A lot of people really don't 'get it'...
It's late and I don't feel like being elaborate now, but I just watched 'Greenberg' and felt the impulse to see how other people have reacted.
Quite frankly I feel slightly alarmed... maybe 'saddened in a blunt kind of way' is more accurate.
What I have read on this board is in accordance with the general conversation that occurs on IMDB: people arguing over whether the film is 'good' or not, and neither side really presenting any evidence for their claims other than 'you don't get it' or 'it sucked'. I'm not here to critique internet banter, that is a lost cause; what I am concerned with is the general APATHY of the masses that has shone brightly in my face through reading just a few threads on this board and has now made me feel inclined to write a late, poorly worded sermon...
Ok, I need to be more concise...
The film had a certain resonance that left me compelled to find the actual reasons why a lot of people thought it 'sucked' (reasoned argument is a rarity on this site). And although I knew what I would find, I still wish I hadn't found it. The basic argument was this:
- 'I didn't like/didn't relate to Greenberg (the character) so I didn't like the film'. -
At the risk of sounding preachy, this reasoning seems to be at the absolute core of many societal/humanitarian problems: that there is no real EMPATHY between people, especially those not close to us. The 'I didn't like the character' argument is in direct correlation with the 'criminals are evil' or 'drug addicts deserve it' arguments that completely ignore the post-Freudian understanding of psychology (and I'm not talking about anything complicated).
This film spoon feeds Freud, served on a golden platter: that people don't act poorly out of malice but rather out of pain perhaps, or other issues that lie within their sub/unconscious. This film isn't challenging, but rather a much needed reminder of this.
Just like people who grow up in criminal areas have violence - or perhaps insecurity or high defensiveness - enter their unconscious and therefore grow up to be more violent (I'm of course speaking in crude generalities here for the sake of argument), Greenberg is completely a product of HIS childhood traumas, contextual upbringing, motherly neglect etc... (the list goes on).
The film clearly shows this, so clearly in fact that I thought it would be hard to miss. In fact it is shot in such a way that you are SUPPOSED to empathise with Greenberg, understand his underlying self-destructive tendencies, and root for him because of this understanding, even if he does superficially act like a narcissistic *beep* half the time. This film is a vehicle for empathy.
And yet basically all of the criticisms I have read are concerned with the fact that the critic doesn't like Greenberg and therefore doesn't believe him to be worth their time. I guess I'm just upset with the extent of... I don't want to say ignorance, but certainly the apathy which seems to dominate the way that society is run. Criminals are bad, punish them. Drug addicts bring it upon themselves, *beep* them (or punish them also). Greenberg is an a$$h0le, *beep* him too.
People judge each other superficially to the point in which all empathy, all understanding of others is lost. It's funny to me - or maybe sad - that so many people claim to dislike the film because of Greenberg's narcissism when it is their own narcissism that prevents them from understanding Greenberg and thus seeing the value of the film. I can't stress how important it is to look beyond the simple way that people act and ask yourself WHY they are acting that way. It is only then that one can truly relate to others. Imagine if society operated in this way (John Lennon springs to mind).
I know I elaborated, I apologise for that. Oh and for the preaching also.