Falling Down: A Simple Man Descending Into Madness (Video Essay)

On the surface of a standard thriller about a man who loses his cool and goes on a violent rampage, Falling Down makes a powerful statement; both about men and the society in which we live in.
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#FallingDown #VideoEssay #MichaelDouglas

[@rustyhauler6477]

It's not about one man descending into madness, it's about two men finding out who they really are.

[@reneedennis2011]

Great analysis! This is a good movie. I felt that Bill had more in common with the he black man outside the bank than anyone else in the movie.

[@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24]

They're even wearing the same clothes. I believe this was to show that they are in the same situation. They're races are irrelevant they've both been chewed up and spat out by the system.

[@peteman8160]

@@bobbyrayofthefamilysmith24 someone pointed that out in another. Video. I agree

[@35mm21]

And yet he does nothing to protect him, and nothing to actually attack the system.

[@johnbooth3073]

@@35mm21 That’s because he’s only at the beginning of his journey. Then he protested and then he ended being both pragmatic ( making his daughter financially secure) and being rebellious by drawing a harmless water pistol to get killed.

[@michaellrakes5521]

Whats scary about this movie is, if you are a working class joe: this becomes eerily emphatic and understandable in your life. That's bleak and reflects a lot about yourself

[@m1ghty_m1kk04]

I am working class Joe. I gave everything to my work and my country including my health. They should give me millions of dollars. Instead they give praise and millions of dollars to some swedish youtuber pewdiepie, who was never part of the work class. You know. They lied to me.

[@fyfyi6053]

@@m1ghty_m1kk04 I can see where you're coming from. But there are people far worse than pewdiepie.

[@The_ZeroLine]

Empathetic?

[@shawnbruce6934]

True.

[@ItsMe-vg4vj]

So you classify then criticize. You are why. Your kind are the reason.

[@jean-louislalonde6070]

Many men saw that movie and have decided to avoid the trap by going MGTOW.

[@mybrickhead]

uhh I wouldn't call Prendergast the antagonist... I'd say the city of Los Angeles is the antagonist, or "society"... Predergast feels more like a second protagonist

[@elreekosuaveh2509]

Movie came out in 1993 and it's 2022; still relevant. Alsso 1+9+9+3= 22 kind of weird. Edit: This movie exemplifies the results of being raised in a narcissistic toxic environment. Defens mom was covert, and overbearing. This is clear in the scene where det. Visits mom

[@mybrickhead]

lmao the way you described Prendergast's arc was fuckin based

[@casedecker]

ohhh fuck yeah, fucking right. Shit was so fucking basedfuck

[@giovannicecchinato8217]

the italian title is " a ordinary day of madness"

[@stormbringer8154]

A day of rage in portuguese

[@IllPropaganda]

Classic movie! Well done analysis.

[@Maros_Mari]

Very good analysis man, thank you. I m writing a paper on this movie, and got some connections from your work. Many thanks for the effort and posting.

[@EDP2000]

Thanks, man. I highly appreciate it and I’m glad this video helped with your paper.

[@nrdy8221]

wow. this analysis is way better than the ones ive seen before. it doesnt try to shame women or society, instead it simply analyzes the movie and its political statement within the movie's bounds

[@dustinryan9671]

His ex-×wife was responsible for destroying his relationship with hus and was the definition of wicked women.

[@Luvie1980]

@@dustinryan9671 you need help

[@dustinryan9671]

@@Luvie1980 I was unaware please explain.

[@gaston_clock721]

@@dustinryan9671 I don't think she did. What did she do wrong?

[@rudytabooty8640]

@@dustinryan9671 odd takeaway from the film but alright

[@justsumguy2u]

Yes, a simple man, a man of science. To him, everything was black and white---there were no shades of gray. He was also stuck in time---the world had changed around him, but he had not. This was a big part of his anger---he just wanted things to remain the same

[@TC-eo5eb]

I was a teenager during the entire decade of the 1970's. An era of the best music ever. An era of American made muscle cars and so much more. Our social lives was at the local A & W parking lot, long before the internet and cell phones. Boys were boys and girls were girls. Just today, I was at Walmart. A young man working there had blue hair, a nose ring, a nose stud and black finger nail polish. The cashier girl who checked me out had half her head dyed pink, had a nose ring, studs in her eye brows, a lip ring and fake eye lashes so long they looked pathetic. The music playing overhead was just as pathetic as the check out girl. I feel detached from an era I will never get back. The best years of my life. Society today with all the woke-ness, transgender B.S. pink hair, boys wearing black finger nail polish and the shit called music is enough to make a billy goat puke. The older I get, the more I can relate to this movie.

