Some pictures are put-ons that seem to plead for a tacit agreement with their audience: what is to be viewed is beneath contempt, therefore it is beyond criticism. Disarmed, audiences are presumably free to enjoy the movie in the same way they appreciate the sheer ghastliness of Mrs. Miller's wobbly warbling or the fruity falsetto of Tiny Tim. Two current examples come from
American International, the studio that perfected the beachboy epic.
The Savage Seven begins with a bare-chested Indian looming in the foreground, knife in hand. Another brave leaps forward and they begin...
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