That’s what I came to post. I didn’t know parables were supposed to be subtle? I thought the point of a parable was to make a point obvious.
RealityChuck said:
Perhaps carlotta can explain what was subtle about them, because that’s not a word I would use to describe those movies (at least the ones I’ve seen).
When a director has a point to make, he sets out to make it, and make sure the audience is aware there was a point. I think the salient question for the OP is if a movie can be enjoyable and have a message.
Unless the OP can give an example (even an old movie) that had a point that was subtle?
Funny, it made me say “Man, this movie sure did address a complex issue in the most simpleminded manner possible outside of a sitcom”.
To the OP, I agree with others that parables aren’t meant to b e subtle. Even the messages on The Wire, which is better written and more complex than 99% of the movies being made today, are pretty obvious.
To me it seemed to be a treatise on moral relativism: almost every single conversation, almost every single exchange, almost every single situation was about one thing meaning different things to different people: a cheeseburger, a baggie of heroin, a watch, a dodged bullet–is it a motorcycle or a “chopper”?–etc. Every individual person lives in their own moral universe, and where they clash, violence happens, even over something as simple as a foot massage.
I felt the same way–if that’s making a point, then Lifetime is chock full of movies that make a point.
And aren’t a lot of the making a point movies that RealityChuck referenced (Gentlemen’s Agreement, Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner) considered a little over the top and hokey by today’s standards?
Well, I feel like there are shows/movies that can make a point in a more subtle way. I feel like the Sopranos often did that in a less than obvious way. I think a lot of people really missed the point about the rape plot, for example.
And Pulp Fiction was cited as a film that’s about redemption. I think you could see it as making that point, or you could just view it as a pointless film. It doesn’t beat you over the head with what to think, which makes it a lot more interesting than a film that says “Racism is BAD” or “Racism is COMPLEX” or whatever. It’s not just one message–it gives you a lot to digest.
Well, this thread is like a chicken without a head because motivations for valuing a movie vary so much. And when a movie is actually shot so many limitations of practical circumstances and so many touchy personalities mean that a single vision rarely comes through unaltered or undistorted.
Subtlety is often the other side of the coin which bears lack of direction. And if you use the Oscars list from which to draw examples…well, what do you expect?
I think Reservoir Dogs is also a parable, and if anything it’s more subtle than Pulp Fiction. It’s easy to get caught up in the violence and stylized dialogue and miss the point, but there always is one. Not sure where all the Tarantino backlash comes from. He’s one of my favorites.