>>It obviously touched upon the problems of "the American Dream." How it can
>>drain all the fun out of life. How your sense of worth is all to easily
>>tied up with money and success and so forth.
>
>Yeah, but, as I said about Fight Club, I want a movie that explores these
>things rather than just touch on them. I don't think Hollywood can do this
>because (a) a movie like this might offend and that would interfere with
>the bottom line, and (b) a movie that truly explored these things might
>have to be plotless, sort of like Cassevettes used to do; Hollywood would
>hate this--every movie now seems to have some quirky plot twist or surprise
>at the end, which I guess is how you keep them in their seats when you
>aren't offering anything else.
Who, or what, is Cassevettes?
I agree with (a), but I'm not sure about (b). In any case, lots of movies deal with frustration in one way or another, but you are right that they seldom explore this aspect in detail.
>But aside from that, I think the way it touched on the themes was quite
>safe. Spacey's boss is to blame for Spacey's unhappiness, but the company
>he works for, and the economic system in general, are invisible. His
>boredom is blamed not on the rat race or the pressures to conform and
>succeed, but, predictably, on an absent sex life, a heckling wife, and an
>ungrateful daughter. (Brett, did you think that the movie was extremely
>misogynist? I did.)
I wouldn't go this far. His job was definitely part of the problem, and I didn't feel as though it was solely due to his boss. But I admit I was baffled by his decision to work at a fast food joint - what was that all about? And the bit where he's supposedly finding himself where he goes out and buys a new car was pretty bad too - redemption through consumerism. Hmmm, maybe you're crankiness is justified.
I didn't find it misogynist though. His daughter and her friend were just bratty teenagers, and who can blame his daughter for being weird with parents like that? I know Kevin Spacey is supposed to be our hero, but he obviously hasn't been a great father for a number of years, and in fact one of the very few times he interacts with his daughter he comes off as a real asshole.
Everyone around Kevin Spacey was abnormal in one respect or another. His boss, his next door neighbor, the Real Estate King guy, etc. The female characters are just more of the same in this regard. I never perceived it to be bashing women.
Brett