MovieChat Forums > Saturday Night Fever (1977) Discussion > Too extreme?

Too extreme?

posted 3 years ago by Rolltide (964)
26 replies | jump to latest

Having a brother who is a Catholic priest just up and leaving that calling is extreme for an Italian family in Brooklyn. He knew doing so would devastate his mother and family but apparently he did not care and the people making the film obviously thought it made him seem hip and woke.

This was a working class Italian family in Brooklyn whose identity was so dependent on their faith and this guy just shows up one day and says F you to them. Why not depict him with a crisis in faith. a priest who has doubts about his faith and the church? So extreme.

Then there is Joey. Already a tragic figure. Weak, insecure and mentally ill. Was it necessary for him to die? The cheap and trite way it is handled. We are supposed to be moved by his death but the film makers gloss over this like he never mattered. Police don't even investigate how this kid fell to his death. Tony doesn't even mention it the next morning when he visits Stephanie. He's obviously bothered by something but he never says why.

I guess Joey and Frank Jr are just props for the rest of the story. The broader story is that life in America sucks.

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 3 years ago

Yeah, America does suck. Please let all the millions of illegal aliens coming through our border know that, too. And the thousands of Afghans who are now living here. And all Muslims from Somalia. They need to go back to their countries where it doesn't suck. Or at least go to Europe.

[–] Rolltide (964) 3 years ago

Agree.

[–] MinorityRules15 (963) 3 years ago

Originally posted by trevorh321:

Yeah, America does suck. Please let all the millions of illegal aliens coming through our border know that, too. And the thousands of Afghans who are now living here. And all Muslims from Somalia. They need to go back to their countries where it doesn't suck. Or at least go to Europe.

Do you think it's possible...and hold onto your brain for this one....that someone can believe America is the greatest country and still have problems that need to be fixed?

I know you guys hear stuff like, "AMERICA IS RACIST DEEP DOWN TO HER VERY SOUL!!! and "WE'RE ALL LIVING ON STOLEN LAND!!! GENOCIDE!!!! RAPE! MURDER! PILLAGING!" and it triggers the shit out of you guys. Believe me, I don't want you guys to be triggered and outraged until you're red in the face. I want you guys to remain calm, cool, collected, and rational.

That's why that type of language is very bad for optics. It is red meat for you guys. I don't advocate for such hyperbolic rhetoric used to get a point across.

A big problem for the Democrats is that they really don't virtue signal the country enough. They would have a more energetic base if they went out screaming about how America is the best and waving multiple American flags everywhere like the Republicans do. Trump hugged the flag.

[–] MinorityRules15 (963) 3 years ago

And maybe we can come to a compromise where you guys can get a militia together and work with the cops and round up the Muslims who want Sharia law and all the Christians who want Biblical law, too. But the ones who don't want that, you leave them alone.

There is a Muslim from Somalia in Congress and I guarantee she doesn't want Sharia law. She's more pro-LGBT rights than some Christians in America! God Bless America!! Where an immigrant from Somalia can rise to Congress and become pro-LGBT, baby! What a country!

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 3 years ago

Yeah, Trump hugged the flag. How dare he! LOL

You went out of your way to show why it makes no sense for people to claim they think America is the greatest and then use words like 'genocide'. There was no genocide. But people keep saying it. Repeating it. Believing it. We know it's not true. Just like we know Trump never called white supremacists 'fine people'. Not that it matters. Because that lie was told almost as often as the Russian collusion.

Last year we heard all about systemic racism is rampant in America. They were red in the face! When they weren't looting the local stores. We couldn't always tell. Their faces were covered, after all.

To that end, they ignore any crimes by a person of color. Waukesha was not about a violent black man mowing down dozens of people in the street. It was about the vehicle.

Rittenhouse shot and killed two people in obvious self-defense. We still hear he did it out of racism. We still hear he is a murderer. We hear he planned to go to a school and shoot students. We hear he is a rabid white supremacist. Oh, and he CROSSED STATE LINES. Can't do that! It's ok to cross our borders, though. As long as you intend to vote Democrat.

[–] MinorityRules15 (963) 3 years ago

First of all there was a genocide of indigenous people in America, just like there were when the Spanish and British empire conquered a whole bunch of other countries, too. Only a fool can think this is a partisan issue and not just a fact. Acknowledging this isn't bad. I still think America is the best country to live in, or at least top 5 countries.

I don't agree with the looting and rioting. It sucks. But, it's happened all throughout history in America. It's not unique to this era today. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1943_Detroit_race_riot

Waukesha guy was a piece of shit, no doubt. You won't see me defending him. I despise all types of racists.

Rittenhouse did kill in self-defense. I watched that video way too many times. Does this mean he's NOT a white supremacist? No, he could be. He could not be. I won't make a judgment on this. But, I do acknowledge he did kill in self-defense. The only problem is whether or not you agree or disagree with being able to carry those types of guns at a protest. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I go back and forth on it.

And how do you know which party immigrants vote for? Maybe some of them do vote Democrats, but is that a reason to hate them? A lot of Cubans come here and vote Republican, right? I'm all for Cubans coming here, too. I don't give a shit how they are going to vote. I just want them to come here and be happy. If we could take in all 11 million Cubans, I wold welcome it.

Life isn't always so black and white.

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 3 years ago

No, there was no genocide. Period. Where was this 'genocide'? Conquering is not genocide. I cannot believe you have to be told that. If that is genocide, then the Native Americans are guilty of that over and over and over.

