Smoking responsibly: Diplo and Major Lazer make a cartoon

There’s an animated show about a weed smoking, laser shooting, moral teaching superhero called Major Lazer (also the name of the show). You might not have heard of it – I certainly didn’t know it existed until it popped up on my Hulu suggestions, but it’s definitely a bitchin’ show. It was created by Diplo, Kevin Kusatsu, and Ferry Gouw and originally aired on the FXX channel. The good news it that it’s only one season in, and just so happens to be a perfect show to marathon this April 20.

On the first watch, it’s just a weird, interesting show with really good music that moves the story along, featuring actual music from Diplo, Major Lazer, Trinidad James, Vampire Weekend, and more. But then you start realizing people you love are voicing these characters: John Boyega from “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” as sidekick Blkmrkt;  J.K. Simmons as the antagonist, President Whitewall; as well as Aziz Ansari, Andy Samberg, and Riff Raff. Which is awesome – I went on this journey of discovery while watching the show. Plus, the characters they play are hilarious.

The show centers around Major Lazer and Penny Whitewall (yes, the antagonist’s daughter), and while it is named after the former, I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s really about the latter, Penny. For example, she obtains weed in a desperate need to get high and finds it laced with acid, only to learn a lesson about getting high responsibly and with people she trusts (Episode 1). Major Lazer gets trapped in a video game and Penny has win it to save him (Episode 8). Penny falls in love with a Vampire lead singer, voiced by the actual lead of Vampire Weekend (Episode 5). As you watch the show, you realize that Penny is just as much the superhero as Lazer. Whether or not that will continue in Season 2 of the series is uncertain, but at least we know there will be a second season, according to Rolling Stone.

The only fault I could find in the show were minute things, like how it started with no setup at all for the characters. It just plunges you right in. Granted, after a while it doesn’t persist as a problem, but it’s a little bit of an initial shock. After that, there are only ever-more-minor issues, such as being annoyed by Samberg’s character’s voice.

Advocate Staff