[@CharlieNoodles]

@@TC-eo5eb okay boomer

[@johncap6495]

Picture this being remade now😂

[@stephenosborne7855]

I'm not trying to accuse you of stealing, but this video has some very similar lines to the JoBlo video about this film. Could all be coincidence, it's happened before.

[@EDP2000]

Well, just to clarify, I did not watch JoBlo’s video on Falling Down, nor did I copy anything from it. Just wanted to clear that up so there’s no confusion there.

[@spoonerman]

Not going to lie it's like he busted out the thesaurus...

[@treytison1444]

I don't think his car actually broke down, he just left it in traffic. The car vents thing is just a reference to 8 1/2 most likely. Also you gotta check your audio levels, it gets incredibly loud in parts.

[@kourii]

It didn't break down, but the A/C stopped working and the window crank broke

[@boxcarwillie167]

Much better analysis than the one I'd just heard. You got it exactly right. Thanks.

[@cbixby8335]

Seen it on dvd at a pawn shop had to buy it

[@EDP2000]

I actually bought my copy off of FB Marketplace for a dollar

[@BoyKagome]

Nice synopsis, but I don't think his car broke, just the air conditioner. Also, I didn't get the impression his daughter wanted anything to do with him, just his wife. Granted, he did treat her kinda terribly in the recordings.

[@Mpg-gh5fq]

Correct on all points. His daughter was happy to see him on the pier, and he demonstrated genuine tenderness toward her and put the real gun down to share the popcorn with her. She apparently was not traumatized by the horse incident in the film. That's why I'm not sure if I believe the claim (by Prendergast and various film analysts) that he intended to kill both his daughter and his wife.

[@SpicyWah]

Just finished this movie today and was glad to see it for once

[@FirstLast-cd6vv]

D-Fens is anything but simple. He's a bright, hardworking, family man who built missiles for a living. It probably wasn't his fault that he lost his job as well as gotten divorced from his unforgiving, hypergamous wife. He's a man who has been pushed to a breaking point with all of society's bs and has decided that enough is enough.

[@johncap6495]

Early 90s went through changes?? Oh plrase remake this and place Dfens into todays bizarro world.

[@gw6496]

2022 A lot of this kind of stuff going on now with mass shootings🤔🤔

[@damianstarks3338]

Perfect analysis of this movie I miss the 90s my childhood.

[@Mr.hyde1886]

Finally a good review of this movie

[@jessebrucepinkman9834]

Movie critics and the Oscars. Action movies have 0 depth to them. ‘Falling Down’

[@antoniovelazquezvera8366]

Great analysis much better than most woke rants disguised as analysis.

[@35mm21]

Oh no...other people have different opinions...

[@antoniovelazquezvera8366]

@@35mm21 different is not same as correct or right.

[@35mm21]

@@antoniovelazquezvera8366 That's not how analyzing art works dude

[@bassclay100]

whats the song being played in the background? good video

[@EDP2000]

Here’s the background music: kzbin.info/www/bejne/eZylfaCapa6FnZo And also, thanks. Glad you liked the video

[@bassclay100]

@@EDP2000 lol no later in the video with lyrics

[@QuartuvLarry]

“Madness,” you say? MADNESS? Or the path of righteousness before his time?

[@forumicebreaker]

Did his wife ever get a job to pitch in and help? Those kinds of people like his wife are never accountable.

[@nicholasburton7218]

5:37 wait? The film's antagonist? Lol

[@donniefusionchannel6752]

Falling down is the truth About America it’s just he finally decided to leave the system that people call society

[@ryushogun9890]

People nowadays just want to talk about how "wrong" it is to enjoy a movie.. civilian religion dark age Edit: trying to teach us how to understand the movie like those weird parents.

[@stage51manager]

30 years!!! Not Economically Viable 👔💼🤬👓🔫🇺🇸

[@PS-cf9lc]

Great video man

[@anubusx]

This is live action Grand Theft Auto.

[@allanvargas8155]

Most Americans face those situations on a daily basis ? I watched the movie and I've been watching clips, that's the only conclusion that I have come to !!! I pray everyday before I hit the road ???

[@orangehoof]

Michael Douglas said this was his favorite movie role. He certainly had a lot to work with. It's one of the few movies I'll watch more than once.

[@MrEdium]

🤔PHENOMENAL MOVIE. THE FALL OF 50's LIKE HOPE😢

[@the_big_h.]

