Yes Man, Jim Carrey, Zoey Deschenel: Motor Scooter Culture

Yes Man (film with Jim Carrey, Zoey Deshenel): Motor Scooter Culture

Mad scooter riding in scooter-unfriendly Southern California.
Jim Carrey, Zooey Deschenel in Yes Man

Scootering and film have had a long relationship, homage to which has been done by Yes Man and Larry Crowne.

Yes Man explores the wild fantasy of universal affirmation as protagonist Carl accedes to all supplication and importuning. This rather simplistic premise forms the basis for a quirky romance and equally simplistic, but perhaps somewhat insightful and poignant message: it's too easy to refuse to go out of the box, but having done so, wonderful things may be possible, but a modicum of circumspection may still be indicated.

Carrey is predictably solid and mildly irritating in this role, while Deschanel sparkles with the same somewhat irresponsible grace she shows in the smart phone commercial: "Remind me to clean up -- tomorrow. Today we're dancing. Play Shake Rattle and Roll."

Yes Man, even more than Larry Crowne, takes advantage of the Los Angeles scenery, including a delightfully strange romantic scene against the background of the Griffith Planetarium -- the setting for many a memorable scooter image.

Always ready for a pillion passenger
As is so often the case with film, image and motorscooters,
the characters are pictured wind in hair and helmet-free.
Unfortunately, the law makes no exceptions for aesthetics
and free spirits. Nonetheless, the romance remains. Note that the presence of a spare helmet serves also as an invitation. It says: "I don't have a passenger but am prepared for one." See Dating and Scooter Culture.

Though helmet laws are almost universally enforced in Europe and North America, film romance chafes under that constraint and flouts such oppressive restrictions in the name of aesthetics and freedom -- the latter in this film exercised, maugre any dangers or common sense restrictions, in pursuit of immoderate temerity and abandon -- joy, exultation and beauty trumping the quotidian and circumspect.