Falling Down (A Tale of a Reactionary) Review - Radical Reviewer

[@SuperShado101]

"Instead of blaming inflation, the protagonist acts in this way" I kid you not, I got a crypto ad right after he said this.

[@RoseBleueDuRosierSec]

In our "customer is always right" course last year, my managers used the burger scene and blamed the waiters for what happened and for the "bad service" and I was honestly stumped because disobeying company police (we are customer support, but it would be the equivalent to giving the dude breakfast, figuratively) means you're fired on the spot...

[@nopizzawithoutpineapple]

It's almost like capitalism bad

[@animefarts1488]

Yeah, and the main character decided to revolt, and died, which is worse than being fired. Things don’t change by crying all day

[@marktaylor6491]

I really hope 'company police' is a typo and you meant to write 'company policy'. Because that is one of the better Freudian Slips I've ever heard.

[@RoseBleueDuRosierSec]

@@marktaylor6491 omfg it is policy, but you're right, Freudian slip of the year

[@emmathestonedspider8676]

I think it's important that at 14:50 when he is threatening his wife, the camera rotates to put the Nazi flag at his back

[@RadicalReviewer]

Oh shit i didnt even catch that....that's like explicitly acknowledging that he's become a nazi

[@emmathestonedspider8676]

@@RadicalReviewer I didn't notice it until my third time watching this video

[@Richard_is_cool]

@@RadicalReviewer He does make the most threatening phone call up to then from the Nazi lair (because it has a telephone). He essentially appropriates the space and operates from it.

[@Kaylakaze]

@@RadicalReviewer You also didn't comment on the fact that, when he attacks the Korean store owner, a glass jar of American flags is knocked to the ground and shattered. The camera focuses specifically on this, and only this. I think it's even in slow-mo.

[@will_the_warlord8913]

yes

[@matthewmiller4858]

Funny thing is that the leader of the Proud Boys,Gavin McInnes dresses like the main character

[@nataliekhanyola5669]

Yikes!!! I never noticed that.

[@easypeasy5219]

Yep. Trying to look like a 50's caricature.

[@IchigoShinagami]

Wouldn't be surprised if it was intentional.

[@billlupin8345]

Well I mean... So do I. It's business attire. I wear a more modern style of eyeglasses, though, wire frame. He uses horn rimmed glasses, which do kinda evoke the horn rimmed aviators worn by DFENS here.

[@universome511]

I don't remember Michael Douglas having a dildo up his ass in this movie

[@McCbobbish]

The scene in the fast food resteraunt infuriates me, as someone who has worked at a fast food place.

[@Gammera2000]

Exactly! He's just being an entitled asshole who believes "the customer is always right" is some one of the 10 commandments or something. Hell, it's not even the cashiers or cooks who made the rule that you don't serve breakfast after a certian time, someone at corperate set it up

[@TheYiffingAtheist]

Fast food workers are expected to kiss ass to an insane degree and put up with all kinds of abuse. They get shitty wages, shitty hours, and get completely disrespected by society and the customers have the balls to complain that the sandwich doesn't LOOK right.

[@brinks2469]

Omg how dare the food not look like a fucking movie prop

[@ab-wx3or]

Maybe customer would be always right if the people supposed to cater to him werent paid less than living wage

[@cloverjoker]

@@ab-wx3or Nah, it's a dumbass saying. The customer is not always right and workers aren't their servants.

[@theatheistpaladin]

This interpretation works so well. I wonder if the writer of the story knew this was to story he was telling.

[@RadicalReviewer]

Simillar to my Tales from the Crypt review, i suspect not. but the subtext is definitly there.

[@alexxx4434]

Too many coincedences.

[@christophergreen6595]

Thats the question that makes me hesitate to re-watch this one.

[@nielsjensen4185]

Some things only become clear as language and theory evolve. For example, Predator(1987) is an action flick. Today it can be seen as a critique of toxic masculinity and a subversion of the action movie tropes at the time. The director was John McTiernan. You might recognise the name from this little flick called Die Hard that basically reinvented the action hero from a hulking muscle mass who solved his problems by applying more violence than the opposition to a normal-looking person who applied as much skull-sweat as real sweat to solve their problems. This can even be seen in the movie. Arnold Swarchenegger came off movies where he portrayed a hulking mass of muscle who solved his problems by being able to use the most violence. Then in Predator, he starts the movie by solving his problem by applying more violence than his opposition, and at the end, he only wins over the Predator due to him combining skull-sweat with muscle-sweat as the predator is so much better at violence than him that pure violence will never solve the issue.

[@UDLXXL]

Ok Boomer- The motion picture

[@NeoKingGhidorah]

Leftist analysis of Falling Down was something I always wanted! I really want to see a sort of comparison of this movie with Taxi Driver and Breaking Bad with regards to the framing of white male protagonists who go on crime sprees in three very different time periods, and now they're received by audiences who wind up idolizing them and how much of that is the fault of people missing the point and how much can be seen as glorification on the parts of the works. I just found your content, and its very good. I appreciate the very direct style, I've grown tired of how theatrical leftist content on KZbin has gotten. And this is just the right combination of personal flair and direct no frills commentary I've been looking for. You've earned a loyal sub. Good dog.

[@RadicalReviewer]

Yeah there's so many characters like this right? Rorshack, Taxi Driver guy, Tyler Durden, Walter White, (and for a certain audience) even Derek Vinyard. These are such interesting stories I'm glad they exist, but its very unfortunate that so many viewers totally miss the message. I got other movie review ideas lined up, probably Plague Dogs, maybe Forrest Gump

[@NeoKingGhidorah]

@@RadicalReviewer It's an interesting nuanced topic. I've heard Bojack Horseman talks about the issue in an episode (haven't seen it), so it's definitely a trend writers have taken notice of. What I'm interested in is like, how much of it is just viewers not viewing with a critical eye and how much of it is a failure of the framing in the works? Like clearly Walter White isn't supposed to be a role model, just like all these other characters he's a cautionary tale. But at the same time, you have to admit that the show does like to sort of make him come off as a sort of badass outlaw at times. Especially in the latter half of the show, those Heisenberg moments like "Say my name." or "I am the danger", he is framed as being pretty cool a lot of the time. The text is overtly critical of these characters, but a lot of the times the imagery and iconography is still playing into the glorification of them. I dont know if that's just an unfortunate consequence of telling these stories in interesting ways or if there is something to be criticized on the part of the creators. It's a layered topic, I don't know where to begin to look at it.

