MovieChat Forums > The Last Days of Disco (1998) Discussion > People may not understand the importance...

People may not understand the importance of social class in this film...


Many people are complaining about how the costumes and hair in this film are "wrong." That they are not what people would have been wearing in the early '80s.

I was in NYC during this time, at those clubs, with people like the characters in the film. It's close to spot-on. Of course Whit Stillman is going to get it right. He's of that milieu.

I'm thinking, though, that it may make sense that posters who are up in arms about [what they perceive to be] anachronisms just might not have the background to recognize who the characters were meant to be. Unless you were there and among them, you'd would probably have little way of knowing that these characters are based on the sort of people who, in real life, would have looked, talked, and worn their hair quite differently from the far-flung stereotypical '80s manner.

As in the film, people from their social class would not have had big hair or Farrah Faucett feathers or worn "cheap" fashions commonly associated with the '80s. The 1980s was a very class-conscious era. There were clothes that the mainstream could afford and there were the expensive and/or classic clothes (with a teeny bit of a nod to style) that the upper and true upper middle classes would wear. And everyone could tell at a glance where you belonged on the social hierarchy by clothes, posture, hair, accent, tone, manner, etc. Some of that distinction has become more subtle or disappeared over time, for better and for worse.

btw....tasteful off the shoulder dresses were, actually, rather popular at the time, with certain sets -- I wore one to what would be considered a "prom"-like event.

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"from the far-flung stereotypical '80s manner. "
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I wasn't there. But I wouldn't say stereotypes are "far flung." There's a lot not to like about what is/was typical of NYC, unlike the small circle of friends that were highlighted in the film.
While I'm happy to know that the polyester, gay,ethnic,doped-up,vain cliche didn't make up the Disco milieu in total, I can see where many would make that mistake. I liked this film specifically because the characters didn't fit this form. But I tend to feel they would have been a select few.

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This is just an unnecessary post to say that the OP is right.

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"For a few years, maybe many years, it will be considered passe and ridiculous. It will be misrepresented and caricatured and sneered at, or worse, completely ignored. People will laugh about John Travolta, Olivia Newton John, white polyester suits and platform shoes and going like this. But we had nothing to do with those things and still loved disco."

Excellent post. I think the complainers put too much emphasis on the era. Stylistically, people are anchored by their sociological status. This was the same set which featured in Breakfast at Tiffany's & American Psycho. I wasn't around for disco, but suspect Stillman got it right because there's not a lot of wiggle room between Patrick Bateman & Fred Varjak. It would have been ridiculous (though admittedly fun) if they looked like Mr. Furley from Three's Company.

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..."Please don't miss this train at the station
'Cause if you miss it, I feel sorry, so sorry for you"

Let's face it. Most observers are slow boats to China, with little on there minds than how things appear in wider pop culture, or how desperately films will pander to them and make them feel special. Here's a film that treat's the audience like they're mature enough to figure things out with nuance, rather than the BoogieNights sledgehammer method - god that's hard. Those movie's are so mean and square. Whit Stillman must hate us normal people, let's hate his stuff back!
Don't expect these simple souls to have empathy for someone not in their class. A shame, we're dumb all over, high and low.
"Well
People all over the world (Sisters and brothers)
Join hands (join, come on)
Start a love train (ride this train, y'all), love train (Come on)"

Come on, everybody, see Wild Grass!

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People of a certain class at this time dressed and acted in a certain manner that was so stereotyped that someone even wrote a satirical best seller about it.

http://www.amazon.com/Official-Preppy-Handbook-Jonathan-Roberts/dp/0894801406/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291636278&sr=8-1

The publication date of this book? 1980! The people in Saturday Night Fever, etc. were part of an entirely different social structure. That doesn't mean that everyone wasn't dancing to Disco.

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I was in NYC then too, and that's not what I remember. Then again I didn't stand and stare at the people standing on line. I did see photos in the Post but maybe they were not representative.

It's funny. The club in the movie looks like a depressing place to be, not somewhere where you'd go to enjoy yourself.

I remember perms and polyester. Qiana, stuff like that.




"Joey, have you ever been in a Turkish prison?"

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Agreed. Those criticising the wardrobe simply aren't familiar enough with the unique milieu. Personally, I was very impressed by the accuracy of the wardrobe, but then I know a Brooks Brothers OCBD when I see it.

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Exactly.

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[deleted]

They didn't burn them, they blew them up. It makes a difference.

A lot of people hated disco. That event was a symbolic celebration of the end of an era which was anathema to a lot of people who liked actual music and hated the way the whole era took over the airwaves and controlled the style of the times.

I for one was very happy when it was over. I remember my roommate and his friend, both of whom were from New Jersey (well, I was too) discussing how it had ended and how great it had been, as if they had to defend it. And they did have to. Disco sucked.

If nothing else, disco was responsible for the whole cocaine phenomenon, although that was a side effect.

Disco sucked in a lot of the ways that hip hop and rap suck now.

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[deleted]

I'm sorry, I don't mean to disparage your fondness for the music. It's just my point of view. I agree with you that hip hop and rap are much much worse and WHEN are they going to STOP THAT? LOL

I listen to a lot of classical.

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[deleted]

One of Kate Beckinsale's lines speaks to this whole thing, in response to Dan's statement that he's not really a disco person. And she says, "Who is?" In other words, these people weren't your typical disco people. They were there because it was the thing to do, or you had to entertain your clients at the hottest spot in New York (I believe this was based on Studio 54) or you were an undercover cop posing as an advertising geek on an investigation. It was the place to be, but that doesn't mean they belonged there.

Notice the reactions of one of Jimmy's associates (who as it turned out was one of the investigators as they entered) and of Dan and of Charlotte as they entered -- this was their first time there and the look that came over their faces showed that this was all new to them. They were not your typical disco trolls, and they dressed like themselves, although if you look in the background everyone else was.

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