tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post5222396681802927391..comments2024-03-28T20:37:08.491+11:00Comments on The Audient: The quality of a movie vs. the morals of its charactersDerek Armstronghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13750747272647975591noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-49747891704042971022010-04-26T11:07:25.107+10:002010-04-26T11:07:25.107+10:00Don, you present an interesting perspective that I...Don, you present an interesting perspective that I agree with to an extent. Where I disagree is the level of fame you ascribe to Tucker Max. Perhaps I've just been living under a rock, but I wasn't even aware there was a person named Tucker Max until about two months ago. I'd like to think I'm generally in tune with famous pop culture personalities -- I'm familiar with the characters on Jersey Shore, for example, even though I've never watched the program -- and I didn't know who he was. There are always people who everyone else knows but you, and Max may be one of those people. But to be fully convinced that this is an image makeover, I'd have to believe that more people were familiar with his image in the first place. <br /><br />Then again, I suppose you can be trying to make over your image even if you are only known to your group of friends. So I guess the question is, how famous does a person have to be for us to consider their movie a crass and calculating attempt to portray themselves in a better light?<br /><br />And even setting aside this question, it just goes back to how our perceptions of movies are highly personal. We all see movies with different awareness levels of what went into them, which is clearly what allowed me to enjoy this movie more than you did. That's why it's kind of important for a critic to try to set aside those influences and review it on its own terms. (And since I actually will be reviewing this film, it's an important discussion point.) Did the movie entertain me? Yes. Did I consider it to have meaningful insights on gender relations and friendships? Yes, though that's probably crediting it with slightly more intellectualism than it deserves. Did I feel like Max was trying to take himself down a peg, but wink a little bit at the audience to show you that he was still a slimy jerk despite all he had "learned"? Yes, and that kind of made me appreciate it a little bit more -- it was honest enough to indicate that although he had legitimately gained some insight about how to be a better person, he was still a scoundrel at heart.Derek Armstronghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13750747272647975591noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7877371347086447490.post-82940343169408638652010-04-26T10:43:14.837+10:002010-04-26T10:43:14.837+10:00Vance, I applaud your ability to look beyond what ...Vance, I applaud your ability to look beyond what a film appears to be, but in this case I don't agree with your take at all.<br /><br />I actually think of this film as an elaborate make-over of Tucker Max. And while I do think you're accurately portraying him as the most despicable character in the film, the level of discpicability the character Tucker Max in the film is given is proportionally far lower than what the real life guy achieves. Movie Tucker is believable based on real-life Tucker's reputation (people know him to be despicable, and they will find the character in the film to also be despicable) but he also washes some of the filth out of Tucker Max;s reputation - people will see this film and think 'oh he's not actually THAT bad'. So what you're defending is a fluff piece designed to make a real life guy seem less evil than he is. <br /><br />Surely this film should be asked to stand on its own, and by those merits, maybe you've accurately described it. But I saw it and I thought it was a piece of shit. I thought it stayed in the gutter too long and that all of its characters (except the peach of the video-game stripper mom) were unlikeable for various reasons. I also thought the film-making was sloppy (which is an aspect of the film you didn't discuss in your "recommendation").<br /><br />But maybe I didn't like it because I can't separate my opinions of Tucker Max from the film. Maybe that's unfair, but I have to say that the film was certainly trying to white-wash this loser. Trying and failing. When I was formulating my opinion of this movie after seeing it last year I thought a lot about the validity of considering the real-life Max. Ultimately I decided that you HAVE to consider the real life guy when judging a movie like this...especially if you recognize that its designed to reinvent a public figure. Think of the People Vs. Larry Flynt - a film that is only marginally more successful than I Hope They Serve Beer In Hell - could you imagine watching that film with no reference point regarding Flynt? It wouldn't have worked at all...that film, like Beer/Hell assumes that we know about its subject, and they're both trying to tell us that the subject isn't as bad as we thought. The difference is that Flynt has some Freedom of Speech elements embedded in its white wash, whereas Tucker Max gives us poop.<br /><br />I still love you though.Don Handsomehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04448844952916507647noreply@blogger.com