[@btarczy5067]

@@NeoKingGhidorah I‘d say Breaking Bad does a decent job in portraying Walter White as a flawed and importantly very unappealing character. He just accepts child murders and the scene in which Skyler and Walt Jr. finally turn on him is just haunting. Sure there are people who idolize him but there are also idiots who unironically parrot lines like „Service guarantees citizenship“. I don‘t think that‘s the fault of those who made Breaking Bad and Starship Troopers respectively. Then there‘s a movie like 300.

[@darlalathan6143]

@@NeoKingGhidorah Perhaps the Villain Protagonist trope glorifies evil. Possibly the creators are passive-aggressive social rebels, anarcho-libertarian "Walter Mittys" or have antisocial personality disorder themselves.

[@keithklassen5320]

The scene where the protagonist hides in a shed with the handyman's family has a detail that really stands out to me. He has dragged the little daughter into the shed by her hand, and his hand bleeds onto hers, and at first he clearly thinks he has hurt her, thinks it's her blood, but he doesn't ask her how she is, he just repeatedly says "I didn't hurt you! I didn't hurt you! I didn't hurt you!", as much to convince himself as anything else.

[@billlupin8345]

When DFENS shoots the surplus store owner, he also shoots through him, and hits a mirror, effectively "shooting himself." The owner is right, they are the same, and the idea of that is so alien to DFENS that it breaks his worldview (and his glasses in the process.)

[@HxH2011DRA]

"A blessed and indestructible being has no trouble himself and brings no trouble upon any other being; so he is free from anger and partiality, for all such things imply weakness." -Epicurus

[@Kaylakaze]

He said before taking a gladius to the stomach and dying slowly and painfully. (Not really, but it's easy to wax philosophical when your life is easy).

[@HxH2011DRA]

@Jacqueline A So true

[@HxH2011DRA]

@@Kaylakaze much of the difficulty that approaches us also comes at our own bidding to be fair

[@sociallyineptspider-man2366]

I've never been a reactionary, I actually saved myself from going down that road before I even understood all this stuff,but jesus christ I am so happy I was brought to the left before it was too late

[@bengallup9321]

Same. As an alienated young man I too almost went down that path. Glad that I chose the left instead.

[@therideneverends1697]

Same, Something is definitely wrong but society pushes you to blame the wrong people and the wrong circumstances. Understanding that the world is a complex place with complex issues is a much more liberating thing than trying to blame all of your issues on an outgroup

[@prochazka8879]

>lefty spiderman, calls himself idiot in bio >socially inept in username like clockwork, lmfao

[@sufferedsage]

Great video! Would love more radical movie reviews

[@RadicalReviewer]

Thanks!! I got 2 more movie review ideas in mind. But imma go back to books for a bit before i do another movie review.

[@selmaunsley6683]

The Immortan Joe Hill Renegade Cut has some excellent movie reviews also

[@alexxx4434]

Careful, walking on RenegadeCut's turf there ;)

[@OwlEye2010]

My Dad and I watched this movie several months ago. Dad had seen before and loved it, but I hadn't. I only knew of it thanks to a friend of mine who reviewed the movie here years ago and praised it. Having finally seen it, it's amazing how great and relevant Falling Down is. I like how, on the one hand, you kind of understand where William Foster's frustrations are coming from considering how the capitalist system treats folks like him, so you sort of feel for him at first. But on the other hand, the movie's smart enough to recognize that Foster isn't someone to admire, either. He directs his anger at mostly undeserving targets and engages in behavior and actions that are plainly indefensible. He never really considers who he should actually be mad at nor does consider handling his problems in a healthy, productive way. It doesn't help that, upon learning more about his history later in the film, Foster is suffering from some pre-existing psychological problems that were never sufficiently treated, which you could say is another consequence of the kind of this uncaring capitalist society.

[@TheJayman213]

I like how D-Fens's foils are for the most part actually portrayed as dicks. It's a refreshing twist. But the movie still makes it clear that he's the one escalating things.

[@smileyp4535]

The problem with this movie is really the problem of the 80s everything was wrong but there was no solution, it was the end of history after all, the USSR and China were the only examples of an "alturnative to capitalism" and look at them. the confusing ending didn't help either, getting shot and then showing the home movie of his happy past. I can't tell if the film actually agrees with him or not. This is the problem with media like this, and with capitalist realism. Everything is uncomfortable and muggy and just makes you kinda squirm in your seats. Luckily there is a solution, democracy and decomodification, the world doesn't have to end like this movie, the problem is capitalism.

[@janespright]

The return to the mythological good old days is not only an important aspect in the Umberto Eco definition but also in the newer Roger Griffin defition

[@CvijaFaQ]

I watched this movie many years ago not even thinking too hard about the implications in the movie, I just viewed him as an anti-hero that ends up a villain by the end. Interesting analysis, might have to rewatch the movie. Also about that scene with the burger, while the workers are not the ones making misleading advertisements or the ones purposefully fucking over customers, I think we can all relate with frustration when we are advertised one thing, but we get something inferior, especially if you're of lower income and the money you spent actually matters a lot. Am I wrong here?

[@jerrodshack7610]

Yeah, that's... That's the entire point. He is advertised this great thing by the capitalists at the top, a thing that doesn't actually exist, and he blames his fellow working man for that rather than those who actually lied to him.

[@DoggyHateFire]

I think the early to mid 90s were fertile ground for reactionary politics.

[@elbownio5820]

This weapon upgrade thing gives me mafia level 500 vibes

[@Handofcrom13]

So is this movie secretly a woke allegory? I will have to watch it again.

