Levels of Reality in Genre Fiction

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I agree with the some people about The Usual Suspects in that the movie also felt pointless to me since the whole thing was a lie.

And yet they're all lies, through and through. Hogwarts does not exist, nor Falstaff, nor Oedipus. If the devil is the father of lies, then the greatest trick he ever pulled was the creation of narrative fiction, literature is but an elaborate lie, and "beware the storyteller" is as good a point as any. Another point is, "beware your biases and assumptions." Kujan assumes Verbal is stupid and tells him that he is not going to go anywhere until he tells him what he wants to hear. Verbal obliged him.



The trick is not minding
Of course The Usual Suspects was told as a “lie”. The main character is making it up as he goes along, feeding us, the viewers, as well as the detective, a story that obviously didn’t happen because of who he is.
The movie itself is not a “lie” anymore than Rashomon, with its multiple point of views of the same event each ending differently.

It’s lazy criticism.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Well I feel that Rashomon was a lot better because I cared about the situation more and found the characters more compelling, especially the protagonist. I guess The Usual Suspect's story I felt did not have any depth for me to get sucked into in comparison. I guess Rashomon just made me care about the lies.



Well I feel that Rashomon was a lot better because I cared about the situation more and found the characters more compelling, especially the protagonist. I guess The Usual Suspect's story I felt did not have any depth for me to get sucked into in comparison. I guess Rashomon just made me care about the lies.

I don't think that your experience here was unique. I think a lot of people were turned off by this film as it breaks a rule of story-telling which is "the lie must be true(ish?) for the duration of the lie... ...er, I mean story." Reminding the viewer that the story is just a lie during the story is a bit like a prostitute reminding you that s/he is only doing it for the money in middle of the conjugal act. I think that this is what bothered people--the film transgressed a boundary condition that is not explicitly written anywhere but part of a tacit-contract of how reality functions in fiction. Myself, I love the Usual Suspects, however, I am more interested in why people rejected the film "for lying," than I am in judging them for doing so.



Is the previous post about Rashomon or The Usual Suspects, or both?

The Usual Suspects



I didn't really get a strong sense of tension from Rashomon, even though the writing was usually very impressive. The Usual Suspects was one brutal but well-told story that always kept pushing the boundaries of tension.



Movie Forums Squirrel Jumper
Well I guess The Usual Suspects was well paced and cut for sure, if that adds to it, but I felt Rashomon had more to say when it comes to believing witnesses in crimes, and themes of jealousy and lust.

Also, in The Usual Suspects I felt cheated how the main character in the flashbacks changes appearances in order to support the lie with different actors playing him. Whereas at least in Rashomon the same actors still played the same characters in te lie, so it didn't feel as forced for me if that makes sense.