The ultimate dickhead film

[notjosh]

This is why I chose the Fast & Furious films. The first isn't anything I'd ever put on a list of films I'd recommend to anybody, but it sort of serves a purpose. Since then there's been a seemingly unending series of pointless shallow nonsense aimed entirely at people whose idea of a good film is 'lots of action and car chases' and literally nothing else.

Yes, but it's deeper than that because it's family. And you don't leave family behind. Not when you're family. This is family business. For family.

They're a family, you see.

[Dr Syntax Head]

The Room is becoming one now it's existence is known by the normals

[Golden E. Pump]

The Room is becoming one now it's existence is known by the normals

You're tearing me apart right there, Syntax.

[confettiinmyhair]

The Wolf of Wall Street. It's not necessarily the film itself in these cases, it is the mimicry and influence by the dickheads themselves. In this cause those slicked back haircuts and fake tan TOWIE look, and the gratuitous boasts about money and cars on social media.

[Eight Taiwanese Teenagers]

You've hit the nail on the head there. The ultimate dickhead films are ones which satirise dickhead behaviour in a way which is too subtle for dickheads to pick up on, only going to reinforce their dickheadishness.

[marquis_de_sad]

I dunno how much WoWS satirises its subject. It shows them at their worst, warts and all, but ultimately its presented as the crazy war stories of a bunch of top lads. Who does the film root for, the legend on the yacht or the loser on the subway? The truly negative stuff (e.g.

Spoiler alert

the gut punch

[close]

) is there to stop the story being a hagiography. By showing him doing something unambiguously bad and unforgivable, the film makes it easier for the audience to love DiCaprio's character. It humanises him, but it doesn't satirise him. The film positively revels in the excess and stupidity and it would be a lot harder to enjoy if it only showed the good side. For me the point where the film abandoned any pretence of satire (if it ever had it) was the big speech about the female character working her ass off to feed her kids or whatever. At best, if it's satire, it went full Poe. But I don't think it's a satire any more than Goodfellas is a satire. As well as letting the audience off the hook, the ugliness is part of what makes it cool.

[Eight Taiwanese Teenagers]

I think goodfellas is satire too.

Edit: on a moments reflection, no i don't

[Monsieur Verdoux]

The Wolf of Wall Street and Goodfellas are closer to being reverie than satire. It's about vicariously enjoying the rhythms, energy, triumphs and risks of amorality. Scorsese may not like sinners, but he enjoys them more than he probably should. So do we all, perhaps.