[@vertigo.frog2110]

Great video!! Thank you KZbin for recommending me a great channel for once.

[@A_Box]

Not only this makes sense, it literally reflects recent events (2020-2021 era). I refuse to believe every that every single thing in this movie was not a deliberate critique following exactly what this review describes.

[@MrGeorgemey97]

This is great, so glad I've found your channel

[@benjaminetzel4283]

This is a really interesting analysis considering how u have a doggo represent u on the internet, keep up the work man.

[@Gammera2000]

Comrade Wishbone

[@SuperPenguin5495]

This video is 5 years old, but fuck man this is a great anaylsis

[@rngwrm]

to be fair, the homeless guy said he hasn't eaten as he was already holding a sandwich and had taken a few bites of it during their conversation

[@em.1633]

Really interesting video! Good to see more leftytubers popping up. You're small as it stands but I can really see this taking off and I really hope it does. The dog is a great shtick. I noticed your discussion with that "The NPC" guy. Honestly.. At least in some ways, I think it's kind of great they act like that. Whereas videos like this calmly and rationally present ideas and relate them to the real world, all I ever see the alt right do is use insult after insult combined with "the left is X" "you're all Y" "you can't Z". I'd like to think that's really untenable in the long term for them. That inability to actually discuss ideas rationally, that complete and utter hostility and narcissism is only good to protect their groupthink and really prevents them from having as much ideological power as it would - though of course the regressives still need to be pushed back in as many ways as we can. I would personally recommend you don't engage people like him in the future, though. They're not here to have a discussion, they're here to insult you over and over. You can't go about like trolls like that will respond to reasonable discussion - you're just gonna get taken advantage of. He'd have acted like he won absolutely no matter what you said - it's only a losing game. Especially with this guy - it seems pretty obvious he was here to pat himself on the back and strut around - he had no interest in whatever you had to say.

[@RadicalReviewer]

Yeah totally, its mostly in amusing fun. For example 2 other people and I were in a 3 day comment battle with these two knuckleheads over my Communist Manifesto review it was a hoot. Thanks I'm glad you like the review i have a script fir a Gummo analysis video thats almost done.

[@suzieQna]

This review kills me. I watched it three times when it came up on autoplay it still is devastating. The going home aspect is edited in well. I have new respect for Michael Douglas now😊

[@saltyjustice4444]

My friend and I watched the movie again recently. She described it as "The best movie I never want to watch again".

[@sheepwshotguns42]

@@saltyjustice4444 a clockwork orange is that for me. absolutely brilliant, but absolutely disturbing.

[@phangkuanhoong7967]

Wow. this is the best reading of this movie i've seen! Thanks, Radical Reviewer!

[@RadicalReviewer]

No problem, thank you

[@Elizabeth44777]

Phang Kuan = awkward asian american

[@phangkuanhoong7967]

@@Elizabeth44777 i'm Malaysian. Pretty happy that i'm not a US citizen nor live anywhere near it. :)

[@coladict]

I hadn't actually noticed until I read someone point it out, but the "not economically viable" black man is dressed exactly the same as D-Fense.

[@lynnes1864]

This was really interesting because I don't think I understood the movie when I first saw it. To me, at the beginning of the movie, we were following the hero of the story who felt alienated or dissatisfied with society and we were going to find out why, and then it turned into a movie where the hero turns out to be a villain with a lot of personal problems, including an anger management problem and a lot of entitlement. I walked away thinking he just had individual psychological or personality problems that weren't really explained. Your interpretation makes more sense.

[@ralphjosephacobo8014]

Your Atlas Shrugged review brought me here.

[@tigerstyle4505]

It's weird cause I remember seeing this years ago for some weird ass reason and can remember feeling that parts of it were mad relatable to a young disillusioned, cynical, somewhat confused street kid who'd already checked out and decided to spend my days pissing in the main steam but also being hella put off by dude's blatant bigotry, xenophobia, western chauvinism, etc, and obviously couldn't relate to a middle aged, middle class, white dude who believed a lie I was never sold on thanks to my position in the world. Confused tf outta me back then. I think I get it more now. Still can't relate though lol I feel like you and me suffer from the same disease. Say a word or phrase and I immediately gotta few song that pop in my head lol Soon as I heard him say "I'm going home" I was reminded of "I want to go home" but not the Sloppy Seconds' version, can't remember who it was now. I never fw the SS cause I could never tell what they were about lol

[@zan31669]

In his defense can sodas was 50 cents back then gas station always over charge

[@AConnorDN38416]

I've always really liked this movie, though I didn't 100% follow the messaging. I think it gets a little muddled because of the depictions of some of the characters. I always really empathized with the protagonist and his conservative perspective seemed almost like a forgivable quirk... up until the reveal that the guy is an abusive husband. Still, he was relatable in his frustration with our capitalist society. The depiction of the characters he encounters muddles the critique on capitalism, though, and makes it seem like societies problems are individualistic rather than systemic. Great review!

[@RadicalReviewer]

thank you, yeah i liked this movie, it was one of my dad's favorites so i saw it a few times growing up

[@Sheikhmorpheus]

Such a good boy. Such a good video. ❤👏🏽👏🏽

[@markwilliams2620]

I love that he drives a black Chevette. Thet didn't normally come with AC so it would be hot as hell in SoCal.

[@Praisethesunson]

He is actually just having a heated driver moment

[@kevincullen6627]

This was very well done i hope you and your work gets more visibility

[@cysilversoul]

Joe (1970) is also a really good movie kinda like Falling Down if you liked it.

[@danielkahn4981]

Wow great take! We did a ethnic studies project about this movie in school and our teacher was using it to teach us about stereotypes in film and how powers at be lie about minority groups to separate the middle class. We didn’t get into most of what else you talked about. Now I really appreciate this movie!

[@Rat-Baby]

This is a damn good review.

[@cgrenadier]

Is “going home” a cry for a safe space?

[@grahamcarpenter5135]

Basically, yeah.

