What is this generations movie that people love but don't understand? (eg Fight Club, Boondock Saints)

Submitted by enalios t3_yzwmwc in movies

Remember how a lot of people in the late 2000s loved The Boondocks Saints for exactly the wrong reasons? And similarly in the early 2010s lots of people loved Joker in The Dark Knight for the wrong reasons? And also in the late 1990s with Fight Club?

What is this generations Boondock Saints/Fight Club?

Not necessarily movies about toxically masculine characters, but just movies where there are characters with objectively terrible world views that many people seem to nonetheless feel they relate to (and possibly will corner you at a party to talk your ear off about) even though the movie itself is more of a criticism about those world views.

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Skyward_Slash t1_ix2hmq5 wrote

Joker suffers from this. Not a movie, but Breaking Bad is another example.

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vilebutvast t1_ix2ia7m wrote

This is tough! Immediately Patrick Bateman in American Psycho is another example, but from 2000. Obviously the newest Joker seems to be in this vein, but I remember there were like kids clothes with the Dark Knight Joker smile and kids dressing up like that Joker for Halloween. Phoenix’s Joker doesn’t have that level of popularity.

I’m having a hard time coming up with iconic characters like that in contemporary movies.

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RandomStranger79 t1_ix2id17 wrote

Is the thing people don't understand about Boondock Saints is that it was absolutely trash?

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singytingh t1_ix2jihf wrote

Notta movie but Peaky blinders

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TheFudge t1_ix2k51o wrote

Office Space might be up this alley?

Edit: Also which generation?

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Ojntoast t1_ix2kfvd wrote

You. Not a movie, but If you've ever watched and been like "I understand Joe" - you should go and speak with someone.

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jlopez092 t1_ix2lvaz wrote

Not a movie but a board with a nail in it.

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DanFarrell98 t1_ix2mkit wrote

I think you mean decade not generation

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BirdUp69 t1_ix2ov6g wrote

I know a lot of people who like boondock saints. I don’t know anyone who thought they related to the characters. I would liken it more to entertaining a fantasy, like being Aragorn, or Tony Soprano. Were there seriously edge lords out there thinking they were going to wipe out the mafia?

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shaunika t1_ix2peu1 wrote

The Joker

Plus Rick and Morty (not a movie though)

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Complete_Round1810 t1_ix2x9jp wrote

Replying to VravoBince (#588,244)

Walt definitely gets more love than he deserves but I always thought the way fans treated Skylar was the bigger problem. She got so much hate for being a mostly reasonable person whose partner does terrible things and put her in terrible situations.

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Complete_Round1810 t1_ix2xe4t wrote

Do people really not get fight club? It’s really not very subtle about the themes and notions it wants the viewer to take away.

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enalios OP t1_ix3g7ux wrote

Replying to ryangw1982 (#588,577)

When I was in college there was a lot of "you know, when you think about it, joker had a point. As long as things go according to plan no one cares even if something awful happens"

And yes, for sure there plenty of conversations with dudes thinking the message of fight club is that Tyler durden had a point about how to live.

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enalios OP t1_ix3gd3m wrote

Replying to Complete_Round1810 (#588,463)

Oh yeah. Especially college age men when I was in college. They thought the point of the movie was that Tyler durden really knew how to live. That we really have gotten away from what men should be like.

People made real actual fight clubs

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enalios OP t1_ix3hzt7 wrote

Replying to Skyward_Slash (#587,446)

Yeah I hate talking to fans of that movie, and I'm a fan of that movie! As a person with a mental illness or three, I think the movie has a lot to say, but it feels like 7 out of 10 fans are going to tell me that what the movie has to say is that the Joker was right all along and somehow they'll have no strong takeaways with regards to treating others with respect and dignity regardless of their situation or "otherness". Or about the dangers of becoming what people fear you are.

They just kind of think that the mental health system failed Arthur (correct!) and he had no choice but to do what he did (incorrect).

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enalios OP t1_ix3i4wv wrote

Replying to VravoBince (#588,244)

Part of why I haven't been able to watch the show is the number of people just kind of blindly praising Walter. It's a little concerning based on what I know of the show lol

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enalios OP t1_ix3igql wrote

Replying to BranWafr (#587,581)

I think this one might be the most ubiquitous example nowadays of the phenomenon I'm talking about. He's literally everywhere and there's a lot of people who think his worldview/ philosophy is cool

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TheFckinLizzardKing t1_ix3ispz wrote

This generation? Lmao stupid people are a thing since ever, mate

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enalios OP t1_ix3j89e wrote

Replying to TheFudge (#587,595)

Oh! Oh no. You might be right but ... I like office space! Hmm are you meaning in the ways that Peter really isn't someone you should try to emulate? That he really just did have found another job instead of come up with schemes to avoid work?

I guess I mean the current college age generation, and those in their early to mid 20s. The people drinking pbr at crowded house parties. When the annoying guy who didn't take philosophy but says he's interested in philosophy walks over, which deplorable character is he most likely to talk about in the hopes it makes him sound him sound hip, nuanced, and edgy. (I say this with love for the 19 year old version of me who was exactly this!)

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enalios OP t1_ix3klsu wrote

Replying to vilebutvast (#587,473)

Yeah, it was hard for me too! I'm hoping that means as a society we've stopped elevating edge lords to be paragons of virtue! But, the cynical part of me has gotten larger over the years and it would say: no, society just moved from elevating fictional edge lords, to elevating real ones.

Or maybe it just means I no longer have my finger on the pulse of movie fans lol.

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BasquiatGhost t1_ix3psmi wrote

"Whiplash" (2014) definetely suffers the romanticized power abuse.

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Realsteels0311 t1_ix3umbe wrote

Replying to VravoBince (#588,244)

I liked Walter in the beginning because he was doing something to make money for his family before he died. When he turned down all that money from his friends I started to dislike him.

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[deleted] t1_ix416zu wrote

Replying to BasquiatGhost (#590,309)

The ending definitely complexes the film. He's "succeeded" but at what cost? His mental health, his family, social life. I know it's ultimately about the cycle of abuse, and that's why the movie is so unique. He never breaks the cycle of abuse, in fact it ends on the "honeymoon" phase of the cycle, i.e. the desperate hope that you've satisfied your abuser, that things have worked out and they like you and won't hurt you.

I agree with you. I understand how it might be easy to think that the film had a happy ending if you didn't pay enough attention during the film.

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thesanmich t1_ix5gx8y wrote

Replying to VravoBince (#588,244)

Tbh, Walter is just such an amazing character. I enjoy seeing him because of his ambition and intelligence. Honestly, its almost inspiring in the same way films like Nightcrawler and Whiplash are, despite the fact that they’re all more like cautionary tales. Lets fucking admit, we all want a little bit of Heisenberg in us. The story is framed where he’s this dying middle aged dude who never achieved his dreams, and becomes a badass due to circumstance.

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