No, not the dopey movie*, the real thing! After god knows how long, MTV ‘Liquid Television’s’ Aeon Flux series has been released on DVD, the whole lot I am chuffed to say and apparently as a ‘director’s cut’, whatever that means. Shit movies sometimes have an upside and that, in this case, is the airing to DVD of what I always regarded to be one of the best animated series.

The premise of Aeon Flux is pretty basic, self obsessed (and rather twisted) Trevor Goodchild takes over as Chairman of Bregna to ‘better’ the lives of its population. Outside, or is that next to (in a Cold War Berlin wall, sorta style), Aeon Flux and the Monican resistance attempt to overthrow him. It’s never obvious who is right and who is wrong, as in many of the scenarios you could easily think that Aeon Flux herself is every bit as self obsessed as Trevor. Whatever the true situation it is made pretty plain to see that either side is out to dominate and control its populace. That is about it and strangely enough, it’s about as complex as it needs to be. Why? Because within this simple premise, Peter Chung (the series creator) manages to interweave the most abstract, twisted and outright complex, intertwined stories one could imagine. If I had to use one word to describe Aeon Flux, it would be abstract and that perhaps is why, after so many years, Aeon Flux holds its own in the animated series realm.

An indepth description of an episode of Aeon Flux is near impossible and it would be easiest to say every espisode is a strange blend of sexual fetish (why is Aeon Flux getting around in a strange chastity g-string.. same goes for Trevor Goodchild, he likes getting around in outfits with large belts and cod pieces?), sex, abstract situations and just plain outright twisted scenarios. Within this construct are also little periphery happenings and subplots, everybit as strange as the main scenario itself; possibly why you can watch and rewatch each episode and still not catch everything…. I completly missed in this session a scene where a Monican agent is giving a Bregonian guard a blowjob in the background during a raid on a ‘facility’… easily missed if you are not watching closely.

The animation style reminds one very much of French graphic novels such as Moebius or even the American ‘Hardboiled’ in colour and linework, while on the surface it seems simple but it’s perfectly balanced with the complexity of the scenes themselves. The characters are highly stylised and as sexual as Aeon Flux herself seems, in some scenes her styling makes her more of an abstract parody of a sexually charged heroine. Like the stories themselves the animation, or the images it conveys, are multilayered and just plain strange. It’s lovely!

So how does it hold up close over 10 years on? Considering the raft of animation that’s come and gone since then, very little has come close to equalling the adult nature of the Aeon Flux series. This is an animated series that pays no regard to kids by double dipping with cutesy kid friendly animation with adult subplots. Hell, I would even go so far as to say that Aeon Flux would probably challenge many adults these days with its abstract thoughts and styling. On that basic principle alone I consider Aeon Flux to be even better now than when it first came out - it got better with age!

It makes you wonder how on earth the blockheads in Hollywood thought that they could ever turn Aeon Flux into a live action film….

If you so inclined to find out more about Aeon Flux, check out all the shtick here

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*As is always the case, morons in Hollywood took what was a pure and raw principle and dumb it down so that the 30 something moms in their cammo Esprit pants can take their kids to it and not be challenged over the holiday period. I wondered what Peter Chung might think of the moofie version of his creation and lucky for me I found an interview at ‘Monican Spies’ from which I have pulled this excerpt:

Q: How do you REALLY feel about the movie Aeon Flux? Considering it couldn’t really ever touch upon how effective the cartoon is.

With apologies to both Phil and Matt- who have publicly been effusive in their praise for the show- the movie is a travesty. I was unhappy when I read the script four years ago; seeing it projected larger than life in a crowded theatre made me feel helpless, humiliated and sad. I know it’s bad form for me to voice my disapproval in a public forum, but it’s silly for me, of all people, to continue playing dumb, considering most of the critics have voiced their disapproval using every mocking and condescending expression possible. I know that the studio made a lot of cuts against the wishes of the writers and director. Most of the cuts concerned further development of the secondary characters. Since my main problems are with the portrayal of Aeon and Trevor, I doubt that I’d have liked the longer version much better. I didn’t when I read the script, and there are definitely some things I’m glad WERE cut- like Catherine’s pregnancy.

Maybe the makers didn’t understand the source material and thought they were being true to it; or they understood it, but didn’t think it would appeal to a wide enough audience and altered it to suit their presumed target. They claim to love the original version; yet they do not extend that faith to their audience. No, they will soften it for the public, which isn’t hip enough to appreciate the raw, pure, unadulterated source like they do. The argument for the Catherine Goodchild movie is that an accurate live-action version of the Aeon Flux would have been too inaccessible for a mainstream audience. It would not have made money, ergo there’s no impetus for the studio to make it. It’s a circular argument which attempts to shift responsibility away from the individuals who make the film to the presumed audience. Presuming to know what an audience wants to see and tailoring the product to fit is a method that sucks all the drive I’d have to ever create anything. It’s self-defeating disingenuous.

I’m not naive about the realities of making unconventional films in the arena of “mass entertainment”. It’s possible to make good unconventional films; it’s also very hard. In any case, if you’re going to risk failure, I say do it boldly, with conviction. The problem with the movie is its failure of nerve.

The fact that Catherine decided to disobey her orders and investigate the source of her feelings for Trevor is offered by viewers as a sign of her independence. Is that how little some fans are willing to settle for? Aeon never took orders from anyone, never went into a mission without understanding her motives.

The original impetus behind the Aeon Flux “Pilot” was a critique of the manipulation of sympathy in Hollywood movies. That method is most transparent in the action genre. Aeon Flux was never an action vehicle. The only two episodes in which Aeon does much physical fighting are the shorts Pilot and War — in which her violent actions are portrayed as preposterous and futile. Not heroic. How can anyone watching those shorts NOT GET IT?