[@robertfelts8773]

This is the right wing mantra in a caricature

[@jamesdixon2917]

He wants to: "Make America Great Again".

[@zapazap]

What evidence in the film do you see for that? I missed it, but I will look for it when I rewatch it.

[@zergvenegas]

@@zapazap The character was always implying that the problems he observed in society didn't existed before, in a rather mystified previous version of that same society. (Sorry about my broken english)

[@grimsleeper5945]

So many fall into the same frame of mind as the protagonist does. People vulnerable into believing these same things need to be educated on the reality of their situation and how it fits into the capitalist system. They need to become radicalised against capitalism, not reactionary.

[@NoOne-go3ml]

Capitalism makes us all fall down in different ways.

[@egonjensen6506]

and what system doesn't?

[@blacksunshine1089]

Yeah communism is much better. Look at Cuba. People who bitch about capitalism sure love its benefits.

[@whatdatdogdo]

@@blacksunshine1089 yeah Cuba with a higher literacy rate then America even though it has much lower gross GDP and has the longest ongoing embargo on it from the USA.

[@elmerzcosta]

I had no idea before now that the music video for Walk, the song by the Foo Fighters, was a spoof/reference of this movie. Instead of being angry at the lie of the American dream, he is mad at the apparent death of rock and roll. The video is hilarious and now it all makes sense. RIP Taylor Hawkins

[@2cleverbyhalf]

I watched this movie. I didn't think of Michael Douglas's character as being a "protagonist". He was clearly a villain.

[@simoneidson21]

Well, the protagonist is simply the main character. The protagonist can be a villain. The protagonist is a tragic villain whose life fell apart because of capitalism and he blames everyone and everything except capitalism

[@NovaCaine2489]

Protagonist doesn't mean "good guy" it simply means the character the story follows the most, the borderlands or overlord games follow your character but none of them are very particularly good people, most of them commiting literal genocide on multiple occasions

[@universome511]

12:33 I'm just glad you admit that a nice white family in the suburbs is what Nazi means. If only conservatives knew that.

[@johnallenbailey1103]

"The customer is always right." Oh stfu!

[@SpoopySquid]

The full quote is "The customer is always right in terms of taste" and basically means you shouldn't judge what a customer buys, so long as they're buying

[@johnallenbailey1103]

@@SpoopySquid I just heard someone say that today on IG. Never knew that.

[@WackyConundrum]

Great stuff. It should have "interpretation" instead of "review" in the title, though.

[@AnarchistCatGrrl]

A good review! Nice job!

[@universome511]

He kills one guy in the movie and he's literally the one who would say you will not replace us lol. It's really a film about how the middle class becomes civnats. Because there actual raçism gets channeled through films like this. And at it's core the film is about repressed rage boiling over in an Atomized indifferent society. It's a very masculine romantic idea that can't be reduced to material forces alone.

[@Praisethesunson]

Lol yeah he replaced the guy who said he wouldn't be replaced. Ironic.

[@thomaslodger7675]

This was a great review; I believe I understand media analysis a little more. I also like the analysis of the Nazi scene. During my watch I just took it as two people dealing with different mental issues. The racist reactionary Nazi vs the veteran who is slowly falling into madness. However, the relation that you saw between the protagonist and the Nazi was brilliant. Capitalism teaches many things including the horrors of Nazism. The protagonist believes he is different because he is a "status quo American family man" and a "status quo American family man" must hate Nazism because it is Nazism; a lot of people on the right (and far right) fail to look into the mirror and see the parallels between themselves and Nazis. They say they aren't Nazis just because the modern system tells them that Nazi's are bad without explaining why they are bad. Without self-reflection they say "Nazi-ism is bad" without realizing their own racism, prejudice, authoritarian sycophantism, etc. This film is less abstract imo so it was easier for me to understand the review and it pointed out a lot of things that I did not notice during my watch.

[@johncutler4568]

This has always been a very misunderstood film imo. Even by this review if you don't mind my saying so. The fact is that Douglas is not the "protagonist", Dabney Coleman is. You see the same the same kind of misunderstanding with a lot of guys and the movie 'fight club' as well. The actual point of the film goes right over their head while they're indulging in the violent fantasy.

[@xiekitchin3471]

I think you mean Robert Duvall, not Dabney Coleman. And Douglas' character is still the protagonist, even if ultimately the character is not a good guy, because the film is largely from his perspective and *about* him. You're confusing "protagonist" with "hero."

[@nopizzawithoutpineapple]

Douglas is the protagonist, just like Gyllenhaal is the protagonist in Nightcrawler. We're following a protagonist who is not the good guy

[@aprilk141]

Damn good review!

[@Vercettislugger]

What is the lovely piece playing in the background?

[@RadicalReviewer]

Im not sure. I just searched "classical study music" and grabbed the track with the most constant volume

[@brinks2469]

I’m sad you left out the part where the gang member can barely open the butterfly knife. It looks so sloppy.

[@Praisethesunson]

Knife training among movie gang members is so bad it's criminal.

[@starthetankist979]

I remember this trans woman used clips from this movie. And she basically made the plot about the false promises made by communism to help minorities like Trans people or something. That video was so weird, because I was think wasn't he super racist in that movie. It is very weird they used this character of all people to represent your frustration. Someone like him would insult trans people.

[@DNS9859]

How in samhell am i supposed to value your reviews when you have Garden State GARDEN STATE! in your home smdh.

[@RadicalReviewer]

Tbh i dont actually own Falling Down either, that is literally a DVD of 500 Days of Summer with a Falling Down cover i printed at the library over the top. To my credit though many of my favorit movies i only have in digital format. Gummo, Mouth to Mouth, Suberbia, etc.

[@JoelRiter]

Hey, at the time Garden State was excellent, even with its issues. It was time and the amount of movies that copied and stole its ideas and themes. Cutters A Love Story is the closet thing to Garden State that actually aged well, has far more depth and isnt hindered by cheap coppies like Garden State

[@joelberlakovich8148]

I wAnT tO hUg ThAt PuPpEr FoReVeR!!!

