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You say that like I’m obligated to appreciate the film just because it claims to be critical of the mafia and if I don’t like it then I just didn’t get it. That’s not the case, I get it. I don’t like those films either, and yes, it’s because they’re army movies. Regardless of being critical of the subject material, you cannot make a movie entirely about the mafia (let alone, three of them), or the army, or anything, without romanticizing the subject matter. Do you have any idea how many people saw The Godfather and fell in love with the idea of the mafia, or Full Metal Jacket and Apocalypse Now and fell in love with the idea of being in the military, or SLC Punk and fell in love with the idea of being a poser? All those people fucking loved those movies. Some people missing the point doesn’t mean that everyone who gets the point is obliged to think a movie is good. The Godfather fucking sucks, because it’s about stupid people doing stupid things and sucking their own dicks about it.
Sounds like you want films to be only about sunshine and daisies.
Way too bold a claim.
Sounds like you don’t understand different tastes and perspectives. I never said that that is inherently a bad thing, I just hate movies focused on military and authoritarian conformity and hierarchy as their main appeal, which is what the mafia is. As I said, I think the mafia is fucking stupid, I’m not asking for movies to be sunshine, I’m saying I don’t give a fuck about stupid mafia bullshit and glorified tales of such. Same goes for hoorah military shit. I’m not even saying it shouldn’t have been made, I just don’t like it, that was the point of this whole post. You can like the movie regardless of how stupid I think it is, art is subjective.
And creating a movie is a glorification of its materials, no matter the intent behind the creator. Just look at Fight Club, SLC Punk, Wall Street, The Punisher, Lolita, Full Metal Jacket, The Joker, etc… That’s not negotiable.
Ah, so ‘District 9’ glorifies refugee camps, ‘Black Mirror’ glorifies techno-authoritarianism, ‘Life Is Beautiful’ glorifies Nazi concentration camps, ‘Idiocracy’ glorifies abject stupidity, ‘One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest’ glorifies abusive psychiatric hospitals, ‘Soylent Green’ glorifies overpopulation?
Your take was bizarre before, but with that comment it's plain idiotic.
You’re intentionally misinterpreting what I’m saying, and it shows. You know what I’m getting at, I’m not playing in to this purposely obtuse bullshitery. I don’t like The Godfather and have valid criticisms of the films, get the fuck over it.
Also, you didn’t understand those movies and shows at all if you think those were the themes and subjects they were focusing on and exploring. Learn how to examine and interpret a story, you’re only seeing the metaphors, maybe watch some stuff on media literacy and film studies.
This is laughable coming from a guy who wrote “creating a movie is a glorification of its materials, no matter the intent behind the creator. That’s not negotiable.” Learn to take your head out of your ass before talking shit.
Sure.
One beautiful thing about art - and, for me, especially movies - is that they reveal truths within ourselves.
The first time I saw Fight Club, the "true" meaning went WAY over my head. I was young, I just saw a cool action flick with a twist ending. To me, the message was Fuck the System. I grew up, though. I can now clearly see the deeper themes, like warning about toxic masculinity and groupthink.
Similarly, Starship Troopers was a favorite of mine. I never understood the parallels to fascism when I was younger - I just rooted for Johnny and the gang.
The Godfather and Apocalypse Now fall squarely into that same set of movies. These are all movies that I enjoyed when I was young, but the themes were just beyond me. And that's OK. My point is that you are definitely NOT obligated to appreciate these films. But maybe you can understand why these films are studied and rewatched and discussed. At least part of the reason is because someone who saw a film 5 or 10 or 30 years ago is only just now starting to understand it.