Two Theories on Garrison Keillor
I once had a friend from NYC who loved A Prairie Home Companion. I gave a listen, and was bored by its content and physically repulsed by Keillor’s voice. I talked with other friends about it, and formed my first theory, which is that non-Midwesterners like APHC, but people who actually grew up in the midwest (or close to it, as I did in central Ohio) are immune to its purported charm.
Then I moved to Minnesota, and found that plenty of people who live here (and who aren’t transplants, like me) like Keillor and his radio show. So that theory went bust.
I also found that living in Minnesota made it much more dangerous for me to listen to the radio. If I scanned channels, I might come across APHC. “Bad man! Bad man!” I would holler, not unlike a toddler, as I lunged for the button to make GK’s distinctive, smarmy baritone go away.
Then a friend of mine got a job working on APHC. I would occasionally listen because my friend, a nice person and very funny guy, was writing some of the jokes. But they were still told in that same creepy voice, so in spite of my best efforts, I could never listen for long. Eventually my friend and the show parted ways, so I no longer had any reason to hide how much I disliked it.
The reviews of the new film APHC have been mixed, but not in the middle. They tend to be polarized. Critics who like the radio show like the film, and vice versa. Ebert and Roeper did a polar split in their reviews. Since I’m not a GK and APHC fan, I’m not going to see the film even though Altman is one of my favorite directors.
From this, I have conceived a new theory on GK and APHC. It’s love or hate, perhaps because of some genetic, physical predisposition, like this. Some people love it. But many, many people don’t. There’s no middle ground.
June 20th, 2006 at 10:04 am
I used to enjoy APHC because of the terrific musical guests. 20 years ago GK’s schtick was funny enough to keep me tuned in. Now I find the show tedious and give it a pass.
June 21st, 2006 at 8:23 am
I plan to see the movie, though I am not at all familiar with APHC. Funny, because I, too, am from Ohio and I actually WORK in the radio business. I want to see the movie for 3 reasons: Altman, Streep and Kline. The latter have not starred together since Sophie’s Choice, I believe. They are two of my FAVORITES and I can’t wait to see them work together again. But I might wait for the video, since reviews are indeed so mixed.