MovieChat Forums > SubUrbia (1997) Discussion > The moral of this story?

The moral of this story?

posted 20 years ago by gothor
26 replies | jump to latest

After watching SubUrbia, the ending really made me think. And what I thought was: Okay, what was the point of all that?

Then I read someone's post, which suggested, "try THINKING next time you watch a film that doesnt make much sense to you."

So I tried thinking some more.

Then I remembered the cashier's final words: "What's wrong with you? You throw it all away."

Yeah. That could be the point. I mean after all, it was the final words spoken before we faded to black, right? That the kids were just wasting their life? Drinking away their youth and potential?

But that was just the kids who stayed behind. The pop star, the artist, the guy with the tape -- they all moved out to L.A. to work in the entertainment industry.

That's the real moral of this story: Don't be a loser. Move to L.A. and join the entertainment industry. Write a screenplay trashing all your loser friends back home, who just pissed their lives away instead of, you know, moving to L.A. and writing screenplays trashing their friends back home.

Don't be a loser. Be like Eric Bogosian!
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Blarg! http://thor.mirtna.org/

[–] HankToms 19 years ago

the moral: don't sit around and wait for something to happen. go out and make it happen.

poor, clueless jeff. i love him but he really needs to grow up.

[–] Zootles 19 years ago

"poor, clueless jeff. i love him but he really needs to grow up"

No, you've got it mixed up, its actually Jeff whos the smartest guy in the group and the others who are clueless.

They are the ones acting like kids being swept along by life without REALLY thinking about where to go and what to do.

Jeff is infact the only sensible thinker in the entire film.

[–] 19 years ago

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[–] mccman2001 19 years ago

That's the real moral of this story: Don't be a loser. Move to L.A. and join the entertainment industry. Write a screenplay trashing all your loser friends back home, who just pissed their lives away instead of, you know, moving to L.A. and writing screenplays trashing their friends back home.

That is not it at all.

[–] Illuminativ 18 years ago

There is no real moral to this story. Remember Jeff's words... "I know things are *beep* up and I have nothing original to say about it." Unlike other teen movies, Suburbia doesn't preach. Of course, the film is a sociological analysis of teens/young adults in the suburbs. However, there is no explanation. I never got the feeling that these kids would be better off and more complete as human beings if they became like Pony. Instead I got the feeling that there was something deeper... a foreboding sense of hopelessness that was consuming them all. Jeff is not a bum, he is just a kid who has no motivation to do anything with his life. He realizes that there is no meaning to life. He realizes that humans will always shrink at the thought of the beyond and the absurd. His girlfriend Sooze is the complete opposite. She lives under the delusion that she is important and that if she leaves the suburbs she will automatically make it big like Pony did... But, she is wrong. Not everyone makes it and, quite frankly, her performance art was terrible.

In other words, there are no real winners or losers in Suburbia. Every character is fleshed out. Even Pony the big time rock star is shown in his full glory to be a character who may appear to be innocent and generally nice on the surface, but you get the sense that he is enjoying every minute of making Tim and Jeff jealous and angry. And let's not mention the way he treats Sooze. There is no doubt that he probably had a crush on this girl at one time, but to come back and feed her the lies that he did.... And, of course, she ate it right up, and ultimately that is all he is... he has no real interest in starting up careers for his old friends in the entertainment industry, he is only there for vindictive revenge. He asks Jeff to show him the songs he has been working on, but you can tell that there is no real interest. Pony left the suburbs and, in may ways, he left his old friends behind. Now he lives in the cut throat world of the entertainment industry, so you are telling me that he is seriously considering harnessing the talents of a few kids he went to high school with?

No, that is not the case at all. Pony is only there to show off and it is quite obvious that he is doing it in a subtle manner...

[–] cheekymonkey67 17 years ago

The moral is that YOU have to do something with your life and make your own happiness. Look at the characters.....

Pony-The geek that did something with his life and got somewhere and actually went back to the same corner that he used to hang out at to see the people that he grew up with and where he came from. He was actually appreciative of what he had which is rare for the truly famous.

Sooze-A girl in the middle of nowhere that actually found a dream and clings to it and is determined to make something of it.

Tim-The guy that joins the military but can do no better than cutting his own pinky off and going back to what was familiar to drink his shortcomings away.

Jeff-The want to be activist that takes no action until he sees how much is being lost by inaction.

Buff-The drunken druggie that still grasps for hope and a future despite having no true direction in his life.

Erica-The rich girl that despite having the world at her feet at least attempts to find and make her own.

Bee Bee-The manic depressive that, seeing no way out of her situation, attempts to make herself disappear first by walking away and then by drink and drugs.

Nazeer & Pakeesa-Immigrants that have left their country to make a better life for themselves despite the difficulty that awaits them in a new culture.

The one thing that ALL of these people share is the ability to do what they will with their lives. Some do better than others but the key is that the one's that are getting somewhere are actually TRYING and attempting to visualize a future other than the one they are either in or came from.

It makes me laugh to see some of you saying that "a movie doesn't always have to have a moral". What then would be the point of telling the story? It may not be an easy moral to grasp, the teller may fail to get the message across but the whole point in writing a story or song, painting a picture, or even just telling a joke is that the artist has something that they wish to impart to the audience. Otherwise, what would be the point of telling the story or joke, painting the picture or singing the song? Even your life has its own moral that has a meaning unique to you which you alone must learn to interpret.

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] 16 years ago

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