Films with questionable messages

[J.R.]

I'm talking about movies with morals or lessons that don't really make sense or are just plain goofy-

Grease-  Women should lose their individuality and join the crowd to get a guy.

Dragonheart- A talking dragon died for our sins.

Star Trek V- God isn't out there, He's here, the human heart. This was obviously the last Trek film Gene Roddenberry had anything to do with.

[nshumate]

While we're talking Star Trek, howsabout the moral of "The Cage"?

"Pure anger and rage are the best defenses."

Nathan

[Foywonder]

You haven't been hanging out over at the capalert site again, JR? :)

[raj]

J.R. wrote:
>
> I'm talking about movies with morals or lessons that don't
> really make sense or are just plain goofy-
>
> Grease-  Women should lose their individuality and join the
> crowd to get a guy.

Actually I thought the message of Grease was that in order for a woman to get her guy she needed to become a slut.

[Gerry]

How about PRETTY WOMAN.

"Young women should become hookers, because it's a way to find their handsome, rich, prince charming."

Talk about warped!

[AndyC]

I thought the moral of The Cage was that real challenges and achievements were better than imaginary luxury. Of course, when it was repackaged as The Menagerie, we learn that living a lie is better than being handicapped.

Then again, in Pike's position, I'd probably opt for the lie as well.

[Luke Bannon]

Hmm, to quote MST3K on Jack Frost "Anyone remotely unattractive is evil!"

[Squishy]

"Titanic"--It's better to pitch jewelry into the sea than sell it and give the money to the needy.
"Sum Of All Fears"--A sky full of radioactive fallout holds no fear for The Pure Hero.

I'm surprised no one's brought up The Old Slasher Movie Message yet: If you have sex, a messed-up dead guy will come back and kill you with a garden implement.

[AndyC]

Many cop movies teach us that doing things by the book will never work, and it's naive to even try. The only way to bring a criminal to justice is to break rules, disobey orders, endanger other people and do as much damage as possible. While doing this, it is also helpful to heap verbal abuse on your superiors and make wise-ass remarks to people who disagree with you. They are, after all, wrong.

[Gerry]

Squishy wrote:
>
> I'm surprised no one's brought up The Old Slasher Movie
> Message yet: If you have sex, a messed-up dead guy will come
> back and kill you with a garden implement.

Is that all sex, or just *premarital* sex?

[Dano]

The moral of The Beach confused the HELL out of me!  This guy comes into this little stoner paradise that this harmless group of Phish fans started on a tropical island.  He first of all blows their secret before he even gets there by telling people.  Then he gets the drug dealers on the other end of the island p**sed off at the hippie colony.  Then he totally destroys their little society by screwing around with his friend's girlfriend, flaunting and laughing at the rules.  In the end he gets the whole lot of them booted off the island and a couple of them killed...

and as he leaves he delivers some self-righteous speech and tells THEM how fu***d up THEY all are and struts off like he just put a bunch of bratty kids in their place.  It was the most amazing thing I have ever seen in my entire life.  I couldn't tear myself away as much as it hurt.

Another one was "Do The Right Thing."  In the end the nice non-racist Italian pizza guy opens up his shop after closing time to serve some pizza to some of the local kids because he genuinely feels like he's a part of the neighborhood and wants to do the kids a favor.  Some fat jackass with a boom box comes in and sets it on the counter... and the pizza guy quite reasonably asks him to turn it down.  He turns it up.  The pizza guy gets mad, and the fat jackass attacks him!  The police show up and the fat jackass attacks them and gets himself shot or beat up or something.  Then the Spike Lee character, who has been employed by this nice old pizza guy, incites a riot and helps burn down the pizza parlor.  The next day, Spike shows up at the burned out pizza place and demands his back pay.  When he gets it, he struts off down the street like that Pizza guy was a fu**ing jerkoff and he had every right to destroy his life.  Can anyone make sense of that for me?

[Haze]

Hmmmmm.... Let's see.

Predator: Running after things you can't see will not get you killed, instead it will insure you are the only one left.

Predator 2: Blind Revenge will see you through at the expence of Bill Paxton.

Alien: When you lead the ship you are the first to die.

Aliens: Confronting your fears only leads to disaster.

Spider-man, Batman, and Darkman: Dawning spandex, you will save the world.

Carnosaur: Enviornmentalists are out to get us.

Carnosaur 2: a mix between Aliens and Jurassic Park will only strengthen your bond with a child.

Armageddon: When the end of the world comes, you want to make sure you are no longer wanted in 20 states.

Carnosaur 3: the advance of science is not worth a few lives.

[Dano]

Haze wrote:  Carnosaur: Enviornmentalists are out to get us.

*****  Same can be said for Ghostbusters.

[Will]

How about Big?

That chick totally does Tom Hanks. Sure, he LOOKS 30, but he's really a 12 year old. That's statutory rape where I come from.  What if Big had starred Sally Field instead of Tom Hanks? The adult who does her can''t say, well she LOOKED 30, and I was in love! Nope. That movie's all about statutory rape.

[J.R.]

Event Horizon- The entire human race is just a plaything for unspeakable evil, and there is a Hell, but no God.

Patch Adams- Completely unprofessional and unethical medical students are the true heroes.

What Dreams May Come- Every single theology is correct in a weird afterlife mish-mash. God exists, but doesn't seem to care. Everyone in Heaven is someone you knew in life, but they're diguised as someone else for no apparent reason. There is a Hell, but no one is punished so it's really just ornamental. You can be reincarnated if you want, or stay in Heaven, but it's really, really boring.

I agree with Dano on both of his examples, but it's expected in DTRT, because Spike Lee's films never have a clear message.

p.s.- Please excuse all the religious examples, it's just that I tend to notice those more.