Kacken an der Havel

is a german show that aired on Netflix, which ... has absolutely nothing to do with anything going on right now. The title translates into "Poopin' at the Havel" - where Poopin' is implied to be the name of a village and the Havel is the river it is situated at. I'm not sure if "Kacken" exists, the village, but we definitely have those ... villages with names like that. We have a village named "Ficken" somewhere, which means "Fucking". I believe those names are from times where those words had a different meaning ... and so, the name of the show is already so incredibly 'German' ... it's funny. Not like an immediate "Haha" ... but it's more like ... something absurd on face value that keeps on giving.
Because, that's also kind of what they did there. It's super unrealistic, it's a fever dream at large, super over the top, but like ... in a German way. Not ... German in a way that someone who isn't German would understand. It's like a self-deprecating mirror. But not self-deprecating in a normal way ... but more like ... in a way that's deeply rooted in our culture. Like, how we all hate each other somehow - as like the baseline for how we get along?

It's not practically a theme of the show but it's still like ... more or less unvoluntarily, I think, in there. Hmm ... not that this is exclusively a german thing.

But for the first few scenes I was extremely amused ... and the show then takes a variety of turns and twists that ... maybe end up with some kind of morale to the story; But it's also kind of ... burried under a pile of rubble that is the humor of the show. Not hidden, ... but not simple. I mean ... the way I see it there's different stages. There's, narratively, a good and a bad side ... a right and a wrong ... but the narrator is a Chick (Duckling? Baby Chicken? Duck?), so ... take it with a grain of salt; But at the end of the day, it's more like ... a buffet?

Anyway ... I had to comment on it ... as ... next to Michael Mittermeyer it's one of the few German Highlights that I can get behind. I mean, we have Roland Emmerich, sortof; But his movies are like ... American ... so he don't count. There's some good family friendly family value stuff I've seen ... like, nothing super exciting ... but mostly just ... 'social stuff' ... which is fine or a bit more than just fine; But also ... not much to write home about.

I mean, I suppose have this thing where we, artistically, try not to be Americans ... while, quite frankly, I suppose Hollywood does enough to keep that niche covered. But the results then often seem kind of 'bland'. Well, I'm sure there's a lot You can do with a slice of bread to make it work ... but then the American comes in with a Double Whopper and ... yea ... that's kind of where we are.
By the way: A double whopper to me is mostly just a mass of stuff ... where the whole kindof condenses into a blob of some sort, almost like a homogenous semi-solid, that ... when unpacked ... can compete with a lot of things. So ... good stuff.

Anyway. ... Kacken an der Havel is however ... it's not as much a slice of bread as it's like ... A liver/meat-cheese bagle with ketchup and mayonaise. A thing that would have LCB afficionado's go "ugh" because obviously mustard goes onto an LCB and nothing else ... and that's exactly what this is. Shameles.
And do I spot a leaf of salad on that LCB?

Well, the most profound part of the show may be the "Hit" that our protagonist ends up ... well, he isn't really "Producing" it ... but, it's not spelled out explicitly but the message carries over. The "Hit" rocks because it's lyrics and theme aligns with the average party person ... they can get into the flow ... and enjoy it; As opposed to something more serious. But that's also kind of the ... dichotomy drawn here. Cheap and Easy versus ... doing the right thing. But I like the song. Kwaaaah!


So, the premise is that our protagonist is some 40-something year old dude living in Berlin ... who dreamt his entire life of becoming a Hip Hop star. Which is already ... almost the most German thing about it. I mean, how many people does the average person know ... that dreamt of becoming a Hip Hop star? Here in germany ... I'm sure the average is above 1. Which I believe is a lot.

Anyway ... so, eventually he gets a chance ... but at the same time his Mother died so he has to kind of show up for the funeral - and he really doesn't want to go there; Because ... well, that it's a backwater village with crazy people in it is kind of the premise of the show.

And it's really just good comedy. And it really is just ... so good ... that I felt like it needed some promotion. Or ... it's really the "Germanness" that made me go ... "that's worth writing home about".


I'm not sure if there's subtitles or anything; How available it is ... and how much would be lost in translation.
But yea. I carried this around with me ... and then ... eventually it turned into a sad face.


Because, yea. I mean, I did "mention" it ... somehow ... ("Clock is Ticking!") ... but with all the other things getting like 'actually' mentioned ... I ... have to also actually mention this.

And I can use this opportunity to also comment on ... Project Hail Mary.
And I don't know ... but ... I was really taken in and ... really sad ... and ... hoping the author wasn't going to take it "there" ... I'm not sure when I was last invested in a Character like that.

Maybe it's a lot due to ... how familiar he felt. I mean, my Relationship with God (the Holy Spirit) ... that's really what springs to mind there.


And yea ... Happy Eastern!