Frank keeps refusing to put the glasses on and instead thinks it's a better idea to get into a big street fight. Instead of them beating the hell out of each other, why didn't Frank just put the glasses on? Even if it was to just humor Nada. I never understood that.
shareAs he says while beating up Nada "Man, I told you I didn't want to be inVOLVED!"
Frank knew they were hiding something at the camp, just like Nada did. He also saw the way the authorities cracked down on the place, and knew there was some larger conspiracy going on.
But he recognized the danger in knowing the truth. The people who ran the camp knew, and they got attacked. Nada found out, and now he's a murderer and a fugitive.
Frank has a family to support, and beyond giving Nada a few bucks to help him on his way, wants no part of it.
That scene's also a great metaphor for the difficulty in getting someone else, anyone else, to see things "your way" even for a moment.
shareYou and tenantennae = nail + head.
Well said, the both of you.
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"Leave the gun. Take the cannoli."
Exactly. Even if they suspect or respect you, they don't want any part of the 'madness'.
George Orwell was an optimist.
Frank was just stubborn like that lol
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If it's true that the glasses are "LSD", then it makes sense.
But just to wear sunglasses - it seems a bit extreme, and kind of ridiculous and unbelievable at the same time.
I mean, if someone that I could call a friend was THAT adamant that I wear some stupid sunglasses for a couple of minutes, I would probably humor him.. "Ok, if it means THAT much to you, and if it will calm you down, sure. Let me have the glasses, I'll wear them."
I know it's a metaphor of how difficult it is to get anyone to understand or know (let alone accept) the truth (me of anyone should be familiar with THAT difficulty), but because it indeed IS just a pair of sunglasses, it doesn't really work.
If it had been a pill or something, it would make total sense and there wouldn't be many complaints against it. But sunglasses? SUNGLASSES?
Come on. It's a harmless, painless, easy thing to do, there are no side-effects (that the other guy knows about), nothing needs to be eaten or drank, nothing is injected, your body is completely safe, and so on. It's not even a hat that could mess up your hair (not that that necessarily applies in THIS case, but you know what I mean) or a shirt/jacket/boots that are cumbersome to change/wear, or could make you hot (or taking off your other stuff might make you cold).
It's like taking a yo-yo or a piece of paper in your hand, and then giving it back. It's SUCH a small favor that any human being would gladly and easily do it, in that kind of a situation, especially if the other guy is that adamant about it.
Of course the SUN-worshipping elite has to be reminded that the makers of the movie are REALLY on their side... hence the SUN-glasses.
Why else couldn't it be a pill, for example? What kind of a sense does it make that using sunglasses gives you headaches and highs? A pill of some kind would make perfect sense in all possible levels and scenes, but that whole sunglasses-theme doesn't. Why would just some visual filters have the power to alter your consciousness, bloodstream or anything? (And because of this reason, it's unrealistic that the fight is that huge about it)
I guess it's just bad writing. The norm of the planet.
Nada has been reported to have just walked into a post office and shot a bunch of (supposedly) innocent people in cold blood. So Frank believes that Nada has become seriously unhinged. I mean, can you blame him? If someone you know had just committed a murdering spree, would you be inclined to listen properly to whatever ideology prompted them to do it? What if shortly after the shooting in Charleston, Dylann Roof had cornered you and demanded you put on his sunglasses so you could see the evil demon personas of all black churchgoers?
Frank might have feared that either Nada was using the sunglasses as some kind of delusional trick with no good outcome: if he did put on the sunglasses and saw nothing, then what would Nada do to him? And if he saw nothing and lied about seeing what Nada saw (to keep from getting killed), he would be feeding into Nada's delusions and making Nada more determined to kill more people. He was also worried about Nada forcing him to be his accomplice.
In most real life cases, the smartest option at that point would be for Frank to try to avoid having anything to do with Nada. It's not so much about "I don't want to know" but more about "Dude, you're killing people, and I'm not going to enable you or pretend that what you're doing is okay, but if I'll just say I don't want to get involved so maybe you won't see me as another enemy that must be killed."
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I tend to agree with avortac. I get that the scene is metaphorical, but still, it has to be at least a little plausible on the face of it. During that endless street fight, I kept expecting Nada to say at any moment "all this over a pair of fucking sunglasses..."
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There are a lot of explanations on this thread, but I just thought he didn't want to be forced to do anything. I can be pretty stubborn too and I understand where he's coming from
R.I.P. Rick Ducommun and Tony Longoshare
Pure Comedic GENIUS. Beating the crap out of a black guy to force him to wear sunglasses is like beating up a Jewish person to force him to take extra money. I couldn't stop laughing during the whole scene! 😎
shareRead Plato's allegory of the cave!.. Some people don't WANT to "see the light"
Also, a similar thing happened to Tom Cruise's "wife" in Oblivion.. She refused to listen to the shocking truth because it'll force her to take action and "leave Paradise"
It's a gnostic theme.
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"It's Got Electrolytes!" -Idiocracy
There's a part of the classic fight scene when Roddy has David down on the ground and he's kicking him repeatedly in the (bleep). That part was hysterical! I was like...these old guys are going at it...over a pair of glasses!
sharesimilar thing happened to Tom Cruise's "wife" in Oblivion..
It's a play on people's refusal to see the truth before their eyes. It's just a sad fact of nature that most people will fight with you tooth and nail and call you crazy rather than see the simple truth that's already before their eyes. This happens today. Try and tell someone that there is no fundamental difference between the Republican Party and the Democratic Party and you're likely to find yourself in a street brawl with a guy who just refuses to look.
This movie is frackin genius.
By the way, I am right behind you.