[@dkyelak]

I just finished watching it. Your interpretation is interesting but seems broad. I viewed it a bit more narrowly as someone's accelerating downward spiral. However, there are lots of layers to this movie. It still holds up.

[@Elizabeth44777]

Agreed, see it more as the fall of the working-man. This guy's comment section is the weirdest I've ever seen, so full of hate talking about extremes. Now I know: when looking for movie reviews, avoid the thumbnail with a dog 🤣😅

[@Praisethesunson]

Lol a downward spiral that had him lash out violently at everyone expect the people above him.

[@BigDrewski89]

I recently watched The Critical Drinker's review of this movie. It is so frustrating to listen to a reactionary get so close to the source of their anger, then fly off in a completely different direction when they're about to identify capitalism as the source of the problem. He out of nowhere disconnects from all analytical critique because reactionary positions feel better. It's honesty sad.

[@Adam1Gee]

I think this was a well made video analysis. I have my own praises and criticisms to give you. 1 Bill is a man who tried and lost. He made many severely bad decisions before the film begins. He did not have a good priorities as he had a greater emphasis on his career over his family. Whereas Martin is more interested in keeping his wife over his career. On gang land, Bill had a newspaper with job listings circled, this implies he was looking for work. This was further proved on the “under construction” scene where he complains that the road was fine when he drove them a few days ago. His mother is concerned where he has been going for the past month, it was going to job hunting and interviews too. However it’s proven his time has past and he is too unstable to react in a healthy way to keep living on. 2 I see the negative impacts of capitalism here as a message. It’s a good analysis and not the core of the film. It’s about an out of date man unable to live in modern society. The two main messages are the treatment of others and how easily it is for one’s life to fall apart. Family and friendships keep your life more stable then anything usually will. He lost that because of how he is an easily angered man that verbally abused his wife and child. The treatment of a already frustrated and mentally unstable that is continuously pushed by often unreasonable people is really only going to have one outcome. Bill is only going to be more angry and further prove his point that society has gone bad. 3 The cartoon analysis is brilliant if yours! The fact that somehow ties into the character and the story is evident that there’s a lot of deep thinking involved to really grasp all of the picture here. 4 I am glad you did understand Martin as a character and his importance. A lot of the time, people will gripe about him and how the film would be better with him removed. On the other hand, it demonstrates the main ways of solving your problems. You can grow, reflect and change as a person even when you feel out of place. Instead he chooses to lash out and have short term “victories” and long lasting harmful impacts. This way of problem solving is self destructive and more importantly harms others for your own temporary gain. Bill Foster is a character who has had enough of a terrible life but ends up completing his own end in a both tragic and terrifying way. 5 The analysis of Mr. Lee and the homeless man were misinterpreted conclusions on your part. Mr. Lee wants Bill to buy something because business isn’t going well. His store is almost fully stocked, meaning his goods aren’t being sold. He is trying to live out the life he has chosen with its positives and adversities. He definitely is a stereotype with having a broken English accent. In the film economic hardship is a big message too. The early nineties had a recession and a few business in the film are going out to close. The homeless man is a swindler and again it’s to show economic hardship. There are plenty of homeless people in the MacArthur park and in other movie scenes that have issues of their own. The outside environment that they face with its lack of safety from gang violence, heat and even the fight scene between two homeless people. They are fighting over what little they have in a place they share. There any many people in the bus scene that are out of work and are struggling to make do with what they have. Signs and sayings like ‘will work for food’ and selling oranges are shown here. Robert Ebert said something like he is “a man who has lost his mind while the wife has lost her voice” when he reviewed it.

[@davidhatred7275]

you'd have to have the movie lucky, the one about the talking dog!

[@RadicalReviewer]

I actually plan on reviewing that for my next Halloween video

[@davidhatred7275]

@@RadicalReviewer cant wait!

[@s.r.howell1297]

He's a good boy, fair dues.

[@ericdecker2914]

This is one of the first movies I every saw and it was memorable.

[@slambrew3849]

19:25 is the best part of this review.

[@pitpride1220]

The part of the film you can't help but love,makes me laugh hysterically. Well written and acted. You can relate to his desperation,but instead of sadness it makes me laugh.

[@theundead1600]

I always came away with the world tone deaf to mental illnesses. I d venture the movie would have have every interaction change maybe drastically.

[@Stop-qx3io]

I really like your channel. Falling down is one of my favorite movies.

[@sataprescott7588]

This is very excellent analysis, but please turn down the piano track! It's hard to listen and focus. (This genuinely is a positive response.)

[@RadicalReviewer]

I was attempting to avoid a copy right strike (due to playing large clips from the movie), this didn't end up working because the video was taken down for several weeks anyway :/

[@sataprescott7588]

Ha! Whelp, we do what we can!

[@PartyComrade]

This movie reminds me of the Joker

[@pintobeans994]

My uncle let me borrow this film when I was a kid in the 90s. I loved it ever since , great analysis

[@christophergreen6595]

Really great work. Thank you.

[@Kain5th]

damn seeing this through a different lens it makes so much sense now. I can relate to the protagonist a bit

[@Praisethesunson]

Screw you guys. I'm going home! -The Reactionary

[@robertbaur3145]

The meaning of the restsurant scene is food is a metaphor for what society claims to give people and what it actually does but that people are brainwashed or lazy just endlessly consuming whatever Is there just because it's there that's why he asks if anyone else can SEE what's wrong with this picture

[@nielsjensen4185]

Okay, then the next question is, "how come they do this?" You've only described what they do without employing critical thinking of any kind. This is empty analysation and fully in line with the ideologically Conservative hostility to critical thinking since once people start thinking critically it can no longer be, "believe what I say instead of what you see."

