# When Hollywood gets the message all wrong – worst lessons from TV/film. **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 12, 2009, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198 "2009-05-12T18:32:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/81 "2009-05-13T04:25:34Z")
\*\*Scent of a Woman \*\*- When you see your douchebag pretend friends trash the deans car it is less honorable to tell the truth than it is to adhere to the code of the Old Boy’s Club and bring some crazy blind retired Army officer threated to kill the entire school with a flamethrower. **The Legend of Baggar Vance** - You can erase past life tramaus and earn the forgiveness of the woman you abandoned through medicore performance in some inane and unrelated activity. **Rudy** - If you obsessively give %110 at something you have no particular aptitude for, you may eventually earn enough pity from your “peers” to reach the barest minimum possible level of acheivement. **All underdog sports films** - Through sheer moxy and borderline cheating, a team of lazy out of shape slackers and losers can beat the well trained, disciplined champions. \*\*All romantic comedys \*\*- A post-adolescent total moron can win the heart of a woman by changing enough to function as a normal human being just like the rest of us. ---
**Author:** ![Idlewild](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/8491ac/32.png) [@Idlewild](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idlewild)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/82 "2009-05-13T04:27:26Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > _Fight Club_: Terrorism is personally cleansing and is really a rebirth experience of sorts. That’s not the message I got. I got “You’re a tool if you follow anyone without thinking independently, whether it’s the IKEA salesman, or that guy having a psychotic break who wants you to join his terrorist cult.” However, I thought it was tremendously amusing how many people seemed to adopt Tyler Durden’s philosophies as a creed after seeing the film, given that he was the product of a dissociative disorder. ---
**Author:** ![Tanbarkie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a698b9/32.png) [@Tanbarkie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tanbarkie)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 4:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/83 "2009-05-13T04:46:03Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > That’s not the message I got. I got “You’re a tool if you follow anyone without thinking independently, whether it’s the IKEA salesman, or that guy having a psychotic break who wants you to join his terrorist cult.” > > However, I thought it was tremendously amusing how many people seemed to adopt Tyler Durden’s philosophies as a creed after seeing the film, given that he was the product of a dissociative disorder. Not to mention that the ending of the film clearly and unambiguously portrays him as a villain. How anyone managed to leave that movie thinking that it glorified the “fight club mentality” (regardless of whether or not a given person thought such a message would be a good or bad thing) is beyond me. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/84 "2009-05-13T05:28:22Z")
> [@Joey\_P](#): > > Tinkerbell: Don’t try to change who you are, always go with what you are labeled as. > > Honestly, Tinkerbell comes to this land as a regular fairy. She has to choose what her power will be. Actually, the choices are put in front of her, and they chose her. She is labeled a Tinker fairy. She doesn’t want to be a tinker, she strives for more throughout the whole movie, each time she fails she’s told not to try and change, she’s a tinker, it’s who she is. At the end, she accepts her role as a tinker. > This, to me, is worse then not trying to change who you are. She was arbitrarily labeled as a tinker and was told not to try and change it. That’s a great way to teach kids to grow up as…snob, trailer trash, jock, geek, moron, ‘wigger’ and never try to break out of the mold. I think the point of that was that she actually WANTED to be a Tinker fairy, the only reason she wanted to change is because she wanted to go to the mainland. If Tinkers got to go to the mainland she would have been perfectly happy doing so. The point was about finding who you really are, not just about society’s labels. That there is no shame in being who you are. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/85 "2009-05-13T05:32:03Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > Um…what version of Beauty & the Beast has that moral? I was wondering the same thing. Also, where is the beast abusive? He’s just ugly. The point of the Disney version at least is that he’s more of a gentleman than Gaston. While many of the answers here are funny I think a common misconception that we come up in society lately is that every movie is a morality play, that just because we are focusing on those characters they are objects of emulation. **When Harry Met Sally** Their love is cute DESPITE their foibles. **Batman** Batman’s a psychopath. ---
**Author:** ![mswas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e99b99/32.png) [@mswas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mswas)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/86 "2009-05-13T05:33:50Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > _Fight Club_: Terrorism is personally cleansing and is really a rebirth experience of sorts. Wow holy missing the entire point of that movie man. Let me see if I can put it simply: It’s not the outside world that’s making Jack unhappy, it’s the nasty little psychopath living in Jack’s broken shattered heart. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 7:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/87 "2009-05-13T07:39:31Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > \*\*Friends \*\*– if your friend confides in you that his girlfriend is hitting him hard enough to really hurt, the best course of action is to mock him openly. To be fair, complaining about your girlfriend’s playful punches on your arm as if they’re horrible torture is something Joey would do. And the friends all back off when they realize Punky Brewster is actually hitting him really hard and not just playing around. ---
**Author:** ![Siege](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@Siege](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siege)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 10:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/88 "2009-05-13T10:52:58Z")
> [@Apollyon](#): > > Kate the Farris? (Laura Fraser) I’d have to say rather more than “reasonably attractive”… but I’ve never gained the impression that she had romantic intentions towards Will (or that he made any sort of choice between her and Jocelyn). As for “high-maintenance”, the ‘nearly getting him killed’ I’ll grant you, but Jocelyn offers to run away from her privileged life for him (even if she doesn’t really realize what that would mean). > > I’d say A Knight’s Tale on balance has a decent message that one can and should set ones sights high and that (per the film’s tagline) a “man can change his stars”. > > Despite his birth Will shows courage, mercy (in his dealings with Chaucer and his debts), and chivalry (towards the Prince) far in excess of that of his supposed social superior Adhemar, and in the end is rewarded. Pretty standard “local boy makes good” sort of message really. 🙂 That’s the one. _A Knight’s Tale_ is one of my favourite guilty pleasures and I like its overall message too, but the romance between Will and Jocelyn gets me every time, probably because I’ve got a lot more in common with Kate. I love the idea of a man rising above his birth and becoming more than his circumstances allow him to be, and I like Will and the rest of the crew. I just wish he had better taste in women! Then again, what would you expect from the girl who’s definitely more the sidekick than the leading lady type? ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/89 "2009-05-13T11:27:56Z")
