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Five Movies That Are Often Misinterpreted By People

ian0592 — Wed, 08 Jan 2014 22:21:00 +0000

The hottest controversy right now surrounds “The Wolf of Wall Street” and whether or not the film makes Jordan Belfort look like a hero or a villain. Okay, maybe this debate is a week old but I don’t get paid to do this so relevance is irrelevant here.

Anyway, “The Wolf of Wall Street” is not the first film to face this problem. Watching movies is such a subjective experience that they get misunderstood all of the time. Sometimes, this can be a good thing and it can bring up issues that nobody talks about, like how to view people who somehow make taking Quaaludes and snorting cocaine look hilarious. Other times, it can show how dumb people are, such as those who root for Jordan Belfort. Other times, misinterpretation can be dangerous when the irony is lost and life imitates art.

Here are five other movies that often get misinterpreted:

The Graduate (1967)

“The Graduate” contains a gloriously false happy ending. Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) spends the whole film sleeping with Elaine Robinson’s (Katharine Ross) mother, and then decides that maybe he wants Elaine instead. So he crashes her wedding and they ride off on a bus together. Happily ever after? After just a minute, their two smiles quickly begin to fade in the shortest honeymoon phase known to man. “The Graduate” shows that impulsive love doesn’t normally work out. Generations of rom-coms to come always managed to get this ending wrong. The common misinterpretation of this ending is used as a key plot point in “500 Days of Summer.”

Taxi Driver (1976)

“Wolf” isn’t the first time that somebody has gotten one of Scorsese’s films wrong. “Taxi Driver” is one of cinema’s most haunting and ambiguous works of art. Excuse me while I go hit myself in the head with a hammer after writing that sentence. Anyway, the disturbed Travis Bickle (Robert De Niro) shoots up an entire army of pimps in his efforts to save a teenage prostitute. Yes, he saves a young girl’s life, but in the process he becomes one of the maniacs that he hates. In the end, newspapers declare him a hero and he evades jail time. Some might believe this is how we should actually feel about him, while others find it ironic that a psychopath would be venerated by the media. In an even more extreme case, John Hinckley Jr. was inspired by the film and attempted to assassinate Ronald Regan. Sometimes, misinterpretation leaves the realm of silly intellectual debate and turns into something much more frightening.

Wall Street (1987)

“Greed, for lack of a better word, is good.” This is the most famous quote from “Wall Street,” and many people took it as a life philosophy as opposed to a stern warning. The Gordon Gekko case is a failure of irony. Then again, I would probably trust anybody with a cell phone that awesome. Fittingly, one of the many people inspired by “greed is good” happened to be an idealistic young stock broker named Jordan Belfort.

Knocked Up/Juno (2007)

Both of these comedies from 2007 explore unexpected pregnancies and in both there is a key scene where a character decides to keep the baby instead of getting an abortion. Immediately, many conservatives hailed the film as strongly pro-life, showing that political people never miss out on a single chance to push their agendas. Rather, their decisions were necessary for the films. If Juno and Alison had opted to get abortions, then both “Knocked Up” and “Juno” would have been over within 20 minutes.

Tropic Thunder (2008)

The funniest scene in a very funny movie comes when method actor Kirk Lazarus (Robert Downey Jr.) explains to action star Tugg Speedman (Ben Stiller) that if you want to win an Oscar, then you “never go full retard.” Some considered this an assault on the mentally challenged, and protests ensued. It is unfortunate that many saw this joke to be a malicious one, as it is really pointing its finger at actors who try and exploit disabilities. Funny, nobody ever got worked up over the fact that Robert Downey Jr. is wearing blackface for nearly the entire duration of “Tropic Thunder.”

Valentine’s Day: The Best Anti-Romantic Romance Movies

ian0592 — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 17:14:00 +0000

SPOILER ALERT: This post vaguely reveals the endings to the movies listed below. This is not to discourage you from reading, but I advise that you proceed with cautions. Although at this point, it’s hard not to know the ending of “The Graduate.”

1. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Some common themes on this list are couples who act cutesy and people making big decisions without putting much thought into them. After breaking up, Joel (Jim Carrey) and Clementine (Kate Winslet) get the memories of their relationship erased, only to realize there was something there that was worth remembering. It’s peculiar that movies about love going wrong have the most to say about love in general. Being treated to Joel and Clementine’s relationship crumbling from the top to bottom is just as devastating as it sounds.The ending leaves a bittersweet feeling: they are finally getting back together again, but they are also subject to hate each other again as in their previous relationships. The question of whether or not the two of them are meant to be together, or if they constantly breakup because they truly hate each other, haunts me to this day.

