MovieChat Forums > Reality Bites (1994) Discussion > Why this film hits home...my analysis, y...

Why this film hits home...my analysis, your opinion.

posted 13 years ago by rishi85
5 replies | jump to latest

I have just seen this movie yesterday and then actually sat down and read all the posts here. I loved the film and think it hasn't aged one bit especially in what it is trying to portray. It hit home for me on a personal level too.

I am Troy Dyer, only not so good looking and have virtually no success with the ladies. I am a dreamer and have been told that I redefine the art of laziness. I am a slacker to the core, until the time comes when I have to get off my lazy ass to feed myself. I am also an artist- atleast in my mind and the work I create. I actually graduated in screenwriting and have landed no job in the field-not that it was possible to begin with.

I think this existentialist dilemma is faced by every generation usually at around this age, regardless of a recession or generation stereotyping. When in our twenties(some even later) we try to find our identity which becomes a tough ordeal since we have to live and forge a career out in the real world at the same time. This leads one to question everything from society to the very concept of human civilization and often leads to a cynical outlook. Humans back in the neanderthal ages must have grappled through these angsty thoughts at this age too.

I will take a leaf out of Joseph Campbell's Myth theory: The hero(individual) will discover himself/herself. This is that stage of our life. A yuppie bachelor might look at the carefree artist and feel empty in some ways because he'd want to be free and hip like him. Likewise the artist wonders if he could have food on his table and money to buy canvases and he'd be happier. He then goes on to blame society and everything but him. Nobody is ideally correct. There's no right path.

However like I stated earlier. Having to work menial jobs and go without proper food or clothes for days have made me realize the importance of money. If Troy had realized this(which he would have sooner or later) he'd be a better individual.

We like to live in the extremes. Its like Fight Club. You shouldn't be the narrator but you cannot be Tyler Durden -that's even worse. You need to find a balance between the two.

But we do need artists too. I think every (wo)man is a philosopher- all of us.We simply do not channel those thoughts and express them because we are too busy living life. Unless Troy was a phony(which I don't think he was) we need his ideals too. Today the commercial aspect has totally engulfed cinema, especially Hollywood. It needs a balance between art(passion) and business(commerce). It needs Troy's intellect to go with Michael's ideals.

I think this film is more than just a time capsule for Generation X(which again is a media coined term to generalize people). It should be applicable to anyone at that stage in their lives regardless of an era or recession.

I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality.

[–] slatesphanboi 13 years ago

'I think this film is more than just a time capsule for Generation X(which again is a media coined term to generalize people). It should be applicable to anyone at that stage in their lives regardless of an era or recession.

If you like this flick that is fine and all, but eventually you Millenials need to like get your own movies and stuff, signed: Generation X!

[–] MrBook_ 13 years ago

If you like this flick that is fine and all, but eventually you Millenials need to like get your own movies and stuff, signed: Generation X!

Ha! Probably true, but it will be hard as hell because the Echoboomers have an even less defined profile than Generation X. What's a movie for this generation going to be about, texting? I guess Social Network is already in that ballpark...

I'll bet you could suck a golf ball through a garden hose.

[–] leishayoung 11 years ago

Great post, and I agree. The 90's was a brief moment in time where it became uncool to be flashy and outwardly successful. Alternative music became mainstream and smoking and getting high were everyone's number one priority. It was the misfits time and people like Michael were considered to be stuck in the 80's and terribly uncool. However, as is always the case, the pendulum swung too far to the left, now the pendulum has swung too far to the right and balance is needed. However, in my experience the balance is never achieved it swings back and forth but never settles in the middle.

It's also important to remember that the teenagers of the 90's were the children of the divorced and unhappily married parents generation (the children of the 'revolutionaries'). At one time all of my brother's friends parents were divorced. This is an oft forgotten theme of this film (that is explored), both LeLaina and Troy's parents divorced 'badly' and Vickie's parents are unhappily married. As a result we had a generation of kids who were most likely traumatised by those experiences and were hell bent on doing everything opposite to what their parents did. Most Gen X'ers have married much later than their parents and have committed to the 'white picket-face' lifestyle much later because they know the deal - they lived it and don't wish to put themselves, or their children, through the same trauma.

Many Gen X'ers grew up thinking that their parents lifestyle was a crock and that it lead only to unhappiness, so they sought out a different path, but in the end we all return to the path most trodden.

[–] zziiyy 11 years ago

I don't know how impressed one should be with Ethan Hawke's character. Troy's character was, and was supposed to be, your typical "non-conformist", pseudo-intellectual, self-important, narrow-minded douchebag. Him being a procrastinator, as I am, is really his only redeeming trait.

[–] leishayoung 10 years ago

True, but in the 90's he was not considered that way. He epitomizes the mood of the era.