**Tootsie, Mrs. Doubtfire, Big Momma’s House,** any **Madea** movie: Hollywood is out of funny women and anyway, men can do the job better. ---
**Author:** ![FriarTed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/friarted/32/1052_2.png) [@FriarTed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FriarTed)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 11:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/90 "2009-05-13T11:51:48Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > ? > She got AIDS because she shared needles. I don’t see how her war protests gave her AIDS. I think it was a combination of needles & promiscuity. Jen-nay was in a Russian Roullette lifestyle. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/91 "2009-05-13T12:03:08Z")
Revenge of the Nerds- If you are a geeky guy who can’t get the girl all you have to do is disguise yourself as the cheerleader’s boyfriend and have sex with her. Instead of charging you with rape she will fall madly in love with you. ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/92 "2009-05-13T12:21:18Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > **The World According to Garp** – the message of the movie was “all women were stupid or cruel bitches unless they were originally a man, or if they had their tongues cut out.” For some reason, feminists loved this message. 😕 **Thelma and Louise** : “All men are scum and it’s okay to shoot them if it makes you feel more empowered. You may have to kill yourself later, but that’s okay because it’s empowering too.” For some reason, feminists loved this message. ---
**Author:** ![DudleyGarrett](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d9b06d/32.png) [@DudleyGarrett](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DudleyGarrett)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 12:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/93 "2009-05-13T12:40:21Z")
\*\*The Karate Kid \*\*- like it’s \*not \*okay to sweep the leg sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/94 "2009-05-13T13:33:29Z")
> [@Small\_Hen](#): > > That’s really interesting. I may have to seek out the Hans Christian Anderson original sometime. [“Beauty and the Beast” is much older than Andersen.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beauty_and_the_Beast) ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/95 "2009-05-13T14:04:07Z")
> [@Idlewild](#): > > That’s not the message I got. > [@mswas](#): > > Wow holy missing the entire point of that movie man. FWIW, it’s not what I got from the film, either. But it’s there for the taking if you’re wired that way. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/96 "2009-05-13T14:12:41Z")
**Wall Street** - It’s worth it to screw over your mentor, lose your girlfriend and your appartment, toss away your career, shit away more money than you ever dreamed of and go to jail for a bit in order to save your dad’s failing airline business because small, poor companies are always morally superior to large, wealthy ones. > [@mswas](#): > > Wow holy missing the entire point of that movie man. > > Let me see if I can put it simply: > > It’s not the outside world that’s making Jack unhappy, it’s the nasty little psychopath living in Jack’s broken shattered heart. I am Jack’s broken shattered heart. Actually, the moral of Fight Club basically comes down to “just be yourself.” ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/97 "2009-05-13T14:24:12Z")
> [@mswas](#): > > While many of the answers here are funny I think a common misconception that we come up in society lately is that every movie is a morality play, that just because we are focusing on those characters they are objects of emulation. Yeah, I think that’s a good point. It’s not like these movies are saying this is the way life’s supposed to be. Esp. not **Pulp Fiction**. I don’t feel that Quentin Tarantino made that film so we would think violence was glamorous but it’s not like he wants us to hate violence either. It’s there, but I think it’s less about putting across a message and more about writing/directing something clever/interesting than about making us come away with a little lesson. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/98 "2009-05-13T14:30:26Z")
> [@Tanbarkie](#): > > How anyone managed to leave that movie thinking that it glorified the “fight club mentality” (regardless of whether or not a given person thought such a message would be a good or bad thing) is beyond me. Well, 'cause he’s Brad Pitt. ---
**Author:** ![BlinkingDuck](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/eada6e/32.png) [@BlinkingDuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlinkingDuck)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/99 "2009-05-13T15:09:05Z")
> [@PeacePlease](#): > > Seriously! THIS!!! I HATE this movie because this is ultimately the message and I don’t understand why it’s so acclaimed. Sure it’s kinda cute and funny but C’MON! At the risk of repeating myself from other threads… Everyone should respect everyone else…not make fun of them…see them for who they really are and respect them…Women should look beyond the physical characteristics of men…because they may good be a real good man deserving of your love. Unless, of course, they’re short. ---
**Author:** ![filling\_pages](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9bd4f/32.png) [@filling\_pages](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filling_pages)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2009, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198/100 "2009-05-13T15:46:32Z")
> [@astro](#): > > [Female Trouble](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Female_Trouble) > > It’s OK to beat your mother if you don’t get the cha-cha heels you’ve been wanting for Christmas. This cracked me up. [**Desperate Living**](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desperate_Living): It’s okay to roast and eat the queen if she is a really bad person. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-hollywood-gets-the-message-all-wrong-worst-lessons-from-tv-film/496198.md?page=6)