, though a lot of my favorite bits of cheese are song-related.  Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is widely regarded as one of the best versions of the “MetroidVania” style of the series, and a lot of the game’s charm for me comes from some truly awful voice acting.

I know how chicken and pasta feel after having a gooey alfredo poured over them now.  And it’s all thanks to that talent.  There’s something delightful about stuff like that.

Movies are a medium where coating things in a heavy layer of gruyere is probably dangerous, but then there are movies or performances where the silly just enhances the whole experience.  The obvious examples that spring to mind are Raul Julia as M. Bison in the Street Fighter movie, and Jeremy Irons as Profion in Dungeons and Dragons.  Terrible as these movies ultimately are, you have to marvel at such magnificent levels of camembert.  It’s an art, being so obviously awful.  Like someone holding up their hair with obscene levels of hair spray.

Although Irons likely pounded entire barrels of scotch after every scene, while Julia probably giggled like a madman.

Another source of some wanted cheddar is some anime.  As I posted before, a lot of my favorite anime was of the madcap, less-than-serious kind.  Ultimately, it was their sense of fun that left me entertained.  I have recently discovered that once more in the anime Food Wars!, which revels in a bit too much fanservice but ultimately turns cooking dishes in to a crazy anime battle.  And man, I have to say, I adore nearly every second of it.

About the only time I don’t like brie melted all over my narrative is in MMO games and books.  It’s somehow less appealing when it’s in these sorts of mediums.  The story of Guild Wars 2 sets my eyes rolling at almost every turn, and not in the delighted way.  A fair bit of Final Fantasy XIV’s story enters this territory, though it also has a habit of shaping itself up and creating some compelling drama moments.  Books I have even less taste for the feta, and I think in both cases it’s for the same reason–the worlds in MMO’s and in books are places I want to really embroil myself in, and while being dipped in to a fondue pot is fine and comforting in other media, in these it just ends up scalding.

I suppose this is all a factor of my age.  I have lived enough life to appreciate how silliness is a virtue in the face of drama.  I have grown up turning crap situations in to jokes.  I have danced to some upbeat ska music when one of the apartments in the building I lived in caught fire.

There’s enough spans of misery and mediocrity in my life.  In many lives, I suspect.  We all should feel blanketed in a warm coating of mozzarella.  Chester said that it’s not easy being cheesy…but I find it’s worth the effort.  And sometimes, it’s definitely worth the exposure.