MovieChat Forums > Art School Confidential (2006) Discussion > Did anyone actually like Jerome?

Did anyone actually like Jerome?

posted 18 years ago by GWBblows
34 replies | jump to latest

Did anyone actually like Jerome? And by like, I don't necessarily mean did you think he was a good person, I mean, did you think he was an interesting character?

First off, he starts off the movie as a rather bland loser, he's still bullied in high school, his only interest is drawing, he has one friend.

He needs to be forced to ask girls out because he's too scared to do it himself. He's never had a girlfriend. When he finally does talk to a girl he lets her walk home alone late at night when there's a strangler loose, then he basically never asks her out. He just sort of occasionaly talks to her every so often. Though that doesn't stop him from telling his family he has a girlfriend.

Plus, he's an idiot. Some old bitter drunk says he hates the world, then the next day he's screaming in class he wishes humanity would die?

There's also the the fact that he didn't realize Jimmy was the strangler, which makes him a total moron. If he dide realize that just means he's a bad person, which would make him a stupid pathetic loser with a black soul.

In the end he's still the same loser who can't ask out the girl he likes. She has to come to him.

By the end he's the same person, and all he's learned is he wasted his money on a crappy school. All the advice he gets is from idiots, drunks, and burn outs.

[–] mcmingus 18 years ago

Well, did YOU like him?

[–] GWBblows 18 years ago

Obviously not, otherwise I wouldn't have asked the question. I thought he was a pretty pathetic moronic loser.

[–] Otto-Phocus 18 years ago

he's Candide, silly, optimistic and impressionable, though reality weighs in and crushes his bright spirit.

Do we have to like people only if they're confident and well-adjusted, making good decisions and never making mistakes? BORING!

I like him because he's passionate about his craft. He's the only one there who gives a damn about his art. (Well, the guy who photographed his balls may have been passionate, but his art was bullocks.)

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] jasontheperson 18 years ago

Other than copying the guys style and stealing the paintings, he seemed like a pretty ok guy to me. The kind of guy I'd loaf with after work or something along those lines. I also really don't think this movie deserves the harsh criticism you're giving it. It was origional, funny, and at least a little endearing. At least to me it was, I could be wrong.

[–] GWBblows 18 years ago

He's not silly, he's not optimistic, he's self-obsessed, he's constantly complaining and always in a bad mood. He's 18 and a college freshman, he should be living it up, instead he spends the movie alone upset and obsessed with one girl who he only really hung out with once. He never makes a move, and ends up feeling sorry for himself the rest of the movie.

I wanted to punch him the whole time. I hated his character.

[–] katemuldavin 18 years ago

I didn't like him at all. I didnt like any of the characters. That's one of the reasons I liked the movie. None of them had any redeeming qualities whatsoever.

You spent the first half of the movie really pulling for Jerome. You're thinking "Oh, poor guy! He's so talented and sincere! I really hope he gets the recognition he deserves in the end." Then it's revealed that he's just as much of a jerk off as everyone else in the school.

Would a movie mocking art schools and the art community really make sense if the audience was sympathizing with the protagonist?

[–] GWBblows 18 years ago

It's not a matter of sympathizing whehter you protagonist, it's a matter of having some reason to want to watch the protagonist. Jerome was dull and uninteresting. I could care less about what happens to him.

[–] Perkins09 18 years ago

I couldn't agree more. The main character was the least interesting one. I didn't care about him at all. I was bored with his whining and obsession with the girl. Most of the minor characters were funnier and i wanted to learn more about them. I don't hate the movie and I don't love it and alot of it has to do with the main character being so dull

[–] Otto-Phocus 18 years ago

eh, yeah...you guys are righter now than I was before...

[–] lionphish 18 years ago

Oh, God was he ever dull. Watching him was actually painful. I've seen movies where I hated every single character, but still loved the movie. He had nothing going for him not hate, love or even pity. I felt like kicking him.

[–] Gila_Mobster 18 years ago

well, i think that was the point of the movie. like jerome's friend said, he's the class douche. actually a good artist, but yeah, not likable...

[–] lionphish 18 years ago

The point is that characters can be both a "douche" and still enjoyable to watch, but he wasn't.

[–] mbarnes-12 18 years ago

He annoyed me because he had no sense of self. In art school, yes, you have to deal with all these art fags, but you need to realize that none of your classmates matter. The only thing that matters is your success, and artistic growth. What a lot of art students don't realize is that people like me (proffessionals) are heir competition, not the dude that *beep* on a canvas. He cared way too much about what others thought of his work. And stealing another's work is just low. As far as pussyfooting around the girl, that *beep* is supposed to end in High School.

When he kissed the picture of her, I almost turned my dvd off.

[–] raderpunk69 18 years ago

I liked him. The whole point of the movie was for you to feel sorry for him, in the movie you always root for the lead character and I think this film does a brilliant job at portraying how the main character felt throughout the movie. His character was very innocent and much oh like how a freshman would act in his first days of school. Not everyone is the life of the party.

[–] abby8 18 years ago

I didn't like Jerome at all. As an artist, he's a technician with no creative spark. He has no personality, which is why he copies his peers and passes off another artist's work as his own. It's why he's so willing to take the blame for the murders.

[–] tkfrenzy 18 years ago

yeah he was kind of a *beep* The movie was funny except for him being such a pussy (and i thought I was bad) and that douche undercover.
Jyea Jyea!

[–] daria67cdn 18 years ago

***WARNING: SPOILERS ***

what i found interesting about the film was the progression of his character, from a naive idealistic dreamer into someone who's become cynical and lost control of his moral compass. his constant search for approval, however misguided, seemed to be a driving force for him, illustrated effectively by the ending scene in the jail as well as during the earlier scene at the thanksgiving dinner with his wretched family.

[–] 18 years ago

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