MovieChat Forums > The Doom Generation (1995) Discussion > My Take On the Meaning

My Take On the Meaning

posted 20 years ago by aimless-46
23 replies | jump to latest

This film is not for everyone; violence, sex, and Rose McGowan says the F-Word more times than in all other movies I have seen combined. And if you are looking for a straight-forward story it will frustrate you. But Gregg Araki knows his stuff and pulls this together very nicely. Disregard the IMD review- anyone who compares this to Natural Born Killers just doesn't get it. If it compares to any movie, it would be Easy Rider but the allegorical elements are much more complicated in the DG. Some observations that might make for a better viewing experience: 1. While the sex scenes initially seem coarse, they eventually come across as strangely innocent; to be contrasted with the violence. 2. The Rose McGowan and James Duval characters might be the most physically attractive couple in film history-and Araki emphasizes this by surrounding their clear close-ups with dark and grainy footage. 3. Rose seems to symbolize beauty, James purity, and Johnathon a grown-up version of James. Think of them as innocents who, to protect their integrity, disquise these qualities with bad language, sex, and generally anti-social attitudes. Behaviors that the judgemental and conformist (in the film and in the viewing audience) lump with actual evils like violence and perversion, but that are relatively harmless. All-in-all a fine piece of film-making but for a limited audience.

[–] goonies_forever 20 years ago

huh, you're good at that...but i saw it cos rose mcgowan's uber hot. and im a chick. the movie appealed to me though, wat with all the skull lighters (or the one) and the talking decapitated heads (or the one) and all

[–] m_deathbringer 20 years ago

Ahh, this is what "Queer films" should be like, forget queer as folk!, any one that has psychotic bisexual killers murdering anyone who so much as looks at them funny is fine by me!

[–] iknowuknow 20 years ago

I wouldn't say that they just went around killing anyone that 'looks at them funny.' They only killed people who were trying to kill them.

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[–] orcaroline 19 years ago

aimless-46, your post is my favorite one ever. Good job!

-Caroline

[–] atrophyannie 19 years ago

I second orcaroline.

[–] jennysaddiction 19 years ago

I think the South Park movie, and Pulp Fiction rival for the f-word count.

[–] el_hombre_99 17 years ago

You are forgetting one absolute winner for F-word counts: The Big Lebowski!

[–] jacksonscannery 17 years ago

I dont' really understand why people should read that before they see the movie, i'd say just put on the movie and don't take it too seriously and you'll have a good time.

As far as the X and Jordan thing goes, one idea i thought of was that Amy spent a past few years jumping from man to man (or to woman, in at least one case) and X being in the front seat at the end was showing how the whole process will just happen again. I just watched it last night though and i haven't given that much though to any of it, but i'm wondering if that's a possibility.

[–] joshsureisgreat 17 years ago

And I think Boondock Saints beats all those other movies for the F-word count, no? Didn't they break a record or something with that? The most times the F-word is used in an r-rated or under film?

[–] Geekgoddess08 14 years ago

The movie summer of sam has the most F-words in it right behind an actual documentary on the F word

Right now three things remain: faith, hope, and love. But the greatest of these is love.

[–] mj_heiser-832-695491 14 years ago

Shut the F-up Donnie!

[–] thepartydjz 10 years ago

Scarface with Al Pacino had the F-bomb record for awhile

[–] favfallenidol 19 years ago

Shut up your boring me to death

[–] jennysaddiction 19 years ago

your mom

[–] bunny_carlos 19 years ago

Maybe it was because when this movie came out I was already out of high school for ten years, had been to the other side of the world twice, been to the persian gulf and drove across the country from florida to chicago, san antonio to san diego, and LA to Seattle. I didn't have all that teen angst, I'm a misfit and no one loves me attitude.

I was a misfit and no one did love me but it didn't matter because I was having fun doing my own thing.

What this movie lacked was continuty and closure.

Don't throw a psychotic Parker Posey yelling, I'm going to get you!! and never follow up. Don't mobilize the National Guard to search down and dstroy this horrible element then not even have a car chase.

Don't ever end a movie just because you ran out of ideas. You can always just Thelma and Louise them off a cliff or have who ever is after them accidentaly blow themselves up just as it seems that they are going to catch the kids.

Why do I always have the best ideas?

"I'm not an idiot man...I watch T.V."
-Scooby-

stay warm

[–] PunchB 18 years ago

******* SPOILER *******

Thought. If X is a grown-up version of Jordan, it would mean that the innocent him died, and the grown-up came out alive.

[–] toothgirl 18 years ago

Yeah, I think that's what happens to Amy after she's raped and sees Jordan killed.

Maybe he's actually a grown-up version of Amy.

"I'll be in my bunk."

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[–] mj_heiser-832-695491 14 years ago

Easy rider yes but with Punk Rockers. I found Easy Rider though better performed and less gaps.