[quote=“Noir_Fiction”]
I’m really tired of the debate, this movie, like all movies, like everything is either good or isn’t. But that isn’t dependant on the film itself but on the person watching it. I love Death Proof, it’s a very enjoyable film for me. I know a lot of people were [color=red]expecting something else, whatever that is, but it is what it is. It’s about the journey like all QT’s films. It’s not about where you’re going but how you get there and [color=red]QT is a master at enthralling journeys. Watching the film only a few days ago I’m reminded more of Hitchcock’s Psycho than a B-movie slasher film, which may have been [color=red]the source of all this discourse. Advertised as a old school throwaway the [color=red]film is much more than it appears. A lot of my peers have said that they find the girls(the first set) to be unlikeable, annoying and shallow… which is the point. The first girls aren’t good people. They use men as disposable objects and then discard them, they’re bullies, they’re shallow. We sympathize with Pam, who’s abandoned and picked on by Jungle Julia, and then we revel in Stuntman Mike, the hero. he’s cool, he’s funny, he’s got more style and charm in that jagged scar than most do in they’re entire body. The loser boytoys Julia and the rest play with make fun of him. He get’s rejected by JJ and almost Arlene, he charms her. Only after, when he kills the innocent Pam do we decide to pass judgment on him.
And we meet(or re-introduced to) Earl McGraw… he explains, gives us some insight into Mike and his manic ways, very similar to the scene in Psycho which splits the film up after Janet Leigh is killed. Our sympathy is transfered from Marion to her sister and her lover and even Norman. The same happens in DP. We now care about his next victims because we know his method.
Now we’re introduced to the second set of girls. They’re genuine, real, funny, and they lead interesting lives. There’s a tight knit quality between them. In the diner we learn a little about each of them which plays into the rest of the film. Each small conversation, Lee almost falling for Kim’s quip about being a secret service agent shows her as slightly dim and shows up later when she’s the only one left with the trucker. Abby feeling insecure about being weak but having her own talents which she later uses to convince the Trucker to let them take the car, etc etc. This is the power of QT’s writing, he may seem to be writing dialogue with no purpose… but it’s all purpose, it not only creates characters we can relate too but adds and move the plot forward.
Mike scopes out the women, see’s them as victims like the rest, but they are much more than that. They’re scared at first, but seek revenge. They fight back, they don’t run, they don’t hide. They follow him. And they win. It’s the epitome of a great ending. The heroes are victorious, the villain, humiliated.
It’s not for everyone, of course not. He’s never made a film for a universal audience. Pulp Fiction was lightening in a bottle, he’s a niche filmmaker and this is as obscure as one can get.
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Very well said, sir!!
I am particularly impressed by your melodic writing as highlighted above.