7:39 Sorta makes ths movie sound like Joker tho

[@phenax1144]

Did you watch the next 5s

[@dantaylor8197]

Joker would love to be Falling Down. Joker would love to be Taxi Driver.

[@GlatHjerne]

very nice analysis. There are many thought-provoking scenes in the movie but it seems I missed some context as I grew up outside of America. I'd have liked it if you went into a bit more detail about the journey both men go through and perhaps add a bit more on the geographical journey Bill Foster (D-Fens) goes through in relation to his mental journey.

[@CharlieNoodles]

Actually it’s a terrible analysis but here is his journey. The movie starts with Foster on his way to his ex-wife’s home with the intention of killing her and his daughter and then probably himself. The end.

[@JJ-trippin]

What is the song for your intro?

[@kizunadragon9]

Hes out of line.. but hes not wrong

[@tommogaz]

Movie was originally called 'wah wah poor white man'

[@theintrovertedaspie9095]

Really?

[@xeroforhire]

classic youtube right here

[@dan-dan-da-treeman]

Great work. 👍

[@reginaldrichmond9485]

It was crazy this movie was going on during the riots.

[@fazeunclesweat]

Finally... an analysis that isn't inherently biased towards one side or the other. Every review i see is either calling him an inexcusable demon, or acting like he is some angel.

[@antoniovelazquezvera8366]

This movie was a red pill 💊 before the concept was a thing.

[@LowLevelLemmy]

The worst thing about this movie is they gave the cop a made up name 😢

[@theintrovertedaspie9095]

Prendergast is a real name.

[@montytowart1264]

I think you might be wrong about why the titled is called “falling down” he clearly is falling down to his “rock bottom”. Anyways good vid m8

[@Sea-Bass]

It was good movie, the character was kinda relatable to. Thought it could have had a better ending.

[@cyrolast5332]

The fact that it didnt showed how screwed the system fuckdd him over

[@CharlieNoodles]

I think you need to go back and rewatch that film because that was a failure of an analysis. Frankly it terrifies me how many people reach the same superficial conclusion about who and what Foster is and represents. There’s a very important question you need to ask. Where was he going at the start of the movie? And what was he going to do when he got there? Throughout the film Foster is bemoaning the loss of what he had. He yearns and feels nostalgia for his past. In that way (and the manner in which he’s dressed) he represents that part of America that yearns for the so called “good ol days”, but it’s all a lie. It was better for him, sure, but it wasn’t so great for everyone else around him. He’s constantly reminiscing about a birthday party for his daughter, he has fond memories of it and we as the audience are led to believe that that is the truth. Until later when we see more of it. We see Foster get angry at his wife and daughter when the child doesn’t want to sit on the wooden horse. And that’s a recurring theme. Foster doesn’t care about anyone but himself and he gets unreasonably angry when he doesn’t get his way. With the one exception of his encounters with the gang members, every other encounter he has is an unjustifiable overreaction to petty slights and inconveniences. He busts up the Korean’s store because the man wouldn’t break a dollar for him. He pulls out a sub machine gun in a fast food restaurant because they stopped serving breakfast 4 mins before he arrived. Throughout the movie he says he’s going “home”, which we learn means where his daughter lives, because it’s his daughter’s birthday. But think about that. He hadn’t bought her a present (he buys one for her during the film) and her birthday party wasn’t until later in the day. It also wasn’t his home, he lived with his mother. He wasn’t going to work, he didn’t have a job. So why was he on the road getting stuck in traffic? Remember the scene where he attacks the construction site? He says he drove down that same road just a few days before and it was fine. That was the road to his wife’s house. Prendergast spells it out plain as day at the end of the film. He was going home to murder his wife and child. He’d planned it out, rehearsed it and it was only fate that led him onto his rampage across LA. As an individual, Foster was never a good guy. He was an abusive husband and father, resentful that he could never live up to his father’s legacy. He assumed he was a good guy, and as the audience we are initially supposed to assume it too but by the end of the film it’s crystal clear, even to Foster, he’s the bad guy. On a deeper level he represents that part of America that is bitter about the progression of society, bitter that the privileged position he once held is gone. Unable to let go of the past and unable to see the faults of that past. All the ranting and raving about the “system” and being “lied” to, it’s meaningless. He’s like a toddler, throwing a tantrum because he didn’t get what he wanted, what he thought he was entitled to. If this movie was made today, he’d probably be dressed in jeans and a MAGA hat on his way to shoot up an outdoor concert.

[@carlnikolov]

This guy's comment needs to go to the top