The animated series Fairfax, on Amazon Prime, caught my attention because Fairfax Boulevard is traditionally the eastern edge of West Hollywood. According to the trailer, it's about four 13-year olds, one of whom is so woke that she protests the milking of almonds. No doubt one of them is gay.
Scene 1: A futuristic totalitarian factory making t-shirts for the Latrine Company. The caped supervillain boss decides that the next Latrine t-shirt will feature Dr. Phil, the conservative talk show host, and suddenly everyone on Earth gets the ads on their screens. Did I accidentally click on the wrong series?
No, we switch to Benny (Peter S. Kim), a chubby boy with traditional Korean parents, seeing the ads, getting all excited, and calling his friends to a special meeting.
Meanwhile the woke Derica is protesting "milking almonds" at a supermarket. She gets the word and kayaks down the Los Angeles river to the meeting. (Ok, this is not my West Hollywood).
Teen dream Truman (Jaboukie Young-White) is photographing a middle-aged lady for her Tinder profile when he gets the word. She flirts with him, but he reminds her that he's only 13.
Scene 2: The line outside the Latrine Store extends for blocks, all the way to the Fairfax Sign (this is not our West Hollywood). A chubby man who got his t-shirt early taunts them. A pigeon is congratulated by his friend for getting his t-shirt.
Meanwhile timid Dale (Skyler Gisondo) is cowering in the back seat while his parents drive him onto Fairfax Avenue. They've moved to West Hollywood to take over his uncle's vape store. He worries that he won't fit in among the cool kids, but his parents point out that he is cool: he was president of the hiking club.
Scene 3: While his parents unpack, Dale wanders past the Latrine Store, and is amazed: it has a skating ramp, multicolored shoes, and fluorescent mannikins. The old guy from Scene 2 offers him $50 for his hat, and they go into the alley to make the deal. Is he actually suggesting sex?
Whew, he really just wants the hat. The other three kids come to the rescue by pointing out that those hats go for $200.
Scene 4: The others are shocked that Dale is not making an ironic statement: he actually is Middle American normalcore. They take him to Schwimmer's Deli (Canter's?), where everything is second-rate and over-priced, to explain the grooviness of Latrine: the more absurdly overpriced Latrine products you display, the more "likes" you get on social media, and you're on your way to becoming an Influencer, and then all your dreams come true:
Benny: Push Dad out of an airplane
Truman: Direct a movie starring two hot babes.
Derica: Save the ecosystem.
But how can they get one of the t-shirts? They're sold out! Dale comes to the rescue: he saw the manager of Latrine hiding a t-shirt in the back room.
Scene 5: They sneak into a facility where artists are painting a man green and sculpting fish, to meet with the Plug, aka Joaquin Phoenix, but actually voiced by Jeff Bottoms (in West Hollywood you run into celebrities all the time). He's busy lighting himself on fire, and doesn't have time to help them locate a t-shirt.
Scene 6: They kidnap the dog of Lucas, the store manager, to force him to hand over the spare t-shirt, but he recognizes them. They try to send a drone in, but it's detected and exploded.
Scene 7: Dale bursts into the vape shop, exuberant over his new friends:That night, Dale has a vision of Dr. Phil, the guy on the t-shirt, who advises him to "think outside the box."
More after the break
Scene 8: Dale calls his friends to the vape shop and points out a ventilation duct that goes directly into Latrine, next door. They could just climb through and steal the spare t-shirt. They hesitate -- if they're caught, they'll be banned from Latrine, a fate worse than death -- but he talks them into it.
After an exploding fart causes the ventilation duct to crash, they end up in a Latrine torture chamber, with flaming spikes, but Dale saves them. Next, an Indiana Jones-style treasure chamber with the t-shirt...but it turns out to be a hologram, and they're caught! Locked up in Latrine jail while security calls their parents. They all blame Dale, and break up with him.
Scene 9: Their punishments:
Derica is forced to go to church (Catholic mass, naturally; all church on tv is Catholic).
Truman's camera is confiscated.
Benny has to practice his cello.
Dale just has to promise to never trespass again. And by the way, Dad (Rob Delaney) went over to introduce himself to the Latrine guys, and they gave him a free Dr. Phil t-shirt!
Dale excitedly calls his friends for a meeting, but they've already apologized (with emojis) for acting like bitches. Anyway, it's been a day since the t-shirts dropped, so they're out of style, and worthless. The end.
Beefcake: Well, it's a cartoon. But there are some hunks in the cast, like Rob Delaney, who plays Dale's Dad.Gay Characters: I assume Derica is gay, as she seems to be wearing a Philadelphia Pride flag, Jabouki Young-White is queer in real life, but heterosexual here. No one expresses any same-sex interest.
Heterosexism: Truman dreams of making a movie with two babes, and he's had sex with a girl. Benny doesn't express any erotic or romantic interests
Dale goes to his new school and has one of those horribly cliched, slow-motion, jaw-dropping, Girl of His Dreams moment. Does that ever actually happen? Writers seem to think that it's universal human experience.
Poop and Farts: 2. One is a major plot point.
Incomprehensible Teen Slang: Lots
My Grade: B
See also: Skyler Gisondo's Cute/Cool Photos, Part 1: Birthday cats, biceps, infinity shirts, and Liberace
Real bros of Simi Valley: Scripted reality show with dudebros and Skyler Gisondo
They ruined it in Episode 2 with a cliche Girl of His Dreams moment
ReplyDeleteThis has me wanting to do a list of the worst heterosexist tropes. Is Girl of his Dreams worse than Manic Pixie Dream Girl? (That's the girl who just wants you to be happy, whether you want it or not.) Sex as Rite of Passage being the worst.
Delete