Misunderstood Movies

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Which films have audiences completely missed the point of (spoilers in brackets please)?

For example, people criticise Legally Blonde for showing the stereotype of a dumb blonde, whereas the whole point of the film was that a woman can have shallow frivolous interests and be intelligent. Looks aren't everything.



Many people think Spring Breakers (2012) glorifies hedonism and criminal lifestyle when really it is neutral on that. It is rather an experience movie than movie with a message.



Says you.
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Say any thoughtful person, I would hope.

Regardless, the thread is about movies and their misunderstood messages, as distinct from whether you agree with them.



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The Game (1997). Everyone I talk to likes the movie, up until the ending, which they felt ruined it or brought it down a lot, but I feel that maybe they just didn't understand the ending.



Verhoeven's Showgirls.


Satirical look at the perverted and sexist side of show-business... completely ripping the p*ss out of the high end management of the biz... yet people thought it was a serious movie
Watch Showgirls today after all the stuff that's been going on with Savile and Weinstein... and remember that Verhoeven is a satirical filmmaker... and Showgirls makes a whole lot more sense.



Hell, Verhoeven actually showed in person at the Razzies to collect his award...


... and still nobody twigged he was doing it solely because even the Razzies missed the point.



The Game (1997). Everyone I talk to likes the movie, up until the ending, which they felt ruined it or brought it down a lot, but I feel that maybe they just didn't understand the ending.
I loved the ending! It made so much sense in hindsight.
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Verhoeven's Showgirls.


Satirical look at the perverted and sexist side of show-business... completely ripping the p*ss out of the high end management of the biz... yet people thought it was a serious movie
Watch Showgirls today after all the stuff that's been going on with Savile and Weinstein... and remember that Verhoeven is a satirical filmmaker... and Showgirls makes a whole lot more sense.



Hell, Verhoeven actually showed in person at the Razzies to collect his award...


... and still nobody twigged he was doing it solely because even the Razzies missed the point.
I don't think people didn't like Showgirls because they didn't understand that it was suppose to be a satire. I thought we all new it was a satire, but we just didn't like it because it was a bad, poorly done satire. Wasn't that the reason?



It's classed under Erotic Drama... it's only in recent years that critics have realised it's a satire tbh.
Taken 25 years for people to realise it, but at least the movie has finally been recognised



On release, it was slammed for being misogynistic because people didn't realise it was satirizing misogyny... and the only person to really get the movie was Tarantino who said it was probably the first big budget exploitation movie.



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Oh okay, but I didn't think it was a good satire though. I mean it's not near as well done of a satire compared to say... The Truman Show, or even Natural Born Killers in comparison.



I agree with Showgirls having less than subtle satire.
It's hard to spot on first viewing, but like every Verhoeven movie, you need to remember PV is a satirist. Somewhere, somehow, the guy is going to subvert expectations.


I think the only movie he's made since 1980 that isn't satire, is Hollow Man... and PV himself said he didn't like it. It's also the only movie he's made, that he himself didn't like.



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But I thought people didn't like Showgirls, because they thought it was a poorly done movie, not because of it being misunderstood as satire. Does this mean that all movies that are satires are good then, and there is no such thing as a poorly done satire, because if the movie is a satire, that automatically makes it good?



That's where the wires got crossed I think.
The acting is hammy and OTT, the sex scenes are almost fantastical, the violence is gratuitous, the story is unbelievable.
Like I've said many times with PV... if you forget that he's a satirist, and he's unflinching when it comes to sex and violence, it's easy to take his movies at face value and think they're bad movies.

Just having a re-read of @Yoda's essay...
Originally Posted by Yoda
“The quality of satire is not measured by the number of people who don't get it.”

And although I agree with that statement, I have to throw in that the quality of Verhoeven's movies, is measured by the number of people who don't get him.
Let's face it, Verhoeven turning up to the Razzies and people thinking he was just a good sport, sums him up to a T.


This is what makes him my #1 director.



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Oh okay, I have no problem with sex and violence in movies necessarily as I have seen other movies that have them. It's just with Showgirls I found it very boring and non-compelling, even with the sex and violence, and there didn't really seem to be much of a theme as to where the movie was actually going. But I could give it another watch.



Seen all his movies
The older stuff a long time ago, and it's tough for me to get DVDs of his older movies as I don't shop online (no credit cards).
I got all of his movies released after RoboCop, including Elle, but I really want to get his back-catalogue.



⬆️ You could stream it for a couple of pounds according to Amazon.co.uk. But I forgot, you don’t have a credit card. HOW does one survive these days without a credit card? I’ve noticed some businesses here not taking cash (due to the virus?).

The only dvd they have is a US import so you’d need a multi-region player.

Amazon here even has a vhs tape for sale. They have the dvd too, but, again, you need a multi-region player.