Heathers

Heathers genuinely surprised me! I thought it was going to be a Clueless clone but i was very mistaken. It seems so strange that a movie like this exists to a post columbine kid. This movie is brutal in it's satire and it's style is impeccable. The color coordinated outfits and lighting give the film an awesome theatrical style. The reading mentions how the film creates it's own slang. I think it's interesting as someone who never directly experienced the 80`s I recognized terms like "fuck me gently with a chainsaw." It got me thinking about how the decade is colored by popular perception. When I think about the 80's all I can think is shoulder pads, the word "RAD" and The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Heathers feels like a movie from the future that is        mocking 80's sensibility and style except for the school violence.

The school shooting/ bombing aspect of the film was interesting because of it's flippant treatment. Now, that would all be treated very seriously and the film would be a tragedy about poor Veronica who got pushed too far and became a monster, probably a lot of stark colors and handheld camera work. There would be outraged mothers groups and local politicians spewing about it for two weeks and everybody would forget. The film is a mean spirited, cynical and the reading put it;s finger on it by calling the film nihilistic and I greatly enjoyed it. This movie spits on all that preoccupies our news cycle today and it gave me a great big laugh. This film's moral code resides strictly in the grey, the idea that in school if you die everybody whitewashes you down to saint was an awesome angle of attack because it's true. People tend to forget what a person was truly like once they are in the ground, it's the great revisionism of life.

Wall Street

This being my first time seeing Wall Street I was dubious as to how much I would like it, but was pleasantly surprised by it. I think the film is a very telling story of the modern "American Dream." Gekko in many circles would be viewed as a hero, a good American capitalist who has the guts to do what it takes to succeed. In many ways Gekko is the perfect conservative hero. He is staunchly individual forcing others to conform to him not the other way around and he like the heroes of beloved gangster movies gives us a rush a vicarious thrill.

I think the reading nailed it when talking about breaching one's ethics and testing one's moral flexibility when starting one's career. Bud must break into the business, Gekko sees his obsession and tests his limits with spy jobs  and information gathering along with social engineering. Gekko pulls the strings and Bud dances hoping to one day pull those strings himself as the reading offers up the idea of balancing early ethical breaches with responsible behavior later. Another thing that interested me was how the film showed you why Gekko can do what does. In many shots you see stock tickers flying by and the zoo at the exchange, and it makes you realize how detached the normal person is from their economy. The world of Wall Street is filled with it's own jargon and it comes off as gibberish and Gekko knows that. He can exploit the knowledge gap between workers and management and his world to his benefit.

This detachment from the economic process really points out Gekko's 1 percent speech and makes his brilliant outmaneuvering of the Teldar management all them ore impressive. He can speak in Wall Street terms and move crowds with fiery rhetoric. He is great satire on the chasers of the "Dream" and the image purported by our society on what it takes to make it. Gekko carries all the trademarks of the devil and it's impossible to not wonder what he'll do next.

Our discussion in class about how Gekko creates and sells nothing also ties into this detachment from the economic process. Gekko is an information broker hiding behind jargon and double talk. Like the law the Wall Street economy is nebulous and inaccessible to most people allowing as history has shown for an elite few to blindside the national and global economy  and crash it.