[@robertbaur3145]

@@nielsjensen4185 you realize foster himself doesn't know why or employ much critical thinking the character by definition is having a mental breakdown and since we see the film through fosters eyes we dont get much of an explanation though there Is a hint at the end where prendergast says they lie to everybody they lie to the fish you're not special or something like that

[@nielsjensen4185]

@@robertbaur3145 Yes. If he did he would most likely never have had the breakdown. People are unable to think critically when they have an emotional episode. Wanting things to be as they were is an emotional episode. There's nothing rational about the idea as time is progressively linear. You can never go back to the past, once it's gone it's gone. However, people can still react to what they see that them reacting to what something represents symbolically. In this case he reacts to the image essentially making false advertisement. Symbolically he's complaining about the false promises of Capitalism. He's even in a stand-in for McDonalds. The symbolism of him raging against the false promises of Capitalism when he rages against the false promises of the images can only be more obvious if it slapped a written note on your face.

[@christophergreen6595]

Ohmiduckinggods I HAD WONDERED WHERE FRISKY DINGO GOT THEIR BRIEFCASE GAG FROM IT WAS SO FAMILIAR.

[@ShubhamBhushanCC]

Ok this is literally the worst movie I have never watched. This is disgusting.

[@madmaddiesmadhouse4062]

Quick comment, he actually does not take the working class family hostage. He's very emphatic about that point.

[@Coffeemancer]

is this telepathic dog?

[@Kaylakaze]

I think this movie would have worked so much better had they not included the stuff about the wife. It felt like it was shoehorned in with the only purpose being to make the protagonist less sympathetic and, therefore, not as relatable.

[@nopizzawithoutpineapple]

Protagonists don't need to be sympathetic or relatable. Just look at something like Nightcrawler or American Psycho for example. Also I personally think it fits perfectly with right wing men's feelling of entitlement to live like 60s propaganda

[@Kaylakaze]

@@nopizzawithoutpineappleI never said they did, but when you just jam on something that feels very out of place in order to push your propaganda's message, then it's a problem.

[@nopizzawithoutpineapple]

@@Kaylakaze I don't feel like it's out of place or propaganda, it's a relatively solid deconstruction of right wingers not seeing the forest in the trees

[@Kaylakaze]

@@nopizzawithoutpineapple I have no idea what you mean by that. My point is that the movie seemed like it was going for "Average man pushed to the breaking point by the capitalist system and blames those he's told by the media that he should blame instead of the real problem" but then a "Oh, by the way, he was never an 'average man' but some controlling, violent asshole. Only assholes get crushed by the capitalist system, so if you see someone that is, it's because they're a horrible person" disclaimer was bolted to the side.

[@darlalathan6143]

Actually, domestic violence is a warning sign of mass shooters.

[@christophergreen6595]

I remember seeing this when it was new... only took away they edgy bits, (lol dumb kid), with some vague understanding that he was a zealot. The family bits made more sense, really. Been afraid to watch it again, honestly afraid of how conservative it might feel?

[@drewan6591]

You have nothing to worry you aren’t going to relapse It’s actually pretty enjoyable because you start to see the flaws and create a new anti capitalist understanding of the film The original Robocop is a good example

[@christophergreen6595]

@@drewan6591 lol relapse? Been a lefty heathen 40 years so far, doubt it'll change soon :p Had a few edgy years in high school, of course, but even then... 'tainted' by all the 'cultural Marxism' I picked up from period sci-fi :) *cough* anyway, I mean that it's much more outwardly reactionary... protagonist identification, etc. Robocop I understood. Starship Troopers, tho, I could only see as 'not the book' so I missed all but the most blatant satire of militarism :o

[@lyudmilapavlichenko7551]

Nice Sloppy Seconds outro.

[@octobrain23232]

Can you please repose this video and bring down that background music by at least 4 DB? It’s really ruining this video by so directly competing with your narrative.

[@storkksoundmedia7778]

We have a lot of the same DVDs rad

[@RadicalReviewer]

Great minds and such 🦊

[@LostOneOmega]

I don't agree with your views of the movie, but I strive to have a a well rounded understanding of people and their positions. You seem to take away many things (Foster's motivations, mostly) as him being a victim of capitalism or being racially charged. When, even in the moments you showed, he doesn't have a problem with races but definitely attitudes. While he dangerously and clumsily handled the rocket launcher: he was being instructed by a black child on how to fire it. I'm not calling the character a saint or anything, but it helps to present things as they are rather than what we'd like them to be. 💁🏿‍♂

[@drewan6591]

You really don’t see the scene in the Korean store to be racially motivated

[@sveintheberserk]

You're such a good boy.

[@Q269]

Have you read Chainsaw Man?

[@RadicalReviewer]

I have not

[@EdgieAlias]

People really tried to convince others that this movie was anti-feminist.

[@darlalathan6143]

Well, he did threaten his ex-wife and daughter with a gun...

[@EdgieAlias]

@@darlalathan6143 ...and was correctly named the bad guy.

[@Alejandro-te2nt]

hello I'm gay actor michael douglas

[@JoelRiter]

Oh Marx, now I feel the nees to anaylze one of the saddest most depressing movies and has a leftists message under all of it (I speak of course of Dancer in the Dark)

[@drewan6591]

Nice analysis

[@lordprivateer4965]

Is it capitalism that is failing him? Or an inflating currency? Or non-policing of advertising standards? Or unfair divorce settlements? Sounds like Radical reviewer has rusted on confirmation bias. He might like to look at his own video on "mistakes were made"

[@whatdatdogdo]

How is that so? When false advertising can grow and be as it is only under capitalism. Unfair divorce settlements are not his only reason for reactionary leaning . Inflating, volatile currency is apart of capitalism. Again, capitalism is failing him.

[@lordprivateer4965]

@@whatdatdogdo No, inflationary currencies are not part of the definition of capitalism, and have been evident in many systems of government in history. Capitalism enables marketing, sure, because there is something to market, but in modern capitalism there is regulation of marketing claims.

[@whatdatdogdo]

@@lordprivateer4965 no neoliberalism is the maintenance of markets by the government . Modern governments have been shown to uphold markets and Their practices before all else under neoliberalism.