[–] MinorityRules15 (963) 3 years ago

Some tribes owned slaves too as they assimilated into the European culture that was around them at the time. They also dressed like the Europeans did and adopted the same religion. Some black descendants of Native Americans are also fighting for recognition in the tribes to this day. The Cherokee Nation had about 2,500 slaves in 1860. The Cherokee Nation is the only tribe that fully recognizes the black Freedmen of the tribes and that wasn't until 2017. So yes, some of the tribes were racist as well and also committed genocide alongside the Europeans.

Very shocking to admit that other groups of people can be racist too, not just white people, right? I must be going insane! Listen to me...I'm starting to sound like Thomas Sowell...but I'm not a conservative. :0

[–] trevorh321 (5495) 3 years ago

No. They were practicing slavery long before Europeans arrived.

[–] [deleted] 3 years ago

Trev, what are you babbling on about?
This story is taking place in 1977 Brooklyn.
Pull your head out of your ass. Because it's disrespecting the flag you have wrapped your head in.

[–] lemonhead1 (424) 3 years ago

Exactly!!

[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 3 years ago

My Great-Grand Uncle was a Catholic Priest in Calabria, Italy in the early 20th century. One day, he took his donkey into the mountains to go visit some of his parishioners in a remote village. The donkey returned to town without him. The authorities of the town went to search for him, but never found a body. Everyone assumed he had fallen off a cliff or been murdered by bandits.

Ten years later, his younger brother, my Great Grandfather, was in Rome preparing to emigrate to North America and he saw his brother the priest sitting in a cafe wearing expensive clothing and accompanied by a beautiful woman.

My Great-Grandfather immediately spoke to him and the man verified that he was indeed his long-lost brother. He had grown tired of the burdens of the priesthood, decided to run away and went to Rome. He was a handsome young man, and he soon met a rich widow and married her. He convinced his wife to give my Great-Grandfather a decent sum of money to help him settle in North America.

My Great-Grandfather always looked at him as a hero and was not upset by him leaving the priesthood at all. This was a favorite story of his. I am not sure if he ever told his family back in the village.

[–] Gd5150 (11750) 3 years ago

Did he start an olive oil import business and teach his kids to keep his friends close and his enemies closer?

[–] whynotwriteme (7720) 3 years ago

I wish! Unfortunately, he just worked for the railroad.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

Ummmm it’s Frank Jr.’s life, he can do what he wants, he’s a grown man. It’s not his parents life it’s his and you have to do what’s right for you.

Also I think you are confusing Joey with Bobby. As to why Tony never told Stephanie about Bobby in the context of the film he may have not wanted to burden her with such a traumatic event at that time. As far as the audience is concerned because he doesn’t tell her we know that her encouraging words to him at the end were genuine and not out of pity. If he told her about Bobby then that would open the possibility that she just said whatever she had to to make him feel good.

SNF is not about how “America sucks”, it’s about pulling yourself out of a rut and doing what’s right for you and not what society is trying to pressure you into being.

[–] Otter (24464) 3 years ago

Tony is too macho to unburden his feelings or to ask for support, which is how guys like him get to be such emotional messes.

As for Frank leaving the priesthood, presumably the crisis of faith has been going on for a long time, and has been discussed and dramatized with the family. It's not Frank's story, so we don't get to see the crisis develop and come to fulfillment, or see where he goes from there. It's Tony's story, so Frank's crisis of a lifetime is treated as nothing but another stressor.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

Frank Jr leaving the Priesthood was one of the main inspirations Tony had to take control of his life and get out of the societal trap he was in.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

When Stephanie lets Tony in her apartment and they sit by the windows, she asks “What’s wrong?”. Tony replies “I’ll tell you later”. I think Tony needed Stephanie’s support and advice on directing his own life first, before he told her about Bobby and all the factors that led up to his decision to make big changes in his life. It was Bobby’s accident/suicide that jolted Tony into ditching his loser friends and walking away from the disco / dead-end job cycle. Stephanie did not know Bobby that well so she didn’t need to know about his passing like she was next of kin or such.

Also, films can not waste time on meandering conversations. We as viewers have to take those little cues and fill in the blanks. The cue was Tony was going to tell Stephanie about Bobby’s death later.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

Also Stephanie mocked Bobby earlier, telling her about him may have caused her to feel guilty about her role in his depression.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

Everyone mocked Bobby or discounted him in one way or another. Double J was mocking him for not participating in the gang fight. Tony never returned his calls. Frank wasn’t helpful either, too wrapped up in his own sorrows. His family, priest, future in-laws, girlfriend all pressuring him to get married. Stephanie had no clue she was talking to such a fragile person.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

It’s common human decency to not tell someone you’d “rather get an abortion” than marry them, even in a hypothetical.

[–] Who (5146) 3 years ago

Yes, Stephanie was harsh, but it seems everyone from Bay Ridge was tough and bullying. Very dog eat dog, even within families.

[–] Redsfan001 (6147) 3 years ago

You got it all wrong.

DISCO sucks, not America.

"I work hard in my hair, and he hits it...he hits my hair."

[–] Rolltide (964) 3 years ago

I did not say America sucks that is part of the message of the film.

[–] MovieChatUser497 (18943) 3 years ago

No it isn't, the message is that you have to take control of your life and not get sucked into what other people want you do to. Frank Jr. pretty much spelled out the message in the scene where he's leaving for the halfway house. Heck the life that Tony wanted is glorified in this movie which is also part of America, you might have a case that it's saying "Bayridge Sucks" but that is still a HUGE stretch.

[–] Gd5150 (11750) 3 years ago

There was a time that it did suck. Everyone was burned out on it. The same will come for tats and the over shelling majority of sheep that get them. Everything passes.

Today disco is once again groovy.