They never say anything.


While watching this emotionally attractive and captivating movie I kept wondering what was wrong with it. After some pondering and reflection I can now tell you.

People don't talk to each other. They never say anything. There is no discourse. They do not give the slightest indication that they are thinking. Maybe these characters are meant to never think.

When they do speak, they speak in a primitive, emotionally inclined language. They do not argue or reason. In scenes where this would be expected or where they seem to start a discussion or an argument, they immediately stop. They absolutely never discuss anything in any rational, logical terms.

The heroes of the story could be totally stupid, almost like animals. But this is very unrealistic. In reality people without the ability to think and express nontrivial thoughts cannot possibly become music stars or politicians. Both professions require a considerable level of intelligence.

Now I am wondering why this is so. A few hypotheses are:

* The story writer and perhaps also the director are themselves very emotionally inclined people who do not think or do not reveal that they think, so for them this behavior devoid of any non-trivial language is normal. (Unlikely for successful film makers, but I cannot rule it out.)

* The story writer and perhaps also the director aimed for a stupid audience that could be put off by any trace of intelligent discourse.

* Since both heroes are black, the suspicion of racism arises. The movie could imply that black people are like that and perhaps the movie aims for an imagined black audience for whom this is normal.

Any other ideas about this phenomenon? To be honest, I do not want to see such movies. Fortunately they are rare or generally so bad that they don't normally cross my way.

Hans

reply

Screw you, Hans.

reply

I agree that this is not a dialog driven movie. This seems to be by design, since Gina Prince-Bythewood (writer/director) has produced dialog rich movies like Love & Basketball and The Secret Life of Bees.

I think that there were certain scenes between Kaz and Noni that screamed for more dialog (like when they are in Kaz's truck, and after Noni smashes her posters after the concert and says "I fee as though I'm suffocating in the middle of the street and no one can see me dieing." This moment deserves a reply of support and comfort from Kaz, and unfortunately we are left waiting.

I don't know why Gina took this tactic but obviously (being black herself) racism is not the reason.

This lack of dialog (especially between the leads) shows just how powerful Gugu's and Nate's performances were. The were forced to use subtle facial expressions to further the story.

Take the scene were Kaz apologizes to Noni for coming down hard on her after the press conference, outside of her Hotel. You can see that Noni's expression changes after his initial apology, and then again after Kaz states that he just wanted to know if she was "OK." Noni lets us see (by her facial expressions) that both of those statements (and Kaz's sincerity) affected her deeply and led to her ultimate decision to deify her mother and get in Kaz's truck. From that moment forward, she was on a mission to pursue her man and her dream.

reply

@hgmichna

What the hell are you talking about? It's a drama about two people with issues who wind up helping each other. I think you simply aren't used to seeing a drama which treats black people like normal everyday human beings with problems, but that dosen't justify all the stupid s*** you just said. What the hell was "primitive" about anything anyone said in this film? You just sound racist and stupid as hell,that's all. "They never say anything"? You must have slept through the whole damn film then,because they do speak to each other,(the main characters.) Why don't you just say you just didn't like it because it was about black people and no white folks for a change? Give me a fcking break.

reply

They don't actually say much of anything to each other though. They talk at each other more than they talk to each other. I don't think this makes the characters seem stupid or that it's racist like the OP suggests but the vague, soap operatic language of the dialgoue is obviously a creative choice made by the screenwriter.

I don't think the film necessarily needed more dialogue because it is pretty exceptional as is but it would have been nice to have a few scenes of them really talking out their problems.

reply

it's a pretty trite movie, and largely sticks to the surface of a plot that's already been done before many times. controlling parent, overwhelmed superstar, centered normal person savior blah blah blah... gorgeous actors, not much depth.

reply

[deleted]

I have to agree with the last poster. This movie to me was full of cliches, embarrassingly so, not a lot of depth - didn't connect with me on a deep level at all, and I had to turn it off 20 minutes before the end. A premise that has been visited many times before, I was surprised at the mostly positive reviews. When a movie resonates or clicks with me I know it, and from the get go all the way through it gave me nothing but stereotyped cliched performances and no depth. Sorry, just my 2 cents. Nice scenery and eye candy but embarrassingly (there's that word again) predictable.

reply

One of the main points of this film is that it is cliche. Minnie Driver even calls her daughter that, its a main purpose of the film. Don't downplay the movie, downplay the way the media makes these entertainment characters in the real world cliche.

reply

it's a pretty trite movie, and largely sticks to the surface of a plot that's already been done before many times. controlling parent, overwhelmed superstar, centered normal person savior blah blah blah... gorgeous actors, not much depth.


That's it in a nutshell, and I would like to add bad music.

Seriously, I think this movie would have done better with a great soundtrack, not that they would deserve better, but they didn't even seem to try with that.

reply

Um are you high? This movie has a GREAT soundtrack and was successful on the charts. Just read it for yourself: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Bodyguard_(soundtrack)

That should tell you something. If it was so bad then the sales would have plummeted.

reply