What I said. Repo Man the film. I really enjoyed it but I’m sure I missed something, possibly a lot. Is there a coherent sub-plot or overall ‘message’, OK that’s not really what I mean but I’m having trouble finding words for it. How do all the elements fit together?
Why the flying car? Why the priest and other holy guys at the end? Are UFOs time machines? What’s with the Food/Beer/Beans labels? Who’s the TV preacher guy (the one Otto-parents are watching)? Why do the Latino guys rescue Otto from the metal-hand woman? Is “Fuck that!” intended to be a recurring motif? How cute is Oliva Barash? (That is intended as a rhetorical question guys but feel free to answer it anywoo).
In Repo Man the underlying motif is “Things are not always what they seem.”
This is demonstrated through the obvious examples: Otto’s Girlfriend (who gives it up to another guy at the party); Otto’s idea of the Repo job as undesireable–until he’s inside; Blanks & bullets; airhead is a spy; Crackpot who babbles about UFOs is the only one hip to their reality; Preacher is a leech; The book is not Dianetics, it’s *Diuretics * (in the movie)…etc.
Some things hoever, can be taken at face value: food, drink.
Olivis is cute. But c’mon, who’d want a long term thing with her?
“Fuck That” is the hero’s attitude. It’s the only attitude that will keep you from being dragged down into the pathetic abyss of suburbia that has claimed Otto’s parents, his grocery store boss, the schlubs who are his customers…even his punk friends. basically, if there is no good reason here and now for something, “fuck that” because it’s probably based on a lie anyway.
I’d categorize Repo Man as a film because it does so much, almost at the expense of recognizeable plot.
It’s been awhile, but I remember the hero as having a distinctly “zen” attitude. He truly lives in the “now”. So when the girl lets him down, he just shrugs her off - “Fuck that”. He’s already past it.
Sorry… :smack:
Repo Man is one of those movies I watched about a hundred times in college but haven’t seen it in the last ten years or so, so I’m a little rusty on the dialog.
I borrowed it from the library so I don’t have it available right now. C’mon what’s the context for the “Plate O’ Shrimp” and what scene does it come up in? Quick while I can still remember the (was gonna say plot but that’s not really how this film works) scenes and characters.
And of course at the end of the film Miller and Otto fly off together in the Malibu, showing that Miller was the only one all along who knew what the hell was going on.
I used to have a Chevy Malibu (but ten years later model than the one in the movie, much to my disappointment). Yeah, my user name is in part from the movie.
Thanks. So all the stuff that Miller says is real in the film’s reality? How about what he says about John Wayne? I was wondering about symbolism’n’all that while watching, like does Millers’ oil drum/trashcan stand for something (you see him dragging it around in another scene). I had to rewind/freeze-frame to make out some stuff - like the contents of the presents they chuck out of one of the repo’d cars - some of the antics of the awful bar band - so I got to wondering just how much I’d missed. How much deconstruction does this flick warrant?
Wow? that’s a real fan! What did you keep in the boot/trunk?
Well, I had nothing to do with the purchase of the vehicle. It was my parents’ car which I drove when I first got my license. Lord, that thing was a behemoth. Weighed something like 13,000 pounds with no power steering. When we moved after I graduated high school my dad gave the car away to the neighbors to use in a demolition derby. I still carry the trauma.
That “awful bar band” was the Circle Jerks doing a wonderful parody of their own song “When the Shit Hits the Fan”.
Otto…Otto parts?
"Let’s go do some crimes.
