"Elf Doesn't Care About Your Politics" - The ZeroIndent Review (Elf 2003)

It's that special  time of year: time to dive into the salvetic world of Elf and explore all of the strange quirks of being a film made in 2003 pretending that 2001 didn't happen.

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The Show

(Dare)Devil In The Details is a show that explores and dotes on the philosophy and themes of Netflix’s DareDevil, a digression collection brought to you by A Method to The Madness and ZeroIndent.

Daredevil is a story about morality, justice and the concept of self. In immersing ourselves in the attitude and philosophy of Hell’s Kitchen we hope to draw in sharp focus what makes the story so exacting and compelling. Not just to praise the craft of storytelling, but to unpack our own feelings and thoughts about the ideas it raises: faith in a modern world, what we do with the legacy of our inheritance, and, of course, who we are. What does a name mean, claimed and given, and how do they shape us?

This is a careful story and so we will tread carefully. This may mean taking breaks to give ourselves time to process. This may mean taking breaks to deal with life. In the spirit of the show’s ideas, we aim to be considerate and present in our production and discussion. We will speak freely on and off the microphone. As we do the work, it makes us. And as we complete the work, it completes us, so we will not be afraid to unpack challenging concepts. Ultimately, we will enjoy the process to the best of our ability and allow the show to adapt when this may not be possible.

All rights reserved ZeroIndent 2024
© D.C. McNeill

Cover art inspired by A More Civilized Age: https://amorecivilizedage.net/

Disclaimer

I believe all copyrighted content used falls under Fair use as it is used for the purposes of commentary and criticism, and does not represent a market substitute for any of the original works as no original audio is used, and all footage is used with transformative commentary.

Timestamps

00:00 - It begins!
03:26 - The history of Elf (2003)
13:57 - Summary
16:59 - World building and set up
24:29 - That shower scene sure is... huh?
33:00 - Buddy leaves the North Pole
41:42 - Buddy's father issues and capitalism
49:23 - The calculus of Buddy's "Niceness"
59:59 - The world's worst house guest continues
1:13:52 - So let's talk about 2001
1:25:26 - The date of a lifetime
1:39:00 - Content warning: discussions of self-harm and suicide
1:46:00 - Elf's many references
1:52:00 - The ending and final assessment
2:09:15 - Heart warming final moments and resonance
2:29:10 - Support indie media crit at patreon.com/zeroindent