This short is featured on the Animation Show Vol. 3 DVD.
Chris Harding's brilliant LEARN SELF DEFENSE is a timeless satire that skewers violence in the form of a 1950s educational video. George is an ordinary family man — just like you and me. Then one night on his way home from the bar, he is attacked by three CLOCKWORK ORANGE-like thugs in a dark alley. The narrator informs us that George must learn self-defense so this will never happen again. So George trains with a burly bloke in the ring, following five helpful tips — diplomacy, planning, faith, technology and preemption.
In diplomacy, we learn that you can insult your opponent and if they're not with you yet then they are against you. In planning, we learn that you must form a plan and stick to it no matter what, because to rethink it makes you a wimp. In faith, we learn that wrong + wrong = wrong, but wrong + wrong + God = right. In technology, we learn that 21st Century weapons allow us to fight from a comfortable distance. In preemption, we learn what to do when we are unsure whether we are in danger or not.
The flat UPA-style design fits with the LEAVE IT TO BEAVER-frankness of the deep-voiced narrator wonderfully. Though the satire of the current war in Iraq is apparent, the film works equally well for past wars and American morals in general. Harding's sense for the entire package from design to acting to timing is impeccable. He also has the guts to be shocking, but not in a gratuitous fashion. A satire is truly brilliant when it plays truths in a way that make them seem embarrassing in the end. LEARN SELF DEFENSE is as powerful a statement on war as DR. STRANGELOVE… and just as funny.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
