It is only supposed to be a cheap punning gag, but it could be the starting point for a serious discussion: I am talking about one of the publicity taglines for the film Clerks II…

With no power comes no responsibility

I think you can make that mean all sorts of things which Kevin Smith never intended. Just like the old saying goes that if you have great power you have a great responsibility to use it wisely, is it the case that when you remove the last bit of power from someone they will feel no responsibility at all?

All the greatest civil disturbances happened when a large group of society felt that they had no control over their own situation; no power at all, and therefore felt no need at all to act responsibly or even to worry about repercussions. When you gradually erode citizens’ power do you simultaneously encourage them to be correspondingly less responsible?

I dunno. Bloody good film though. Lets not let sociological musings get in the way of enjoyment of Kevin Smith’s latest potty-mouthed parade of knob-gags! Maybe not everybody’s cup of tea, but for anyone who has followed Kevin Smith’s films its more of the same and picks up nicely on some of the jokes from the original Clerks. Guest appearances from Ben Affleck, Jason Lee, and Kevin Smith’s Mrs. will come as no surprise at all…

I still have a whole disc full of extras to get through, but a couple of the deleted scenes on the first disc cracked me up. Some great digs at the Lord of the Rings trilogy and how the whole trilogy is just about walking (“Even the fucking trees walked in that movie!”) although it has to be said that funny as Randal’s impression of LOTR was, Kevin Smith did it miles better on his 2nd Audience With… DVD

All that and donkey sex too (“we don’t call it bestiality – its inter-species erotica”). For some reason Conservapedia seems to be lacking in articles about Kevin Smith or any of his films…