FEELS GOOD MAN (B) - This is an entertaining but disturbing documentary about the internet meme surrounding Pepe the Frog, a dopey little comic-book character that got co-opted by white supremacists. Thankfully, it revolves around Mark Furie, the character's creator, who deals with the ups and downs of this internet tussle with deadpan bonhomie.
The problem is giving any oxygen, let alone this month, to horrible racists, whether they recklessly endanger others overtly or whether, like some here, they just troll away in a basement thinking it's all a little game. One observer boils down our current predicament with troll culture this way: "What they want is for you to be scared by the threat and be mocked for being scared in the first place. The point is to cause that kind of psychic anguish, and they draw a great deal of pleasure from that."
Exactly. So why even give them the pleasure of trafficking their theories -- whether mocked or not -- in this documentary? That's a good question I pose. Well, there is the idea that exposing such things attacks it with the sunlight that serves as a disinfectant in a democracy. Plus, here, the filmmaker, newcomer Arthur Jones, devoted several years to this subject, and he has a winning rapport with Furie, who is quite the sympathetic indie artist. And there is a story arc here that might warm your heart, if you are a fan of underdogs who persist in the name of what's right.
Then again, you might be overwhelmed with such hate that you'll turn this off after 30 minutes. Let's try to stay hopeful.
CLASS ACTION PARK (B+) - This HBO documentary revels -- perhaps a bit too much for modern sensitivities -- in the sheer recklessness of the under-supervised water park that opened in Vernon, N.J., in 1978, and is fondly remembered for its disregard for the safety of the hordes -- mostly teenagers -- who went wild there every summer throughout the '80s.
Directors Seth Porges and Chris Charles Scott III commit to the spirit of some mythical lost age of innocence, where grifters got away with shady business practices as long as pre-internet youngsters with mops of hair got to party unsupervised. So what if a few people got maimed, paralyzed or killed? You've got to break a few eggs, as we used to say. The owner of the place, Eugene Mulvihill, is treated as an exotic, mysterious grifter with zero morals.
That said, this might be the epitome of a guilty pleasure. So many veterans of Action Park, hitting middle age now, revel in their memories, and it's easy to get swept up in their reveries. Comedian Chris Gethard ("Don't Think Twice") is the star here, unrelenting in his appreciation for having survived his experiences. Other former park workers -- it was mostly teens working there, supervising mostly teenage customers -- reveal the naughty goings-on that were permitted. Others analyze the crazy water-park rides (such as a crude loop-de-loop) that were mostly jerry-rigged and certainly not blessed by any lawyers in advance.
It's not until the second half that we hear from a family -- and only one -- that lost a young loved one to the horrific lack of safety measures. Maybe it's the passing of the decades ("tragedy plus time"), but it feels like the filmmakers pay just enough respect to the victims to justify such a ribald, tightly constructed documentary treatment of a lost era.
BONUS TRACK
From "Feels Good Man," a track from Daniel Johnston, "Some Things Last a Long Time":
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