Posted by Josh Lipovetsky in Welcome back to FilmInsight!
Besides being one of the best comedies of 2007, Hot Fuzz carries a heavy life message. It talks about the truth of perfection. It also deals with the social beating that one can take, when outperforming everyone else. The movie is about Police Officers Nicholas Angel, and Danny Butterman. In a seemingly peaceful village, the murder rate is extremely low, and the accident rate is extremely high. Throughout the movie, events keep happening, until the shocking climax. This is when we realize the truth about the seemingly peaceful village. This article will discuss the meaning of the village, and why the townspeople would do what they did. Hot Fuzz is filled with both American and British humor, that will appeal to all kinds of audiences. The movie is quite graphic as well. It’s very refreshing to see a movie mix comedy and brutal violence together in such a smooth fashion. It’s quite inspiring to see a movie like Hot Fuzz, and Pegg/Frost have quickly become my favorite comedic duo.
Nicholas Angel was one of the top police officers in London, before being transferred to Stanford. The reason? He was too good. The more you are beating your competition, the more criticism you will take. Look at Lebron James and Kobe Bryant. They are the top players in the NBA, and the most widely criticized. Is this a coincidence? No. When you are the best, people will always envy you. In Hot Fuzz, Nicholas Angel outperforms every police officer on his team by 400%. Embarrassed by his performance, the police force transfers Angel. To quote the film “You are making us look bad!”. If you find yourself in a situation where you are outperforming everyone you are around, then find better performing people. They will raise your standards, and greatly improve your quality of life. How can you be challenged when you are already better than everyone else? When Officer Angel is transferred to Sanford, he is faced with the greatest police challenge of his career. An entire town cover up. Dealing with mass criminals was a job up to his standards. When you overcome big challenges, you will find that everything becomes much easier. Your threshold for challenge greatly expands, and you become a force to be reckoned with.
It is revealed in the movie, that the leaders of the Stanford Community, are the real criminals. They have an idea in their minds about what constitutes a perfect society. Anyone who goes against their society rules, is immediately murdered. The reason can be as miniscule as an annoying laugh. They do this to maintain ‘perfection’, and a supposedly safe city. This secret, mutual murder, is the worst type of crime. Especially when the law is on their side. Nicholas Angel saw through the townspeople, and uncovered the mystery of the Perfect Village of Sanford. Why did the townspeople do something so terrible? Every social movement, good or bad, starts with one person. It triggers a chain reaction, that can spread like wildfire. In the case of the Sanford townspeople, their city council was influenced by a few bad characters. You can make an inference that some of the townspeople were pushed into the idea, even if they didn’t particularly like it. Some people can exert tremendous influence on others. One rotten character in particular, is Simon Skinner. He seems to be the most evil member of the council, and the one who is most convinced that murder can create a perfect society. First of all, people aren’t perfect. Therefore, society=imperfect. Second of all, no matter what you do, there will always be some really bad people in this world. These people pledged to the darkest side of life. In Hot Fuzz, you saw that an entire city council can be on the dark side of society. Their beliefs are completely faulty, primitive, and ridiculous. Yet, they are in so much denial, they are willing to kill for it. The evil is beyond any possible human explanation.
Hot Fuzz depicts some of the lengths that evil people can go to in order to get what they want. In this case, it is a powerful collective evil. In real life, a situation like this would be a real tragedy. And the worst part: We would not know if it existed or not. The movie depicts evil in a very hilarious way, which makes it such a unique piece of art. Also, Hot Fuzz demonstrates that being the best can lead to criticism. Nicholas Angel’s coworkers did not like him, because of his exemplary performance on the job. A general guideline in life: If you are being criticized on a major scale, then jealousy is probably the root cause. Think Lebron James. It means that you are doing something right!
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See, I don’t know if the council as a whole would have needed convincing. I saw them as a group of sociopaths that happened to live in the same town. While they had the usual gripes as any strata council or neighbourhood watch group, they just didn’t have the little voice in their heads to tell them what was right or wrong.
I do find that parallel interesting in that Angel was pruned from the force for being exceptional, the less than exceptional residents of Stanford were pruned by the council. I suppose all everybody wants is mediocrity.
Steve, I believe that the members of the council had voices inside their head. However, that voice was greatly corrupted. Their minds were so out of wack, that the voice told them that what they were doing, was the right thing! Maybe it was the way there were brought up, their social conditioning, or just the way they were born? It’s sad to think about it, though.
I like your point of view about the sociopaths living in the same city. That’s very strange how they would all come together like that. And you are absolutely right about that. If they had a voice of reason, it would have probably spoke up by then.
Very interesting parallel about Angel indeed. I guess the majority of society is content in mediocrity. It’s just so uncomfortable to break the boundaries, and step into greatness. However, never insurmountable!
Thank you so much for your comment,
Josh Lipovetsky.
I hadn’t thought of the town as a symbol of the pursuit of perfection.
Truly its interesting to see the dichotomy between Angel’s pursuit for perfection and the councils pursuit.
How does one aim to excel without losing focus on whats important?
Wow, I hadn’t realized the dichotomy between Angel and the Town!
It makes sense, because Angel couldn’t shut off. He was in active pursuit of perfection, and that led him to an unfulfilling state. Perfection can never be achieved, but there is always room for an improvement.
It’s similar to an asymptote on a graph. The curve will get closer and closer and closer to a number, without ever quite reaching it. That is what the idea of perfection is. The harder you try, the more frustrated you will get.
So what do I say? Just have fun, life is too short to be obsessed like Sergeant Angel. Hot Fuzz demonstrates our need to have an “Off” switch, and it is quite accurate.
Thanks again Diggity,
Josh Lipovetsky.