[@lordprivateer4965]

@@whatdatdogdo A lot of historical governments uphold markets. Medieval England had crown licensed markets in towns, for example, where they would regulate behaviour of buyers and sellers. It is nothing new. Modern governments as compared to historical western governments overwhelmingly prioritise human health, education and welfare far more than historical societies ever did.

[@TheSugarRay]

OH, I'm sad now.

[@iss2075]

Interesting video, but at the beginning you suggest that Charlottesville was a result of young white males being frustrated with capitalism, and venting their frustration in the wrong way. I disagree. Firstly, the kinds of people at the protest are the people who benefit most from capitalism. If your hypothesis is correct that the rise in nationalism is really due to young white males getting screwed over by capitalism, then surely every other demographic (women, non-whites, elderly, disabled, etc.) would be having it 10x worse, yet we don't see them directing anger at capitalism or anything else (at least not on a large scale, the closest thing they have is the SJW movement, which I'd be interested to know whether you consider that movement also to be a result of frustration with capitalism misplaced as frustration with the behaviour of white men). The second reason I disagree is because many nationalists already have said they don't like capitalism. Even white nationalists like RIchard fucking Spencer has said he has nothing against socialism and would love to live under socialism as long as everybody is white. Oddly enough, civic nationalists tend to be more fond of capitalism than white nationalists, but even Jordan Peterson has criticised capitalism, and has said that it has major flaws (although he still decides that it's more good than bad, on balance). I guarantee you that a big chunk of the people on the nationalist side at Charlottesville are already fully aware of capitalism and its flaws. If you read their material on line they believe that capitalism is an invention by an elite of globalist Jews to basically have the entire planet's population working for them, basically as slaves. They keep going on about how the big banks are dominated by Jews, and how white people aren't naturally disposed to capitalism (as they claim that when left purely to their own devices white people don't naturally create capitalist societies). Lots of nationalists also propose things such as distributism (which has elements similar to socialism and anarchism, and certainly is NOT capitalism), and so on. This leads onto the third reason that I disagree. Most of the people attending Chartlottesville know about capitalism, and a big chunk of them at least are suspicious of it, if not against it. The reason they were there was because they were worried about globalism, because they were worried about white people becoming a minority, because they were worried about historical monuments being erased. If they wanted to protest against capitalism, they would have done the protest at a different time, at a different place, with different slogans. It's not like these people don't know about the faults of capitalism! They do. They have these livestreams and podcasts where they talk about capitalism a lot. It's not like some little secret that, when discovered, will "cure" then of their nationalism. I think there is some truth to the idea that boys and men not achieving what they were promised has lead to reactionaries. I think, for example, a lot of these men want a wife and children, and are finding that there are practically no women in their 20's who want to get married, so they're having to sit around and wait until their are in their 30's before they can get married and have children. And they blame feminism for that. However, quite a lot of nationalists are married with children, yet they continue to be nationalists, so I don't think that's 100% of the problem, although I would agree that it is contributing. But are we really supposed to blame capitalism for women not wanting to get married until their 30's? Surely Hollywood, celebrity culture, the mainstream media, feminism, contraception, etc. are the reasons for women refusing to get married and have children? Do you think under socialism the women are suddenly going to start getting married at age 20 again like they did 100 years ago? These nationalists have issues with all sorts of things. How can you demonstrate to them that without capitalism they will be able to get married younger and have loves of children? How can you demonstrate to them that without capitalism the white population will start growing again? How can you demonstrate to them that without capitalism each nation will gain full independence once again? Maybe what you're saying is true: The problems of the men attending Charlottesville are caused by capitalism and they're misplacing their frustration. But I don't see anybody even attempting to demonstrate this. For example, most people against capitalism don't even seem to care that women are refusing to get married for 10+ years after reaching adulthood, most anti-capitalists today seem DELIGHTED about this, honestly, and would like to accelerate the trend, rather than reverse it, so how can someone against capitalism support this trend of women refusing to get married, and then turn around and say "If only these nationalist men would realise that capitalism is to blame for their difficulty in getting a wife, not feminism"? That's not going to convince a single nationalist to stop being a reactionary. Honestly, most anti-capitalists seems to be women themselves, or non-binary/transgender at least. It's hardly the most male dominated group of movements, let's be honest with ourselves... Hypothetically, what if there was a big enlightenment in the next few years and all the nationalists decided that they are now against capitalism. What will that achieve for YOU? Yeah, you might make progress with overthrowing capitalism, but now you'll have this massive movement that is a nationalist/socialist hybrid that will be 10x as big and influential as the current anti-capitalist movements combined. Yeah, you might overthrow capitalism, but you'll be living in an ultra-nationalistic nation state where you get arranged marriages when you're 18, where non-whites get deported, where your children get taught in school that "Hitler wasn't THAT bad" (and hilariously, the Nazis described themselves as "national socialists"... Oh, but it won't be capitalism, so it'll be OK. Be careful what you wish for, perhaps. Maybe it's best that these nationalists don't all decide to become anarchists or socialists, those movements as you know them would never be the same again if that happened.

[@RadicalReviewer]

i'm sorry i didn't mean that he realized that capitalism is to blame. the problem is actually that he doesn't recognize capitalism is the problem...or at least not in a helpful way. Reactionaries tend to be individualistic and like the character in the film they look at small idiosyncrasies ie. the convenient store is not expensive because of over all inflation rather the main character thinks it is expensive because the Korean shop owner is greedy and unreasonable. I get what you mean about many of the modern reactionaries being anti-capitalist. and that's an interesting point i didn't bring up...for example i thought about mentioning that everyone in the main characters way makes property ownership claims (the gang members, the homeless, the golfers, his wife) and that property ownership is one of the big problems but the protagonist fails to properly understand it. as far as things like a wife and a child go i was more looking at it in the Fight Club fashion like "we are the middle children of history" middle class white men are promised that if they go to college and get a job it will all work out...they are reactionary because they are promised these things (people worse off in society don't get such lavish promises) but in my opinion as far as having a partner or kids or whatever i don't care what other people do and i have no expectation on anyone in those regards

[@MrSickNoodle]

The average nationalist isnt Richard Spencer though or a 3rd position Nazi. They're right wing populists. 3rd positionists are extremely obscure. I'm pretty sure your average dumb fuck nazi skinhead also has no idea what 3rd position is. The alt light is especially not anti capitalist. It's economically libertarian. So yeah, there are definitely right wing anti capitalists, but it's not common now and wasn't common then, it was always a minority faction.

