I liked Midsommar alot.
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Sonik
Member
Midsommar sucks, the only thing the movie did competently was cinematography. There was no tension since the characters didn't react like human beings to the things that were happening, they were just sitting there letting the movie unfold, almost every character was an annoying spoiled brat with no redeeming qualities including the main protagonist, and the lesson of the movie was... that men deserve death for not tending to their needy and whiny girlfriend? Or that they deserve death for getting raped? Or that dysfunctional broken people are so desperate for a community that they will join any fucked up cult they can find?
Honestly, I don't know and don't care since neither the story or the characters were the least bit interesting which is what's actually important in movies, not the goddamn metaphors and not the lecturing from pretentious Hollywood directors, the movie at its core was just a collection of miserable gory situations happening one after another as the passive characters just watched.
kondorBonk
Member
Yep, still excited to see this. Their previous work already has me invested.
Big "whoof" if you think that's the "point" of MIDSOMMAR (which completely ignores the ends of the other characters in the movie).
Not everyone reacts the same to stressors. At the Attestupa there was one couple that screamed for them to stop and later tried to leave. Others viewed it vicariously as anthropologists, another may have tried to live in the moment.
Metaphors are one of the essential tools in storytelling. It's part of the alchemy that strips conscious barriers to allow hidden sensitivities to shine on a psychological mirror created by the drama for all to view themselves and others. To be transformed or shown to be inert. In that sense, the negative things one sees in the characters are weaknesses in themselves. Provoked questions only answerable and transcended by the viewer. The one question you worded like a statement "that men deserve death for not tending to their needy and whiny girlfriend?" shows a deep unsatisfaction that is causing you much irritation that you can't keep it to yourself.
Sonik
Member
What other characters's deaths have to do with it, the movie obviously focused on the relationship of the two main characters, and I'm using the word focused loosely here since other than the superficial metaphorical bullshit the characters were boring cardboard cutouts. There was definitely an emotional support theme there btw, but since you seem so certain about it please enlighten me on what the point of the movie was.
touchfuzzy
Member
Lol this makes me want to see it more.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
I thought midsommar went all downhill after the sisters suicide and that was in the first 5 minutes of the film I much prefer Hereditary and Saint Maud.
Sonik
Member
Realistic characters with realistic, complex emotions, reactions and rationale is essential to storytelling. The story is also essential to storytelling. Metaphors are secondary at best and plenty of great movies existed without their help. Sure you can find metaphors in many great movies but the metaphor itself is not what makes a movie great, at best it adds to it by giving it another layer you later think about. Movies that prioritize metaphors and the "lessons" of the movie over interesting characters and stories are never good, they're empty boring husks that only satisfy the pretentious. Lars von Trier made allegorical movies but he also made sure his characters are multilayered and interesting. This new generation of pretentious Hollywood fucks neither know how to make interesting or likeable characters or to put metaphors in movies without hitting you over the head with it every few seconds.
And yes, my question shows irritation and is obviously hyperbolic but not just because the lesson of the movie is dumb but also because of the moronic way the metaphor is presented that prioritizes it over making a realistic character. So what am I supposed to take from this shitty character here if I disregard the metaphor? That she's a pathetic, unstable imbecile that decides to burn her own boyfriend alive because he was not emotionally supportive enough and because she saw him getting raped in a hut or something? What am I supposed to take from such a stupid fucking protagonists that just sit there and let things happen to them while making the most idiotic decisions imaginable? "bububububbu metaphors!" Fuck the metaphors, I want a real movie.
Hobbits are realistic? Beings the sung the world into existence? Metaphors are foundational, not "secondary at best".
The characters and story of Midsommar are still activated in your psyche to a degree that you can't let it go.
Unsure what you are suppose to take away with the questions that are rising in yourself, but maybe you can find an thread in my answer to the what the film was about: Empathy.
Sonik
Member
Hobbits are likeable and often interesting like most of the characters in LOTR. Characters don't even have to look human to be relatable and have realistic emotions and logic, a fictional character can feel realistic and likeable no matter what he is if he's just written well.
So tell me, if we just ignore the metaphor and look at this as a real movie how am I supposed to feel empathy for such unlikable, one dimensional characters? What is even the redeeming quality of the main protagonist? She's been through a tragedy so that justifies her being a hyper-emotional, irrational moron with no sense of right of wrong?
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Your preferences make you think that only your preferences are the limits of characterization.
First, in terms of suspension to access empathy, you should calm emotionally tendencies to self-absorption to be objective. Then place yourself in the shoes of the character(s) you identify most with in the movie. I find that very helpful with these films. In Hereditary I identified with the cultists; In Midsommar, it was Pelle. For yourself, it's for you to figure out and decide as you watch, then answer those questions you're asking trying to empathize with what is going on in the film through the characters eyes.
What an amazing statement. Genuinely I'm wowed by this. Also, fortunately it saves the hassle of continuing to discuss movies with you.
. . .only thing I'll say is that if ALL you got out of MIDSOMMAR was "Like, oh my gawd, mah boyfriend suhcks!" and not, at a minimum, an arguable statement on "cultural tourism by way of horror flick" then boy maybe multimedia isn't for you.
BossLackey
Gold Member
Ohhhhh so you just have bad taste. Okay, I was wondering what was going on.
Carry on!
Laieon
Member
I mean, my all time favorite series is Friday the 13th and I significantly prefer that over Ari Aster's stuff, so I'm definitely not one to talk...
thegame983
Member
Ari Aster's true best movie
DetectiveBananas
Member
I remember seeing the trailer for “X” and thinking it was a weird idea. Fast forward to seeing the trailer for “Pearl” and wanting to watch it. Mia Goth apparently has a monologue that’s blowing people’s mind or something.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
That's all well and good different strokes for different folks but X is a really good slasher not sure why the guy is hating.
Days like these...
Have a Blessed Day
Fools idol
Banned
There is a lot going on in Hereditary that most viewers only see on multiple viewings. That is what made it so great. You realise all the clues you missed along the way alluding to what was really going on. I too felt it was masterfully done. It's a pretty harrowing and complex film, I loved it.