Watching a Movie a Day*: Week 2 (Dead Poets Society, Sorry to Bother You, and THE ESTABLISHMENT>:(((()
The whole "establishment" connection was a coincidence. Sorry to Bother You wasn't even on my list, but I thought it'd be a fun watch, and the movies happened to relate to each other in an unexpected way.
And I only watched two movies this week because I'm bad at this. I'm also heavily considering taking Her off my list because I really don't want to watch it. See you next week.
Dead Poets Society (1989)
"Pseudo-rebellion for the rich, future academic"
Really I found it quite interesting. I didn't know much about the movie going in, and I'll have to say it shocked me. First by killing a protagonist, and basically by the whole third act. To me DPS represents the suppression of ideas, and the repression of people under the "establishment". The whole idea of conforming to these expectations and this world around you. We all have priorities, of course, but something I have a particular hatred for is the upholding of the establishment, despite displeasure, and despite the express opportunity to rebel. CAMERON. Of course, they made him a redhead. In my opinion, they boys didn't have much to lose. Except Yale admission. But while watching I asked myself, "Is Yale admission worth your honor?" and the answer was a resounding "No."
But throughout the entire movie is the looming presence of "The Establishment", or at least an establishment. Literally through Hell-ton, and less literally through their families. I've always looked at parental figures as sort of an (potentially ofc) oppressive force, and this is expressed to the nth degree in DPS, imo. Their families really don't have much leverage over the boys (I'll elaborate on this later), and yet they still squirm to most every whim and want and demand, only being able to find some semblance of freedom in the DPSclub, and in Keating's class. I understand that the ending was supposed to sort of represent them finally thinking freely and finding their own voice, etc, but I am a cynic, I suppose. hey "found their row voice", but not when it truly mattered. Not when it came to defending their friend's death, or their teacher's reputation. (The problem also HEAVILY lies with Neil's parents. Running towards the admin, pointing fingers looking for someone to blame, rather than looking at themselves and thinking that maybe if their heads hadn't been so far up their asses, they would see the lack of necessity in their strictness.)
And thus, due to this, the establishment wins. The Establishment controls you. It keeps you in line when it truly matters, and leaves you to stand on desks and hide in caves reading 100 year old poetry books and seducing girls who aren't that cute. DPS is not a story of any real triumph. I consider it a flaw that it seems to paint itself as such. Regardless though, the film was great. It moved me. And it frustrates me. There is no sense of freedom. There is no happiness, there is no winning. Not for any of the characters (in a real sense. technically Keating got his wish of making them 'free thinkers'), not for the audience. You will always feel a deep-seated resent towards The Establishment, but you will never rebel. Why exactly that is, will be different for everyone, but the point is that no rebellion is shaken.
I could be looking at this too pessimistically. A status quo was shaken, undeniably. Maybe after the final scene, they went on to leave Hell-ton and live fulfilling lives (I'm saying Hell-ton because I have no idea what the school is actually called lol). But we don't get to see what happens after, and I suppose that my comments are just food for thought.
But everything minus the third act is able to slightly touch this feeling of teenage freedom. But not as much as it could. Like I said, the Establishment is a looming presence all throughout.
8.5/10
Now here are my junk comments.
Neil's parents have no leverage! I found it a little strange how he killed himself, like he couldn't just run away or something. Or maybe suicide isn't rational, and I'm trying to rationalize it, but you know we don't explicitly know Neil's history, and he could've considered it to be the only option due to that. The lack of info is kind of crippling. But regardless, I will say, dumb decision dude. They don't have phones, so it's not like they can take that away. I never see them in their own cars, so I'm assuming they don't have any. He can always make more friends. As a strict parent, the worst thing you can have is no leverage, and they don't really have any. He doesn't want to be a doctor, so there's no need to go to a prestigious school. He doesn't really need the old money connections. His parents are shitfaces, so hypothetically he shouldn't need their approval. It wasn't like now where only richoids and nepo-babies get roles. Frankly, I don't understand it. I've contemplated suicide, and I always decide not to due to the fact that there could still be hope for the future. His future is far more hopeful than mine, and yet he still chose to do it. SMH. But I will say that they suicide scene was very well crafted.