[@iss2075]

@@MrSickNoodle Yeah, I agree that the right-wing populists/civic nationalists/alt-light types are generally pro-capitalism, and yes, I guess they make up the overwhelming majority of nationalists. But amongst actual ethno-nationalists or white nationalists (who were mostly the people going to Charlottesville) it's probably split about 50/50 whether they support capitalism or not, it's a big debate they're always having. Similar to their debates on atheism vs. Christianity vs. paganism vs. occultism (although in recent years they've seen to almost unanimously come to the conclusion that it's not atheism that they should choose). I've seen people claim they are all "religious nuts" or "Bible thumpers" and that's simply not true. But at the end of the day, capitalism or socialism only come 2nd at best for nationalists. Their one and only priority is nationalism. If you give them a nationalist country with a socialist economic system and no SJW stuff they will all rejoice and celebrate! If you give them a globalist "country" with capitalist economic policies and added SJW stuff (basically what most Western countries are now) they will complain and whine all the time (like they do now). If Donald Trump campaigned for universal healthcare they'd still vote for him. They want closed borders and no transgender people in the military and so on. They can live with higher taxes for the rich (especially when you emphasize that it will be SOLELY hitting the big corporations with rainbow flags and Hollywood celebrities, not farmers and small business owners).

[@MrSickNoodle]

@@iss2075 oh yeah definitely. You nailed it on the head though, they're nationalists first and economics are second. Which in a way does make sense, a nationalist movement is basically cultural. I think of them as right wing cultural revolutionaries, which sounds contradictory if you think of revolution in the enlightenment sense. But if you think of it just in the in ancient sense of people who try to change things by force then they are basically people who want to have a right wing cultural revolution. Economics are interchangeable. Some of them like capitalism because its white and imperialist, others think capitalism is a plot created by Jews. Which the latter is really uncomfortable for socialists because a lot of early socialists definitely thought that. But I'm also not sure that the idea of economics being interchangeable is entirely a right wing phenomenon. If you think about it a lot of socialists started out as progressive or left wing capitalists and only later decided capitalism was also bad. The Jacobins were also not socialists and that's the birth of the left. Sometimes I think politics is a primarily cultural thing. Or at least culture precedes economics. Really people start out with goals on how they think our culture should be, is it inclusive or exclusive, authoritarian or anti authoritarian. Then they decide which economic system best fits those ideals. You could create socialisms based on either stand point, or capitalisms based on either standpoint. An exclusive socialism would be one where only a privileged race reaps the benefits, an inclusive socialism would be one where everyone gets the benefits. I think it's just more common for leftists to be socialists because it aligns more easily with egalitarian cultural values, but that's not to say it has to inherently. Similarly you could create exclusive and inclusive capitalisms. An inclusive capitalism would be on e with a lot of class mobility, laws protecting minorities, so like social democracy or keynesianism. An exclusive one would be one where there is limited class mobility and racism is tolerated or even encouraged. Of course you do have people who see economics as primary, but I almost think that's more rare on both sided than not. "Class reductionists" are not exactly common on the left.

[@lynnes1864]

Fewer women want to get married because they have a choice now because there's less economic dependence on men (although a bad capitalist economy also delays starting a family because kids are expensive.) So although technically you could "blame" feminism, forcing people into a relationship or forcing them to stay in one, is inherently a bad thing. Everyone should have autonomy and relationships should be voluntary. The usual argument against this is divorce is bad for kids. The problem with this is eventually kids grow up, so you're going to force people to stay together even after the kids are gone? There should be an option to be married only when raising children and sex should be removed from the equation. Friendships are more stable than sexual relationships and if you raise kids with a friend you can pick that friend based on child-rearing compatibility and ignore things like attractiveness and sexual chemistry. Jealousy would also be removed from the equation and there would be fewer things to fight about, esp if you choose a friend who is compatible in terms of money handling and housekeeping habits. Domestic violence would be almost non-existent.

[@stevebisset1522]

They don’t have v’s in china

[@diogenesofsinope6809]

I think you would like Heroes by Berardi

[@makerstudios5456]

Talk about forcing a square peg into a round hole. This movie is basically the first half of Fight Club. It has nothing to do with capitalism/communism. It’s an Odyssey style story about modern culture trying to destroy man’s nature and man fighting back. And as usual you people confuse the nazi villain with endorsement of the villains ideas.

[@RadicalReviewer]

You know you arent supposed to route for the fight club guys right? You know Walter White is supposed to be the bad guy right? Perhaps you need to work on your ability to recognize themes and symbolism in media.

[@makerstudios5456]

Radical Reviewer Yes I know that. You don’t seem to know that. In the first half of fight club TD was a Buddhist/Nietzsche figure helping Jack. In the second half he was an anarcho-communist/primitivist who was hurting Jack. In this very video you said the Nazi surplus store owner is reflective of the protagonist that kills him. That’s nutty far left thinking. I get exactly who the bad guy is. You think the bad guy is the author sharing their views.

[@RadicalReviewer]

@@makerstudios5456 no, in both fighclub the movie and the book it is explained that the protagonists insomnia was due to Tyler Durden taking over his body to create fight clubs in other cities because he was creating a toxic masculine army. Also reactionaries siding with nazis ideologically is nothing new, maybe check out my review of Big Business and Fascism for more info on that, but basically yeah the protagonist doesnt side with the nazi to explain to the audience this guy isnt actually a nazi, but also this demonstrates, as I said in the video, that the nazi thought the protagonist was aligned with him because they were both reactionaries.