Consider the “Stink Palm”: a gag so gross, and yet so memorable, that writer/director Kevin Smith’s Mallrats probably wouldn’t be the same without it. And yet, looking back on this disgusting act of spite visited upon Michael Rooker’s Jared Svenning by prankster/eventually matured lead Brodie Bruce (Jason Lee), Smith isn’t exactly proud of this fact. Actually, if he had the opportunity, he’d go use time travel to change the course of history.
As Kevin Smith ran commentary on Mallrats during the Focus Features livestream, it eventually came time to discuss one of the most infamous gags of the View Askiewniverse. Here’s what Smith had to say about his contribution to pop culture, in light of recent events:
In a pandemic world, this is disturbing. Brodie is a germ farm. He did NOT flatten the curve. … I wanna go back in time to 1995 and tell that Kevin Smith, 'Stop trying to make Stink-Palm happen.'
There’s always going to be the creation that, upon further reflection, will have a creator regretting that they zigged when they should have zagged. For Kevin Smith, a man who’s been known to create a litany of disgusting jokes while also crafting pop gems of knowledge, it’s amazing that there would be one particular entry in his personal lexicon that would rile him up in hindsight.
One of those comedy gags that ranks high up with the hair gel from There’s Something About Mary or even the combined history of both Dumb and Dumber films, the Stink Palm involves some precise and pretty disgusting behavior. But even in the world of Kevin Smith’s own hysterically twisted mind, it’s a joke that stands as one of the high water marks of depravity executed by one of his many fictional avatars.
Since he’s the expert in what a Stink Palm entails, we’ll let Jason Lee’s Brodie himself talk us through what it entails, and why it’s so memorable:
While this joke totally played during Mallrats’ 1995 debut, and for quite a while after, the lack of hygiene in the Stink Palm is absolutely more troubling in light of the COVID-19 crisis currently in play. In fact, if Brodie even tried to pull that sort of thing back in this current climate, back when the malls were still open, he’d probably be arrested for a terroristic threat upon discovery.
Thankfully, even without implicitly mentioning Brodie’s heinous acts in future appearances, Kevin Smith’s mallrat-turned-comic book store proprietor has shaped up to a certain degree; just as the ending of Mallrats suggested. Even with his recent appearance in Jay & Silent Bob Reboot, Mr. Bruce’s fast talking and wisecracking ways were tempered with more of a lament for the death of the mall, a very real inspiration that Smith even mentioned as a slight stumbling block he’s trying to overcome with the sequel.
The news that Kevin Smith currently wrapped his first draft of Twilight of the Mallrats seems to have come at the right time, as this maturity will probably prevent Jason Lee’s long-awaited return to the Mallrats fold from engaging in any similar behavior with any other confectionary treats. But you know there will be some sort of smart joke, and quite possible some long overdue repercussions, as history progresses in this oft promised sequel.
While we’ll have to wait for Twilight of the Mallrats to hopefully shoot at the end of this year, there’s no wait on getting to experience Mallrats again! You can rent or purchase the film on Digital HD, as well as Blu-ray and DVD.
