Beavis And Butt-Head Do The Universe

I'm probably going to talk a little bit about this in-depth. And I'm a little afraid to, because I have always perceived this specific franchise differently than everybody else. This specific movie tells me my interpretation was right however, and everyone else has been off the entire time.

For some reason I can't quantify, much of the run of Beavis and Butt-Head moved me. I know, it sounds stupid, but I got this subtext in the background of the series that nobody else ever noticed, and or even praised it for, and while a lot of people liked the series, I think I'm the only person who likes it for the reasons I do. It emotionally resonated with me and my youthful alienation as Aspie, way back before people on the spectrum were ever diagnosed as such.

I think David Letterman and Cher are the two most notable Beavis and Butt-Head fans. Cher's take is interesting if you believe her perspective, but it's also wrong. Cher has a crush on Butt-Head and think Beavis is super annoying. They've poked fun at that on the series itself.

David Letterman's take is the far more accepted version among the fanbase. I think for most people Letterman summed up the dynamic between the two characters perfectly. I don't have the exact quote handy, but it was memorable enough that if I write down what I THINK it was, I won't be shocked if that's what it actually was. Letterman's idea is that the two are monumentally stupid, but Butt-Head occasionally shows a lick of common sense, but Beavis is just plain nuts. It's an appealing interpretation because the evidence for it is plentiful. But I still don't agree with it.

I think Beavis is by far smarter than Butt-Head. In emotional intelligence, if nothing else. And I find that utterly tragic. I have spent more than one Beavis And Butt-Head episode near tears for the fact that Beavis is in an untenable situation and anchored to a zero like Butt-Head.

Butt-Head is a sociopath, no question. He never questions what he is doing. That lick of common sense Letterman attributes to him? It's more the self-preservation of a narcissist, not an actual intelligence or strength. Beavis on the other hand makes me sad because I think he is JUST smart enough to know he is utterly broken, fixing himself was always a longshot, and while Butt-Head is in the picture it's impossible. Beavis' notions in this movie about love and caring about a woman are not especially insightful as far as a teenage boy goes. But it's a revelation to him, and he is devastated that he not only doesn't have the verbal skills to properly express it, but Butt-Head shuts down the only part of himself he likes when he tries to. And they leaned heavily into that in this movie, because it IS a movie, and as fun as Beavis And Butt-Head Do America was, it's not in the South Park movie's league because nothing dramatic or tearjerking happens, and nothing really matters. And if you want to make Beavis and Butt-Head resonate, you lean into the very things I loved about it back in the day, that were admittedly rare, and roundly ignored by every other fan.

I think the big question is can Beavis and Butt-Head's leering and creepiness play in 2022 after MeToo? I still think the idea of a live-action Beavis and Butt-Head would be a comedy Black Hole (or Butt Hole if you would, heh heh, I said "would"). But the cartoons themselves are inoffensive in that respect. And I haven't watched the reruns in awhile, but I suspect this goes for them too. It's partly for the reason that Daria was added to the show. No matter what creepy or appalling things Beavis and Butt-Head say to a woman, they are never, EVER a physical threat to the woman, and while the woman invariably feels disgusted, she never feel remotely in ANY sort of physical danger. And if you look back over the series, that's the way Judge treated ALL the women who went up against them. In reality, I think there is a feminist subtext involved in the fact that no women ever fears these leering creeping boys and always know they can run rings around them, even knowing there's two of them.

It's interesting the movie addressed current political concerns about white privilege. I think the message of the original series was pretty conservative. Beavis and Butt-Head got away with what they did due to permissive adults giving them the benefit of the doubt they didn't deserve because of some misguided liberal guilt and philosophy. And no lie, there IS still some of that. But those clueless permissive liberals are actually permitted some interesting moments here, and aren't the automatic punchlines Van Dreissen and Anderson were. I love the black woman attempting to explain white privilege, and the bearded white guy with the manbun steps in and steals her entire thunder, which is both completely inappropriate, and 100% accurate for how white male allies tend to behave in that exact situation. King of the Hill wouldn't be smart enough to do that joke. The black woman would need to be put in her place as well. The show is still taking shots at liberals. But the shots seem knowledgeable and fair for once. Mike Judge obviously cares enough about this crap to think it through in 2022.

Also take note, that unlike Van Dreissen, who is a cretin of the highest order, I don't think either the Black Judge's OR the prison warden's ideas about hope and fairness were actually wrong. They were just given to the wrong people. I still like the Judge and Warden, while I hated every inch of Van Dreissen's Lesbian Seagull nonsense.

If this movie is the jump-off for a sequel series, does that mean all of the old characters will have aged 24 years in the meantime? I honestly hope not, and that this movie is considered a one-off. They would do better to just pick up from the last 2010 relaunch right where they left off.

It's fun and stupid that the happy ending is that a version of Beavis somewhere in the Multiverse was finally able to score. It's a moral victory, and Smart Butt-Head trying to share it by bragging about watching it in a suitcase shows that Butt-Head IS the inferior one of the duo and has been all along.

Do you know what I loved about Serena's story? The double-entendres from that mission replayed in her mind 25 years later and landed entirely differently upon a second look. The show NEVER does that. And I love that they did for the first time ever.

I always sympathize with the horror Beavis faces in being an utterly broken person, but just well enough to know he's broken, and there's nothing he can do about it. And I love that my silent interpretation, one that I've never shared with ANYONE before this review, (because it sounds kind of nuts) was actually validated here. I appreciated that very much. I loved the movie. Very much so. *****.