When Mooninites attack

The debacle in Boston on Wednesday, in which viral market LED displays mounted in public spaces around the city caused mass mayhem and national headlines, appears to be a zeitgeist moment. If you step away from whatever your particular first response to all this nonsense may have been -- whether horror at a stupid stunt or hilarity at Mooninites bringing a major city to a standstill -- you’ll see some interesting themes here.

Credit is due to the police and emergency responders who did the best job they could, and a few appropriate tsk-tsks should be aimed at the company who thought up the idea that – looking back – probably wasn’t so bright in the first place. But clearly, considering that nine other cities had been ‘victimized’ by these things for weeks without incident, this story should have died somewhere between being of regional interest and when it went national. Cult show or no, you have to think someone in authority would have caught what was up much earlier. These are honest mistakes though, and should be set aside with a brief set of mutual chuckles as we get on with our lives.

But what pitches this story into real hilarity is the official response. The way local politicians tripped over themselves in hyperbole and half-cocked, ignorant statements was astounding. I don’t blame the two guys they arrested over this for making a joke of their court proceedings Thursday: the whole thing is, in fact, a joke, unless you are serious about pissing on the Constitution – in which case we are having a different conversation. But that’s to be expected from politicians – cheap pandering is as natural to those that reach a certain level as breathing is to the rest of us.

What bugs the heck out of me is the media response. We know what cheap nonsense to expect from the Herald, and have gotten it, but the Globe has really crapped itself. We have been treated to one columnist speculating that people in those other nine other cities perhaps aren’t as observant as Bostonians. We’ve had one decide to abandon sympathy for the two patsies after their court appearance when they weren’t dutifully solemn and repentant in front of the cameras. A hasty editorial sternly warned us that in this uniquely dangerous post-Sept. 11 world, civic vigilance and discipline must shove aside our Constitutional rights, freedom to live in an open consumer society, and sense of humor. Really, with thinking like this, no wonder the media let itself get tricked into invading Iraq.

Now as someone whose livelihood, principles, and happiness depend heavily on a strong and vibrant First Amendment, I take even slight threats to it very seriously. And much of the talk about this event comes too close to the issue. Dan Kennedy made brief mention of Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr.’s wise adage that the Constitution does not give you the right to shout “Fire!” in a crowded theater. I respond that the Constitution does indeed protect you if you whisper loudly to your date “Parsnips!” and a few people hear “Fire!” and cause widespread panic.

But what struck me most is the enormous generational sense of humor gap. Consider the image on the left… it was splashed on the front page of the Globe Thursday, and I am astonished that a very large portion of the population – including apparently every journalist in the Boston area – doesn’t think this is the funniest news photo in recent memory. It is not about laughing at the policeman, who is doing his job and doing it well. I’m a fan of “Aqua Teen Hunger Force,” I know a bit about the Mooninites and what is funny about them. Punk pranks that would tie up major cities for hours is exactly the kind of thing Ignignokt and Err would do. And to see these two-dimensional pixel creatures causing such a stir in real life is almost too much.

I should perhaps be more charitable toward people who are in on the joke. I first realized I was on the wrong side of the generational humor gap a few years ago when Napoleon Dynamite. It seemed every high school and college kid thought it was hilarious, but while I could see how it could be funny, I actually found it quite stupid.

Of course, I strongly suspect much of the response is more about anger at viral marketing than anything else. And perhaps it is a bit underhanded and unfair, but its fair game if you ask me. And people that complain about it strike me as the same sort that complain they can’t get fresh milk delivered right to the doorstep, and about those damn kids and their troublemaking cartoons.

For this round at least, I can’t wait until the "Aqua Teen" movie comes out.