MovieChat Forums > Tiny Furniture (2012) Discussion > Was this satire?

Was this satire?

posted 14 years ago by drb19810
11 replies | jump to latest

I saw this movie over the weekend, and I was facinated and can't stop thinking about this. I am a 53 year old guy, and I can't determine whether or not this was tongue-in-cheek satire or a serious portrayal of a recently graduated twenty-something. This young adult is finished with college, and natuarlly moves back home, with the assumption that this is what is expected. She says "this is my home too", and finds it quite natural to seek the comfort of her mother by sleeping with her in bed. The broke, needy young man she meets at a party is respected because he has produced a you-tube clip showing him spouting Nietzsche while riding a rocking horse. She has no money, so reluctantly takes a job answering phones, which she has no problem giving up when she is offended by being stood up on a date. She gives up her plan to live independently by blowing off her potential roommate without any advanced notice to her, so that she can remain at home. She berates her little sister for the inappropriateness of having a party with her friends that includes alcohol, but doesn't think it is inappropriate to walk through the party without pants in front of her sister's teenage friends - in fact, it ins't inappropriate for her twenty something friend to pretend to seduce a teenage boy. Again - is this satire of the late development and immaturity of today's young adults, who seem to take for granted that they do not need to take responsibility for their lives, or is it an honest reflection of the insecurity faced by young folks in today's society, where it is not even expected that they move on from their childhood, and their pampered middle class upbringing is taken as a birthright? If this is satire, it is brilliant. If this is an attempt at an honest reflection, then it is just sad. Either way, it is facinating.

[–] fakername 14 years ago

Thank you for your insightful comment. As a 35 year old man, I think that the movie is a bit more on the honest reflection side, although a bit of a satirical look at that reflection. However, just like you, I am older than the demographic featured in the film, so I do not really know.

[–] ofumalow 14 years ago

Of course it's satire! And very good, subtle satire.

[–] janachan 13 years ago

Based on what you wrote about the movie and the title of your thread, Woody Allen must confuse the hell out of you...

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition!

[–] backwrdsk512 13 years ago

If it was a satire it wasn't funny. There should also be a voice of reason to point out that it is a satire. Besides the satire argument every joke in the movie fell extremely flat.

[–] sirmalker 12 years ago

Except for the mattress slowly inflating and such as herself inflating. It literally fell flat, but not symbolically.

I'm better than you.

[–] DeathShrike 12 years ago

"There should also be a voice of reason to point out that it is a satire"

I hope this comment itself is satire.

[–] swampfoxes 13 years ago

I didn't take it as satire. I think this is/was Lena Dunham's view of her world at the time, and that same viewpoint has now carried over to HBO in "Girls." This is what she knows.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 12 years ago

As I said in another thread, it is maybe more "grim realism". But on further reflection, the YouTube thing makes me think that perhaps it is intended to just ever-so-slightly be exaggerated in a dry tongue-in-cheek way which I guess would mean it's tinged with satire.

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See a list of my favourite films here: http://www.flickchart.com/slackerinc

[–] 12 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Kay-Lo 12 years ago

I agree with you that the film was "fascinating". I too enjoyed it for that reason and that reason alone.

And I too would love to think that it's satire, but quite frankly, I have serious doubts. For nine years I lived four blocks from the $30,000/year high school Lena Dunham (and Paz de la Heurta, Spike Jonze et al.) attended in Brooklyn. As of the time of my writing this, I'm 33 and thus in the tail-end of the Gen-X demographic.

I'll keep it short by saying I experienced enough in that neighborhood to know these people exist in real life and that the drop-off in self-reliance is steep amongst the Gen-Y/Millennial hipster trust-fund crowd. Conversely, if you could somehow graph the extent of their narcissism you'd have an upward-sloping parabolic curve. Since I gather this is more or less a trend endemic to NYC and perhaps certain other select cities, that's not a smear against all persons of that generation.

This also reminds me of a conversation on the message board for Vicky Cristina Barcelona. A number of people were convinced the movie had to be a Woody Allen satire of useless, over-intellectualized American culture-bimbos romanticizing louche European sexual and work habits. But why would it be satire when Allen makes no bones about his preference for everything European, his disdain for middle America, and hasn't the critical acumen to contemplate that "the Continent" might have its own unique problems? Or that it might not be as easy and romantic as it is in his imaginings?

The same goes for Dunham. Tiny Furniture is a satire until you hear her talk about what she values.

[–] Noufa 12 years ago

Very good post. I agree that it's not satire.

FWIW, I don't think most people define themselves in terms of generation. See how Siri interacted with her children. There's little reason to rebel against these parents. It's the opposite of Star Wars, where Luke Skywalker needed to kill his father & forge his own path. Dunham does the exact opposite & that seems sad.

Still liked the movie, though.