The story is way too forgiving of this horrible man. It tries to make you understand him and feel sympathy for him, but it doesn't succeed. I do not know why the black community seems to rationalize their father problem but here it is "he is a monster but its ok thats just how it is"
shareI liked the movie, mainly because the acting was fantastic, but the ending drove me crazy. I hated how they acted like Troy dying was so sad and how he was this great guy. Sure, he's human so he has flaws; but he was a terrible person. I didn't understand at all why the mom thought Cory was like his dad, and he "gave him the good parts of himself". From what I saw in the movie, he was constantly putting his sons down, and actively trying to ruin their lives. So you were thrown out at 14, why would you do that to your 17 old son? You were denied playing baseball? Ok, so stop your son from going to college on a football scholarship. That made sense. I'm sure Cory is going to thank his dad for that in the 1970s and 1980s when it's hard to get a job with no college degree.
I would of loved this movie so much more if it had ended like..yay this miserable a-hole is finally out of my life for good. To act like his family was supposed to be so sad he was gone? Just didn't make sense to me. You can accept and understand someone without having to glorify their behavior. Just because you die, doesn't mean everyone needs to suddenly look back on you like you were so great and kind.
Remember that he choked his own son with a baseball bat, and that's the last thing we see between him and his son. We don't even get to see whether or not he had remorse for that. How are we supposed to feel bad for this guy when he does something like that in, what, one of the last scenes? I hated the way it ended. Bad ending. And if the play ends that way it's bad ending as well. Should have been a lot better. Not worth seeing again.
shareMy brother-in-law did worse things to my sister and niece and nephew than this guy. He cheated on my sister, she pretty much supported him, he was a mean drunk, he almost choked my niece to death, he held a gun to my sister's head, etc. He even hit me with a hard rubber/plastic? hose when I was little, and I still have a scar on my leg (my sis is quite a bit older than I). It was weird, but he was actually a pretty nice guy--when he wasn't being a bad guy. His friends loved him. I swear, he had one of the biggest funerals I've ever been to. I spent my whole life, as did my mom and dad, wondering why my sister stayed with him (he also had a slew of kids from former marriages). After his death, suddenly, to listen to my sister, he was the greatest guy to have ever lived. She still misses him all these years later. Even my mom speaks well of him. My dad and I were the only ones who would have to bite our tongues and our eyes would cross, when we would have to listen to my sister and her kids talk about him. To be honest, I really didn't like this movie--but I think it's because it seemed authentic. It was just--life.
shareYou gotta take the crookeds with the straights.
"Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules. "
-Walter Sobchak
I think a lot of people are forgetting that this movie is based on a PLAY.
The movie is only showing basically what the play showed.
I remember reading this play back in high school, but it definitely took on a whole new meaning for me now as an adult with more experiences in life.
I thought the movie was phenomenal. Not a "feel good" movie at all...but definitely some of the best acting I've seen in a long time.
If you don't like the ending....oh well! Some times life doesn't have a "happy ending". Some books/plays/movies have sad/hurtful/unspoken endings that sometimes leave you abruptly wondering about a lot or thinking long after the movie/book/play is over. This is one of those such plays/movies.
There is a LOT of symbolism in this play that can sort of go over the audience's head when watching the film. It's very subtle. It doesn't spell it out for you. But because we discussed this play in-depth in school I remember some of the nuances and symbolic nature of the play.
The story paints Troy as an anti-hero: someone who wants to be liked and thinks of himself as likable, but truly isn't.
share"Like you? Who says I got to like you? What law is there saying I got to like you?" He said that to his son. And if he lives by that philosophy then he does not care about being liked.
shareThe film didn't paint him as heroic, rather we discovered the underlying motivations behind how he exhibited his own mental suffering. As he says "you gotta take the crookeds with the straights". Troy was a man who's cognitive dissonance and life experiences accumulated into how his psyche informed upon sculpting his life. It is important that, by the end of the film all of his most meaningful relationships decayed; in some respects the devil that he battled were the demons in his own mind. His self-loathing was the biggest contrast to the optimism of his wife, son, best friend, and even his disabled brother.
All of the aforementioned had hope, had promise, but Troy could not find such warmth within. Troy felt guilty about exploiting his brothers situation, bitter about his circumstantial upbringing, resentful about his opportunities to follow his dream, and unapologetic about his love affair. Effectively he wanted what we all wanted, and suffered what we all suffer through. Ultimately what I, as a buddhist, take from this amazing film is "What parts of Troy Maxxon is reflected in myself? How can I overcome my own suffering?" I think that's how we all should think, when reflecting on powerful artworks.
Que Sera Sera
The story is way too forgiving of this horrible man. It tries to make you understand him and feel sympathy for him, but it doesn't succeed. I do not know why the black community seems to rationalize their father problem but here it is "he is a monster but its ok thats just how it is"
What I saw was a horrible man who was doing the best he could given where he came from. But even this horrible man was a better man than his horrible father and his son (Cory) was a better man than him. I think you can extrapolate that Cory's son might rise above all of them in terms of moral character. Sometimes evolution takes generations.
But it wasn't "ok" - he disappointed his best friend who always looked up to him and pretty much lost that friendship, he broke the woman who thought they were best friends and invested herself in him accordingly; lost that love, and his son flat out left his life entirely. You reap what you sow but he's a 3-dimensional human monster qualities AND loving qualities.
"Did you think I'd be too stupid to know what a eugoogly is?"
-Zoolander
It's honest. The man had demons but he had good characteristics too. Most people are not heroes or villains. We are all imperfect. We all fall short. We all make mistakes. But this guy had a horrible childhood, grew up under the worst circumstances. Yet he still was able to get out of jail, get a job and raise a family. If he was so horrible, why did his son turn out so good. Would the kid have turned out better if he spoiled him rotten and never demanded that he work and show respect ? Would the kid have done better if his dad just ran out on his family. I am white, but this guy reminds me of my dad.
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