SOAP

Part of me can't believing I'm posting this. The rest of me isn't surprised at all.
My friend Rachel and I went to see the much-anticipated Snakes on a Plane last night. I don't have a particular affinity toward snakes, planes, Samuel L. Jackson, Julianna Marguiles, etc. In talking Rachel into seeing this movie, I finally became exasperated at making my case and just said, "We just have to see this movie."
If you haven't or are thinking about it, I will leave that decision up to you. Much in the same way this post is not about the movie, the need to see it last night was not about the movie.
Exiting the theater in extreme states of incredulity, Rachel and I both agreed, SOAP is an incredibly important movie. Incredibly.This movie, on its merits, hadn't a shot in the world, but then came Web 2.0. The blogosphere erupted, T-shirts were printed, news outlets had no choice but to engage.
I'm not immune to the ironies at work here. A movie that would otherwise have been heavily neglected was brought to the global conscious while policital issues and global crises fail to garner the attention due to them. Still, it is a first major flexing of a muscle that, 5 years ago, was barely forming.
Change consistently happens in unexpected ways. The key to the success here had to be its lack of contrivance. If it had been a promotion originating from big business, I argue Snakes on a Plane would have crashed. Natives no contrivance, it lacks luster. In the same way my educational practices must be authentic, SOAP had to be an authentic phenomenon.
Either way, it is an important movie, perhaps one of the most important we've seen in a while, but that importance has nothing to do with the movie. What will be next?
More later.