‘Team America’: The outrageous comedy Jodie Foster thinks everybody should see
Ever since Martin Scorsese’s Taxi Driver first announced her arrival as a formidable dramatic talent, Jodie Foster hasn’t dabbled in comedy all that often as she went about cementing herself as one of the acting game’s modern greats. That’s not to say she hasn’t dipped her toes into those waters, though, with Disney’s original Freaky Friday, Alan Parker’s Bugsy Malone, Richard Donner’s Maverick, and Roman Polanski’s Carnage all ticking comedic boxes in one way or another.
Then again, considering that’s only four titles covering a span of almost 50 years, it would also be completely fair to say that splitting the sides of audiences everywhere hasn’t been at the forefront of Foster’s thinking when it comes to deciding which roles she wants to play.
Obviously, maintaining a focus on drama has reaped huge rewards, considering her trophy cabinet contains two Academy Awards, three Baftas, and four Golden Globes, among many others. However, that does make her choice for a movie everybody needs to see at least once all the more fascinating.
When quizzed by Past Lives star Greta Lee for Interview to name the films she believed demanded to be seen, “the puppet movie Team America: World Police” was named by Foster as “probably number one”. That came completely out of the blue, but she did at least offer an explanation.
“A sense of humour is my touchstone, and I have a very dumb sense of humour,” Foster said. “Sometimes with actors, even in the most dramatic circumstances, I like to laugh with them. I like to laugh about really intense things.”
The star’s most memorable turns have been defined by their intensity. Still, it appears as though she can’t think of a better way to blow off steam than watching a parody from the creators of South Park that mercilessly ribs both America’s inflated opinion of its own importance and pretty much the entire filmography of Michael Bay.
Coincidentally, one of Foster’s films has been regularly mocked by South Park‘s Trey Parker and Matt Stone over the years, with the duo having voiced their displeasure over the ending of Robert Zemeckis’ 1997 sci-fi drama Contact in a number of episodes.
In the 1998 instalment ‘Tom’s Rhinoplasty’, Mr. Garrison is asked if he’s aware of the movie and then instantly becomes violently ill before denigrating the conclusion that sees Foster’s Ellie Arroway meet an alien that takes the form of her late father.
Foster wasn’t one of the many notable Hollywood stars lampooned in Team America as part of the Film Actors Guild that serves as the erstwhile villains of the piece alongside former North Korean leader Kim Jong Il. However, her love of World Police, coupled with South Park‘s disdain for Contact, nonetheless created an unusual connection between the two.
