Issue films that bottle it

[abigsmurf]

I watched Hard Candy the other day which was one of those 'issue' films that deals with a touchy subject and presents a debate to the viewer.

It was a fairly interesting take on the subject of pedophiles and sexual predators and vigilantism until about 10 minutes before the end

->Open Spoiler<-

when it becomes clear the guy was involved in the murder of her friend and the viewer is made to feel he deserves what happened to him

.

Another issue film was A Time To Kill which basically at the end says

->Open Spoiler<-

revenge killings are ok if the people did something especially horrible (Not quite sure how something written by a lawyer can come to that conclusion).

Are there any films other people can think of that seem to present an complex look at a subject matter and pretend to let the viewer decide only to force the viewer to take a side right before the end or the films end up shying away from uncomfortable conclusions?

[spagmasterswift]

Good thread. I'm gonna throw in Falling Down. Its starts off addressing how the stresses of modern life can push you over the edge, but then instead turns out that the everyman character is in fact

->Open Spoiler<-

already ****house nuts

. Shame.

[Lyris]

Agree totally about Hard Candy, it was so obnoxious. The character of the girl was so irritating, I wasn't sure if the audience was actually meant to be feeling sorry for the pedophile or what.

Just about any episode of South Park that deals with issues, I find, does the same thing.

[prinnysquad]

Good thread. I'm gonna throw in Falling Down. Its starts off addressing how the stresses of modern life can push you over the edge, but then instead turns out that the everyman character is in fact

->Open Spoiler<-

already ****house nuts

. Shame.

Not sure about this one. His ex-wife in the film says that he has a 'propensity for violence' or something, so it's already well established that he's a

->Open Spoiler<-

nutter

. I'm not so sure that it was ever meant to be about society causing everyman to fall off the edge. It was society keeping him relatively sane,

->Open Spoiler<-

until it broke down in minor scale chaos and antagonisms and caused him to flip, unleashing the psychosis that already existed in him. i.e., he wasn't an everyman.

As such, it's not really a cop-out.

->Open Spoiler<-

A nutter gets skanked in minor faMMydoDDs and goes ape.

At no point did I think that he was an everyman, so I dunno, maybe I just saw it differently from the offset.

[spagmasterswift]

Well I've not seen it since watching it in the cinema way back when so you could well be right. I guess I liked the direction I thought the film was heading in more than what it was actually about.

*tries to think of another one*

That Gandi movie was bull****!!!

[prinnysquad]

Well I've not seen it since watching it in the cinema way back when so you could well be right. I guess I liked the direction I thought the film was heading in more than what it was actually about.

*tries to think of another one*

That Gandi movie was bull****!!!

LOL although it could be me watching it in a really warped way... and talking bollocks! Point-missing ftw!

[MattyD]

Falling Down was more about the fall of the American right I think than 'everyman' per se. It did a good job of highlighting a lot of the contradictions in American politics - it's OK to be a neo-con but Nazis are bad, stuff like that.

Team America was a cop-out IMO - it starts out parodying the war on terror (quite well too I might add) but it's clear that at some point they ran out of steam and it goes proper bat**** mental when they start including all the movie stars and Hollywood jokes. The film has a go at both sides to the argument but doesn't really draw any conclusions of its own.

[Matt]

Nonsense. TA draws lots of conclusions, and summarises brilliantly the issues at the heart of the movie.

[Ady]

Agree totally about Hard Candy, it was so obnoxious. The character of the girl was so irritating, I wasn't sure if the audience was actually meant to be feeling sorry for the pedophile or what.

Urgh that film was embarrassing. It was so heavy-handed and clumsy in its delivery as well. It didn't have characters so much as caricatures.

I don't get what's so wrong about Falling Down either.

[spagmasterswift]

I don't get what's so wrong about Falling Down either.

IT WAS 16 YEARS AGO!!!!

[Atticus]

Good thread. I'm gonna throw in Falling Down. Its starts off addressing how the stresses of modern life can push you over the edge, but then instead turns out that the everyman character is in fact

->Open Spoiler<-

already ****house nuts

. Shame.

Agree with this 100&#37;. The fact he was a

->Open Spoiler<-

fruitcake

made the premise irrelevant.

[merf]

was Falling Down an 'issue' film, I just thought it was a piece of dramatic entertainment.

I'm not sure Hard Candy falls into the category either

for me issue films are those that set out to clearly take a stand with an aim to furthering a viewpoint beyond merely entertaining people. not something mainstream hollywood movies have much of a track record of.

wouldn't films like the Insider or Erin Brokevich (spelling ???) be more 'issue' films ?

[prinnysquad]

Agree with this 100&#37;. The fact he was a

->Open Spoiler<-

fruitcake

made the premise irrelevant.

Bleurgh. Looked at another angle, I thought that the film was meant to be a dark comedy, too, not such a po-faced treatise. The fact that he's a fruitloop anyway goes some way to justifying the comedy of his totally OTT actions.

You shouldn't be wasting time thinking about this - you've got games to win for our team!

[bash]

Forest Gump shied away from Hiv/Aids which I thought was a cop out at the time.

[Leon Retro]

I think it's very difficult to make films dealing with some of the subjects mentioned. Documentaries approach things better. Films are supposed to be entertaining, which stops them from really feeling real, or dealing with important issues in a way that is totally satisfying.

I mean, you have a script which has to be written to entertain. Then you have the actors, who might not be perfect for the roles. If you want the cold hard truth about any serious issue, watch a documentary.

Most of the time, films that tackle serious issues, come across as pretentious. Also, like Hard Candy, they can be very irriatating and stupid.

I don't think anyone shoud watch any film expecting it to truely reflect reality. Just take the story for what it is - because even the best films are just fantasy at the end of the day. I think some people take them too seriously.

When it comes to Falling Down. I think the main character isn't totally nuts. He's got issues, but.. the people and situations he comes across, are far more dangerous than he is. The ending is negative, because it is the ultimate conclusion for a guy who simply had enough of life and all the bull**** that goes with it.