2. Annie Hall

Sure, Alvy (Woody Allen) and Annie (Diane Keaton) have fun together and they both enjoy playing with live lobsters and making fun of Truman Capote lookalikes, but they are far from soul mates. Alvy is New York (close-minded, uptight) and Annie is Los Angeles (free-spirited, unpredictable). “Annie Hall” contains some of the grandest romantic moments in the movies (Alvy and Annie in front of the Brooklyn Bridge), yet in its ending, it reduces relationships to a need, and not a desire. Nonetheless, this is one of the most enjoyable instances of a failed relationship you’ll ever be a part of.

3. The Graduate

Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) sweeps in and saves Elaine (Katharine Ross) on the day of her wedding to tall, blonde, and handsome Carl. The shot of them sitting on the back of the bus together, laughing and smiling over what they have just done, could bring the hopeless romantic in all of us to tears. But then, reality, unhappiness, and ambiguity quickly set in. Maybe these two were acting on impulse and not calls of fate. Maybe they are making the same mistakes their parents once made, which they both wanted to escape from. The uncertainty of the future lies ahead for them, one likely filled with Vietnam War protests and occasional acid flashbacks.

4. (500) Days of Summer

Sure, Tom’s (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) belief in true love is reaffirmed in the end when he meets Autumn, but the path to getting there is filled with doubt. Watching Tom be misled into a relationship with Summer (Zooey Deschanel) is as painful as it is funny. While Tom goes on a tirade against greeting cards and pop music, there is no need to start protesting Hallmark or plan a mass burning of Smiths records. Rather, try not to fall in love with someone because they also think “There Is A Light That Never Goes Out” is a good song. A lot of people like The Smiths.

5. Blue Valentine

Most of these movies end with the main character meeting someone who they at least think they will spend the rest of their lives with. If you were looking for a movie that could diagnose you with chronic depression, than look no further. “Blue Valentine” is about a marriage completely falling apart in grueling detail. Any movie that could make you want to punch Ryan Gosling in the face must be well made because seriously, nobody hates Ryan Gosling.* “Blue Valentine” is ultimately a cautionary tale, and its greatest lesson is that you should never marry anyone just because they can play your favorite song on the ukulele.

Other People’s Songs are Lame

Blue Valentine

— MOVIECLIPS.com

*This is not an assumption
Thanks to friend of The Reel Deal Josh Fisher for the “Blue Valentine” suggestion.

What J.D. Salinger Meant to Me

ian0592 — Sat, 30 Jan 2010 19:37:00 +0000

I meant to write this post on Thursday or Friday. Hopefully, this topic hasn’t lost its relevance yet.

As a blog that devotes exclusively to the moving image, it is only a rare, yet deserving occasion that I would devote an entire post to a book. This is one of those occasions.

On Thursday, J.D. Salinger, author of “Catcher in the Rye,” died of natural causes. He was 91. Salinger has become quite legendary for his extreme secrecy. However, his true claim to fame is his writing of the American classic “Catcher in the Rye.”

“Catcher in the Rye” seems to have become a mandatory read in this country. Every high school student is given a copy to read at some point in their lives. I am proud to say its one of the only required readings I’ve ever been given in my life that didn’t feel like a chore. For those who haven’t read it yet, “Catcher” tells the story of Holden Caufield, a teen who has just been kicked out of boarding school and now spends a few days aimlessly wandering through New York City before having to face the reality of telling his parents.

Holden Caufield hasn’t necessarily been an idol to me but rather just someone I look to to understand my own life. Over 60 years on, he truly resonates as one of pop culture’s greatest anti-heroes. He is someone who acts so mature yet ironically is extremely immature. He also is something of a representation of anti-establishment. For all these things, Salinger’s creation has never left our thoughts.

Surprisingly enough, there has still never been a film version of “Catcher in the Rye.” This is mainly because Salinger strictly guarded his story’s rights. It wasn’t out of pure stubbornness, but rather because Salinger never wanted us to see Holden. It was up to our imaginations. After Salinger died, there were random whispers on the web of a future film adaptation.

Not only would it be wrong to ever adapt “Catcher in the Rye,” it would also be extremely unnecessary. It would be unnecessary because in a way, Holden’s story has already been put on the screen hundreds of times, with amazing results.

One of the finest examples is “The Graduate.” Ben Braddock mirrors Caufield in his aimless wandering. Both of their unsure journeys from kid to adults seem like sort of dangerous purgatories. And both characters, despite lacking ambitions, are so hard not to root for.

Perhaps a film much more directly influenced by Salinger is “Rushmore,” which is the story of a teenager kicked out of private school for his failing grades. Like Holden Caufield, Max Fisher acts much more mature than he actually is. Perhaps the best way that Anderson imitates Salinger is the way in which we view his character. We don’t necessarily root for his immaturity but rather for his journey to maturity and the harsh way he is pushed around by society.

While most of my influences remain in the film world, there are only a few others from different mediums that I can say have truly influenced my life. Of those, all I can think of are Bob Dylan, Lorne Michaels and J.D. Salinger. Not only has he touched my own life, but he’s also shaped the way that films tell stories. We never need to see Holden Caufield on film because in truth, there is a Holden Caufield in all of us.