Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K for short) is a television show that got its start back in 1988 and ran until 1999. The show is currently undergoing a revival on Netflix, which portrays itself as a continuation of the original show rather than a reboot.
The premise of the show is that in the not-too-distant future, an ordinary guy (the character’s name and actor varies over the years) is imprisoned in space by scientists who force him to watch cheesy, old movies while they monitor his mind. The hapless test subject keeps his sanity by mocking these movies together with his robot friends, in particular the gumball machine-shaped Tom Servo and the golden, slightly avian-looking Crow.
MST3K appeals to two great loves of mine: cheap, trashy genre fiction, and its analysis and mockery. On MST3K, audiences get to see old B-movies, while our trio make humorous comments about the film as they sit in the foreground.
It’s hard to explain why I find the types of movies they show on MST3K so appealing. I think part of it is due to my love of history. The better-known and better-received films of yesteryear often manage to transcend their own era and become timeless classics. These cheesy B-movies on the other hand, are thoroughly infected by the time and place they were made in. Examining a culture’s art can tell you a lot about that period. In this case, a corny sci-fi flick can shed light on the fashions and social norms of, say, 1950s America.
“To reveal art, and conceal the artist is art’s aim,” Oscar Wilde, Irish poet and playwright, said. The movies on MST3Kfail hideously at this, and fans love them for it.
My personal favourites in the lineup are the ‘80s fantasy movies. Imagine Conan the Barbarian (1982) with one-tenth the talent and budget, and you will have a pretty good idea: silly and revealing costumes, ‘80s hair, and unconvincing props and set dressing are abound.
The movies are not shown in full and are edited down for time and content, so unfortunately you will not get the full experience of the original films. However, I think the antics of MST3K’s characters, both inside and outside the theatre, more than make up for this. The movie showings are broken up with sections wherein the main character, the robots, and their tormentors interact with each other.
Sometimes these are a reflection of the movie they are watching in that episode, but often the humour in these segments skewers present-day society and pop culture, just as the movies shown do the same with that of the past. One example I found funny was a quip by Kinga (one of the scientist captors of the main characters) in the new series that “The only preferences of yours that I care about are the ones I sell to Google.” Metahumour and self-awareness are the aim here.
The show’s recent Netflix revival is a testament to its relevancy: laughing at cheesy movies is timeless. So, if you like bad, old movies and/or making fun of them, I highly recommend giving MST3K a try. The show has a unique charm to it that is more than the sum of its parts.
