Thursday, June 23, 2011
Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas
This movie starts out with a trip to Vegas and the main character's crazy ways. He walks and talks crazy and has a cigarette in his mouth most of the time. The two main characters show how some men live their lives, out of control and to excess. They get their way and walk around in a drug induced state. I like how they take care of each other and Gonzo is concerned about his friend. These are the only masculine traits I see in the movie.
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I agree. I don't see the traditional masculine traits we have viewed. I'm not sure how to interpret this one. It seems that two guys party to excess.The lawyer seems to take a break from it but I never see the Johnny Depp character taking a break and makes me wonder if his character is constantly stoned.
ReplyDeleteThis movie was a strong contrast to many other films we have watched in the class but I think that it exemplified what Trice and Holland are talking about in Chapter 13, essentially that men in the 1980s and 1990s have been portrayed as idiots. Specifically, Depp fit into the "lucky fool" persona because he "seems to have nothing particular going for him but an endless stream of lucky breaks" (p. 192). Men have been characterized as idiots or dolts for a while but according to the book, there have been many of such portrayals in the 80s and 90s which have garnered a lot of attention. Watching it, I was confused as to what I could take from it but apparently it fits into another example of masculinity, the dolt. He certainly seems to get a lot of lucky breaks as he continues on in this crazy drug trip but manages to stay in hotel after hotel and enter many different events without being thoroughly questioned.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Depp playing the "lucky fool". He definitely has more luck then most even in his excessive drug induced state. However, I do not think Gonzo is real concerned with his friend's life. I believe this because within his drug induced state Gonzo threatens Depp's character's life. This is something that Depp's character undoubtable would tell him about and is also something that would not be a one time occurrence.
ReplyDeleteI would have to agree Depp's character seems as though he is just along for the ride and anyone in that position would not want to "rock the boat" if you will and cause problems. I feel like he perhaps takes these drugs, because that is how he perceives normal life to be in Vegas a surreal experience and for him to truly know what it is that brings people back to that place year after year he needs to experience it from ever aspect that there is.
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