The great cornholios

Beavis and Butt-head are back!
By Angela Espinoza, Arts Editor

’ gs the most technologically-
advanced generation, we
as humans have become,

for lack of a harsher word, shallow.
With more recent and soon-to-be
parents noticeably half-assing their
responsibilities, and kids everywhere,
as a result, dreaming of being the next
brat to have 15 seconds of fame, we
desperately need a slap in the face.
Ladies and gentlemen, after nearly

15 years of silence, allow me to
reintroduce to you, Beavis and Butt-
head. :

There’s a good chance many of
you are wondering just what the hell
any of this has to do with two animated,
incessantly chucking morons from the
90s. Beavis and Butt-head, as some
should recall, often consisted of the
titular characters watching TV, doing
something idiotic, and/or placing
various characters on the verge of a
mental breakdown. They are in equal
~ amounts stupid and unstoppable,
and never has their critiquing of the
world been needed more—yes, I said
critiquing.

Creator Mike Judge (King of the
Hill (1997-2010), Office Space (1999))
understands people; Judge, who also
voices the duo, knows what makes
people tick. Part of what made Beavis
and Butt-head (and on that note, King
of the Hill) so much fun was watching
just how angry and miserable people
could get by trying to deal with, in one
form or another, idiots. Judge would
create caricatures of the general types
of people we often deal with every

day; many of them awful in their own
ways. But, as they are probably more
commonly known for, Beavis and Butt-
head would also provide critiques of
music videos.

In the new Beavis and Butt-head
revival, with MTV now airing barely
(if any) music videos on a regular basis,
their TV time now includes MTV’s
many horrible reality shows. Beavis
and Butt-head’s simple-minded way
of analyzing music videos— often
by focusing solely on the artist, the
song, or the video itself — allowed for
a clever look into music at the time.
What made the criticisms truly unique
though was that Judge improvised all of
them, simply reacting (in character) to
what he saw. With this treatment now
applying to shows such as Jersey Shore,
to say the absolute least, I’m a little
excited. =

The amount of garbage that’s
available to teens on television now is
disgusting. Decent and, by any means,
intelligent shows aimed for today’s
young adults are few and far between...
in fact, off the top of my head, I can’t
think of any. If it’s not grossly cheap
primetime Disney schlock teaching
them how to be horribly shallow
(I’ve seen enough to only wish I was
exaggerating), it’s reality shows about
awful people we’ ve all suddenly come
to worship—either for exposing their
stupidity, or for convincing us to
embrace it.

Beavis and Butt-head returned to
the air last Thursday, and thankfully, the
only thing that’s changed about them is
the year.

 

 

 

 

Bind

The Night Circus

Erin Morgenstern’s debut novel may need
to jump through some hoops

ea
Livia’s Bet ag

Zi oo =
<i NIGHT
ee

By Livia Turnbull

LYADYAL ALY AL
a, : a cetti  i

While The Night Circus is very
detailed in its descriptions of the
circus itself and the wonders inside
the various tents, these descriptions
sometimes get overshadowed by all of
characters. There are tons of characters
in this story, and towards the end of
the book it felt as though some of them
blurred together. Morgenstern tries to

ver since the Harry Potter series
He there has been a severe

lack of magic in books. It’s as
if authors are afraid to venture into

“There are tons of characters in this story, and towards the
end of the book it felt as though some of them blurred together.
Morgenstern tries to give each and every character their own
spotlight, but this makes the story drag on and on.”

this genre solely based on the fact that
they probably won’t be able to top
the HP series. But Erin Morgenstern,
author of The Night Circus, isn’t
intimidated by the impact J.K. Rowling ©
has made on the world of fantasy
fiction. Morgenstern simply goes ahead
and creates her own world—or more
accurately, her own circus.

Set in the 1800s, two teenagers
have been trained to kill each other
in a competition. One of them, a girl
named Celia, is an illusionist; the
other, a boy named Marco, can charm
objects and create runes. However, this
is not your ordinary fight to the death:
Celia and Marco must compete against
each other in a circus. The circus,
called “Le Cirque des Réves’ —or
‘The Circus of Dreams’ —is only open
to the public at night, to add to it’s
dream-like feel. Although the two of
them are committed to their line of
work, Celia and Marco must come to
terms with their feelings for each other,
and somehow find a way to end the
competition before it’s too late.

give each and every character their
own spotlight, but this makes the story
drag on and on.

The time changes don’t help
either; one minute it’s the year 1895,
the next minute it’s 1902. To add to the
time changes, there are a few ‘scenes
where Morgenstern writes in second
person, to make it seem as though you
are wandering through her whimsical
circus. While those scenes did help
to bring the circus to life, it made it
apparent that the book was in need
of padding. It takes pages to get to
anything resembling the main conflict
between the two characters, and when
the conflict finally does decide to
happen, your attention has become
focused elsewhere.

This might be a good book
for people who do not mind slow,
descriptive reads, but for those of you
who prefer fast-paced action, you
might want to look elsewhere. Still,
with a movie adaptation of The Night
Circus in development, I’m curious as
to see how the director will choose to
portray the book.