MovieChat Forums > Project X (2012) Discussion > A parent's perspective - I'll try to exp...

A parent's perspective - I'll try to explain

posted 10 years ago by neil-476
10 replies | jump to latest

I don't want to patronise younger viewers: I was young once, I partied, I understand the appeal of drink / drugs / sex (that appeal doesn't just stop when you hit your 20s, you know). I do understand the appeal of this movie, and I have nothing against it for portraying those aspects of a wild party for young people. But I'll try to explain why, as a parent, I hated it.

Having a good time is great. It's cool, I still like to have a good time myself, despite my great age. But disrespecting other people's property and peace of mind while you are doing it is completely uncool, and that is what a) Costa and b) the party crashers did.

My kids are now in their late 20s. My son never held parties at our house, but my daughter did. Her friends were a considerate lot so we didn't have much to complain about, except for one occasion when one of the "guests" - a partycrasher - was conspicuously disrespectful of our home, our things, and other people at that party.

It is not a nice thing to come home to - sickmaking, in fact. I'm pretty sure that most of the people at the party had a good time (my daughter did, she was always the first one to get p*ssed and thereby fail to exercise any sort of control over the others). But you come home and find things broken, burnt, trashed, awash in alcohol and, as the one who works to pay for it all, it leaves a bad taste in your mouth.

Then along comes a film which, effectively, tells a world-wide audience of youngsters that I don't matter - as long as you're having a good time, trash want you want, it's OK!

And, depressingly, a lot of posters seem to think that that message - and it is the only message from this film - is perfectly fine (which means that they are OK with me not mattering - well, I'm sorry, but I do). The reason I hate this film is because I knew it would deliver that message and I knew that quite a lot of impressionable young people would eagerly seize upon it without ever showing any sign of empathy towards those at whose expense they are having fun, any sort of understanding WHY it so repellent if you are a parent, wage-earner, and homebuilder.

Yes, I know it's only a film. But if Costa was real and my son was friends with him, he would not be welcome in my home.

[–] mrdoctor524 10 years ago

Try to imagine a film where they throw a party and every guest to the party was respectful and absolutely no damage was done to the house. What's the point of that? Who would want to sit through a movie of no conflicts?
You see, the purpose of Project X is that it's filled with nothing but conflicts and trouble. It's a shock movie. Something so realistic that it is almost painful to watch, yet keeps you watching because you want to see what happens next or how it ends. Almost like a horror movie because it's filled with horrible events. I lost count of how many times I said the words "holy *beep* throughout the film.

However your statement about it being OK to trash a house is wrong. The entire point of the movie is that it's a bad idea from the beginning and everything that happens after that just makes the situation worse and worse. By the end of the movie the main character is in horrible debt for the rest if his life. It has a much deserved horrible ending for the character and leaves a good moral..... While at the same time was fun to watch, extremely climatic, entertaining, etc.

As for Costa, yeah he's an *beep* That's the point. Everything bad that happens in the movie is more or less his fault. There's no such thing as a good movie without an antagonist.
You're supposed to hate Costa. I wanted to punch him so bad the first time that I saw this movie, but he also made me laugh which makes a great character. Someone that you love to hate. Some people love or hate him more than others, which again makes a great antagonist.

Then you have the main character who is torn between his responsibilities and having a good time and making a name for himself. You're probably upset with him too because he is actually having a good time during this terrible situation and letting people destroy his parents house. Well you see the events that happen are pretty much out of his control and at that point the best option is to say *beep* it and make the best out of the situation.

Nobody wants to see a movie where he's sad about letting a couple thousand people destroy his house and his future.
And nobody wants to see a movie where absolutely no conflicts happen. That's what makes this movie so great. It has a powerful antagonist, a main character which most people can relate to, plenty of shock value, suspense....

[–] neil-476 10 years ago

Oh, absolutely - you have to have conflict to drive drama.

My problem is that the lesson this film gives is that it's fine to have a destructive impact on the lives of others if it makes you kewl, and I would have had no argument at all (other than the film not actually being all that entertaining) if the Costa character, author of all the harm to others, had been made accountable in some way. He wasn't. No consequences for him at all.

[–] biteyislewis 9 years ago

Perfect summary.

[–] biteyislewis 9 years ago

I meant to post on the other guy

[–] elmuhfuh 9 years ago

I wanted to post something similar to this, but then I realized that the OP has a personal experience that has caused him to feel the way he does. That emotional attachment would invalidate any rational explanation of why this film exists.

[–] e_sostaks 10 years ago

Yeah, the message was absolutely terrible and it`s the only message it sends - no matter the consequences it was worth it to have one 'good' night. I`m 24 and at the end of this movie I felt really sad because I was in this situation once. When I was 17 I made a big party at my house when the parents were on vacation in another country. Definetly wasn`t worth it. Teens are just stupid especially when they`re drunk. Many things were simply broken in my house - drapes torn down, family pictures dropped, my cat`s toy house was broken, floor was scratched because someone had the genius idea to move the furniture. Even the wallpaper on my PCs were changed - like what the hell? Someone took a rug and slided down the staircase. I don`t even understand the logic behind those things. This movie is definetly not an exgageration - teens do act like this.

[–] mrdoctor524 9 years ago

if it makes you feel better, think of it as a horror movie. nothing but horrible acts and taking place. so leave it at that.

[–] chas437 9 years ago

Its actually not a terrible film at all. Its very real, its just very disturbing.

Middle class white teen age suburbanites mimicking ghetto culture, that's very real.

On some level, I think this film is meat to be a warning. .

I'll take Punctuality

[–] activista 8 years ago

chas437:

Middle class white teen age suburbanites mimicking ghetto culture, that's very real.

Oh gtfooh with the racist comment---you have plenty of white kids who act a damn fool who have never been near a ghetto in their lives.
So don't even try and blame the BS they do on black folks.

[–] chas437 8 years ago

Sorry if my words were confusing, I absolutely was not blaming black folk for anything.

Its the entertainment industry who is to blame, they've been marketing ghetto culture to white, suburban kids for decades.