Movies that I just don't get

[Mallus]

I agree completely. I just do not get people's love affair with these shows and movies that are basically about complete and utter scum.

Tony Soprano is not "cool" he is a violent thug who enjoys hurting people. He deserves life in prison or the electric chair.

Tony Soprano may deserve the chair, but Gandolfini certainly deserves an Emmy [or more Emmy's]...

I think its pretty easy to explain why people enjoy a good Mafia story. And the neat thing is, their appeal works on multiple levels.

First off, who in their heart of hearts doesn't wish they were above the rules that govern polite society for time to time. Who hasn't been cut off on the highway and fantasized about following the jerk to a rest stop, whacking him, and depositing the body in a large, Mob-owned trash recepticle?

So the primary appeal is power-fantasy. Pure id. The same reason people respond to Conan [the Cimmerian, not O'Brien]. I think it should be easy for a gamer to sympathize with this.

And like RPG's, Mafia narratives are governed by rules. They usually provide a clear context for such antisocial actions. In Mafia fictions, there is a level of honor among thieves. And this fiction serves to both defang them as societal threats --hey, only the bad, compromised people get whacked--, and enoble them, particularly since their actions are often contrasted against those of equally criminal corrupt police, who hypocritcally betray the public trust.

Then there's the Mafia as empowerment angle. The Godfather series plays with this one big time. Good people come to America and face disenfranchisement, discrimination, a lack of economic mobility, so they resort to whatever means neccessary to achieve the American dream. This particular thread runs through American fictions from The Great Gatsby to Scarface. And in the end they're always tradegies; it never works out, you end up dead in your pool or coked to high heaven and shot into a million pieces. No matter how much a valorization of criminals goes on, these stories end up as pretty cut-and-dry morality plays.

Then there's Tony... the Everybadman. People like him so much because its so easy to identify with him, with his weakness, his endless capacity for rationalization and self-deception that gets him through the day. They treat the obscene violence he's capable of as metaphor, which is the whole point.

 

[KidCthulhu]

I don't get slapstick. Mr. Bean is a good example. I adore Atkinson, and still think Blackadder was one of the funniest TV programs ever. But comedy based on people falling in poo, or getting hit with ladders doesn't work for me. Poo-poo humor falls into the same category.

I think the point of the thread is the question "what do other people love in movies that leaves you cold"

We could ask the same question of actors/actresses whom everyone loves, but who you don't get. I'd put Bill Murray in that category. I've liked many of his films, but I always find watching him a painful experiece. He just comes across as a jerk.

 

[Desdichado]

Anime. I keep trying to like it, and I simply can't find one that is better than "OK" at most.

 

[KenM]

DBZ is all about turning your brain on 'super-low' and watching the pretty colors and explosions on screen.

You mean like the end fight in Matrix: Revolutions?

 

[ssampier]

I just don't get jackass... is it me?

Frankly I don't understand the appeal of shows like Jackass. You have three people that do insanely stupid, inane stunts on the show to what end? Many times they end up in the hospital. On such occassions the stuntperson acts like it is a badge of honor to get hurt. My friends love this show and try as I may I can't like it.

Other movies that little appeal to me are movies like Titanic; I haven't even seen the movie and I can tell you what happens (I'm sure I wouldn't miss anything). The aforementioned appeal of LifeTime movies are confusing, too.

I never understood anime, especially the small woman, big breast stereotype. I'm glad I'm not the only one who doesn't "get it".

 

[Evil Eli]

I just don't get into the whole "Something about Mary, Zoolander, and most Jim Carrey movies. The whole schtick bores me to death.

 

[Berandor]

Small women need to have small breasts. Otherwise, where's the fun?
But I don't get most anime, either. I like a very select few (with Record of Lodoss War among them, and some of the better structured ones), but most of it simply has no appeal to me.
Still, I enjoyed Mononoke Hime and Spirited Away. *shrug*

B

 

[Cthulhu's Librarian]

Anime. When I'm supposed to tell the characters apart by the color/shape/size of their hair, it doesn't work for me.

 

[Heretic Apostate]

I just don't get the Kirk Douglas movie, Scalawag. Not that I don't get it, but in several years of searching on eBay, I have yet to find it for sale. (At least, at a time when I did the search... Maybe I should put an email-notification on the search... Though I mostly just see stuff about Scalawag the Monkey and Scalawag movie posters...)

Sorry, off topic.

 

[dagger]

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