Another semi-nitpick, the boys willingness to restart the DPS club didn't really feel realistic. They were very quick to embrace Keating's unconventional methods, and were artificially curious about his past. From what I know about teens, they'd probably just make fun of him and consider him some kind of a nut. And they most definitely wouldn't been so eager to take up an artistic/intellectual and romantic pursuit like reading poetry at night in a cave while smoking nicotine. But I know only have so much time in a movie and the final result is great, so I'll give it a pass.
Also Knonx was weird with that girl Chris. It was very 80's movie haha. At least she's actually into him, and also she can leave her dog shit BF now.
I have a tendency to look for meaning (in a more existential sense) in things that present themselves as meaningful. And DPS with its poetry recitation and suicide montages and CARPE DIEM. Is one of those movies, I guess. Whether or not it stays with me long term, is a whole other question.
Rebellion is important to me. NO SHOULD EVER TAKE AWAY YOUR RIGHT TO DO WHATEVER THE FUCK YOU WANT. But also, be smart about it, I don't mean that entirely literally. The movie gets an 8.5/10. I like it more than the godfather, but I feel social pressure to rate that movie highly...
Sorry To Bother You (2018)
"Fighting against The Establishment and winning..."
Danny glover and Donald Glover both existing is so confusing. I went into Sorry To Bother You, knowing pretty much nothing about it. I thought it would be about an office worker sort of finding his groove. Sort of similar in tone to that movie with Steven Yeun and the white lady who are trapped in an office building where everyone in killing each other, but more punchy fantasy, and less... trapped in an office building? Idk I haven't actually seen that movie.
Either way, what I actually watched was surprising. The allegories and real world comparisons, or I guess the point of the movie, wasn't subtle, but this was not one of those cases where it turned out to be a flaw, due to any number of things such as preachy-ness, or just general non-equivalencies. There are exaggerated moments, concepts, and generally impossible things, but they work here. They add comedy, personality, and I suppose they make the point more obvious for a neanderthal brain, such as myself.
It took a while for the movie to properly 'set up', but I honestly think it worked to the film's betterment. I felt like I knew Cash, as opposed to Neil, who was understandable on a general level, but not so much a deeper one, save for searching for probabilities and possibilities by making inferences from the content of the film/text, which is not the same as building a connection based on information that is given explicitly and implicitly. I can put Neil together retrospectively, but I can see Cash in the moment. Neither method of character writing is superior. It's just an observation I guess. And anyways, DPS has a much stronger ensemble cast than STBY.
To continue the comparison between both films, They're both kind of about freedom. DPS being about a youthful more abstract sense of it (I feel like this description isn't super accurate, but I can't think of a better way to say it), and STBY focusing more on personal agency and worker exploitation. In STBY, "The Establishment", doesn't necessarily hold your mind, but it thoroughly holds your body. It treats humans as machines for profit, to fuel their debauchery, apparently to the extent where they literally turn them into horses. Absolutely wild.
Even with STBY's focus on worker exploitation, it sort of gets lazy with the thesis in the end. The horsemen (I'm not even gonna try spelling their official names) + Cash get to turn back into humans, the telemarketers get a union, Detroit and Cash end up back together. But The establishment is still very much intact, but the ending doesn't even bother to look over its shoulder and acknowledge that. Which is weird considering that it was what the majority of the movie was focused on. Sure they have a union now, but what about the people who LITLERALLY WORK FOR ZERO WAGES, live in hostels, and eat food one tier above my school's cafeteria food???? Maybe the horsemen did something about that when they raided Armie Hammer's house, idk. Massive issue though. Maybe some studio exec said not to address it. I have no fucking clue.
I enjoyed it a lot. I thought it was funny. And I think spoiled a small enough amount of it so you can still watch it and be surprised by something. Not really tho, lol sorry. 7.5/10
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