MovieChat Forums > Talk Radio (1989) Discussion > Out of date

Out of date

posted 18 years ago by Cageiscool
6 replies | jump to latest

basically many of the issues touched upon by this film (racial hatred, rape, murder, drug abuse) were probably really controversial topics at the time of this film coming out (1988). But i get the feeling reading some people's posts that they didnt find this film very good.
I think maybe this is because nowadays these topics aren't seen in the same way, and (without taking this too deeply) we as a society have just become desensitised to these issues because we hear about them all the time, so a film like this may not not have the same impact now as Stone perhaps initially intended.
Just a thought.

[–] Nriks 18 years ago

I think the day when people can admit to being desensitised to racial hatred, rape, murder and drug abuse will be a very sad one indeed. I just finished watching this film and I found it to be incredibly exhilarating; funny, tragic, moving and continually thrilling. It's also a great piece of filmmaking and one that is entirely underrated in terms of Stone's career.

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] Sunneblueemli 18 years ago

I really don't think the point was the specific issues raised by the various callers, much in the same way that I believe it's highly irrelevant WHO was responsible for what happened at the end. Instead, I think we can all somehow understand that some sort of disenfranchisement or social alienation is, to varying degrees, inherent in the perpetration of all of the crimes, or 'issues', to which you refer (to use Va. Tech as only one recent example). I think it's the universal and pervasive nature of these themes that makes the point-to-point connection of a single caller and a single radio host such a brilliant format in which to explore the idea. Yes, there is a third party to the events (in the case of the movie the listening audience), but the audience is basically impotent, unable to do much beyond observe. Still rather poignant, don't you think?

[–] 18 years ago

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[–] 18 years ago

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[–] rphoenix-2 17 years ago

I think this film is more timely than ever--prophetic even in many respects. Bogosian should have won an oscar for this film. His transformation from cocky mouthpiece to cynically acidic icconoclast is totally believable and his angst, self-loathing, rage, brutal honesty, swagger and self-destruction have rarely been captured in such a potent and compacted form.